As salamu alaykum,

Shokran for writing into our live session.  I am happy to hear about your enthusiasm in preparing for grad school.  This is indeed an exciting time in your educational pursuits in preparation for your career goals.

At this point, you may wish to speak with your current professors in regards to any opportunities for part-time internships within the department or ask to see if there are any research projects or other “jobs” you can perform on a volunteer basis to increase your exposure and skill set.  This will not only expose you to a more intensified training experience but it will also look good on your resume as well as your grad school applications if you have not already applied.

You can also contact local community centers and other agencies where they provide mental health services to see if there are volunteer opportunities there.   Some agencies offer school/university credits but you may want to check and ensure this is the case for each internship/volunteer if this is what you are looking for.  As you are an undergraduate and depending on the school you are in or going to, your actual hands on experience may be limited due to legalities at this point but there is still a lot you can do and learn to prepare yourself.  Most non-profits usually welcome those who want to volunteer.  The APA l(1) lists various internship opportunities which I encourage you to check out insha’Allah.  Internships.com (2) offer a wide variety of virtual internships as well.  As I am not sure where you are located, this may or may not be relevant however if you google search psychology internships it should bring up a lot of options.  I would kindly suggest that you do an actual in person internship rather than a virtual one insha’Allah, as you may learn so much more as well as getting first a person perspective experience in a mental health setting.

Depending on which branch of psychology you wish to go into (clinical, community, forensic, etc) I would kindly suggest reading extensively on your chosen field.  Contact people who are actually working in the field and ask if you can interview them.  You would develop a questionnaire about their daily activities, what they feel is challenging as well as rewarding and other questions you may see important.  This would insha’Allah give you further insight and depth about what your future job may be like as well as help you build a network of future contacts.

Lastly, look for student groups and professional associations relating to your career choice.  Join the groups and participate in the activities to increase your preparedness.

You can also subscribe to the APA newsletters (3) and other journals which will insha’Allah loop you into profession networks, provide additional education insights and prepare you for your next career step -graduate School.  Congratulations on your ambitions, choices, and determination! Insha’Allah you will find psychology a very rewarding and exciting career path.

1-http://www.apa.org/education/undergrad/research-opportunities.aspx

2-http://www.internships.com/psychology/virtual

3-http://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2014/04/undergrad-newsletter.aspx

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