Category Archives: Graduate School

APA Convention: 4 Tips to Help You Prepare for Networking

SquareBy Valamere Mikler, APAGS Convention Committee

The APA Convention brings together hundreds of established psychologists, professionals and students to make meaningful connections, learn and grow. As you prepare for the upcoming convention, now is the time to start preparing.

Since the convention is fast approaching, take the opportunity to identify your goals and set an agenda to get the most out of your experience. Here are a few tips to help you connect and grow your network at the APA Convention, or any other professional setting for that matter:

  • Pump up your social media profile. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is updated with a professional headshot picture. Having your profile with the most-up-to-date information will ensure you can best promote your experience and accomplishments. Use Twitter or Facebook to follow and meet the speakers and workshop presenters before you attend. Also, as you meet people at the convention, you can tag them and make positive comments about workshops, discussions and the convention itself.
  • Update your CV or resume. Take advantage of sprucing up your CV or resume with current professional experience and research. The convention offers a space for you to distribute your CV or resume during the Career Fair hub, within the Exhibit hall. During this interactive experience, you will be able to engage potential employers and seek professional development opportunities.
  • Create business cards. Having business cards with your contact information may prove to be beneficial. Although, some people may prefer to enter information into their mobile devices, you should plan to have a business card available. Make sure to keep the design simple and professional with the essentials of your name, email address, phone number, and the name of your school and/or position. Sharing your business card will make a lasting impression.
  • Practice your “elevator pitch”. As you meet others while networking, you will be asked questions such as: who are you? what do you do? why are you attending the APA Convention? So, rehearsing your answers ahead of time will help you to prepare your thoughts. Going a step further, practice introducing yourself to people in the mirror. Be friendly and limit your introduction to a brief 30 seconds. Since presenters and others may be time-limited, there won’t be much of a chance to chat.

Attending the APA Convention is essential to staying in touch with current industry trends, networking, and getting face-to-face interaction that social media can’t replace. Therefore, if you are going to spend the money to attend, plan in advance to ensure you’ll get the most out of your time at the event.

See you there!

convention-header_tcm7-174386

 

 

 

Editor’s Note: Check out these previous posts about attending the 2017 APA Convention.

 

Dear Me, Future Psychologist. Yours truly, Dr. John C. Norcross

It’s time for the next installment of Dear me, future psychologist, a gradPSYCH Blog exclusive in which a prominent psychologist writes a letter to his/her 16-year-old self. We hope you enjoy these letters and glean some invaluable wisdom and guidance as you decide whether to enter graduate school in psychology, as you navigate the challenges of graduate school, and as you make decisions about your career and life.

norcross1This letter is from John C. Norcross, PhD, ABPP, an internationally recognized authority on clinical psychology and psychotherapy. Dr. Norcross is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Scranton, Clinical Professor at The Commonwealth Medical College, and a board-certified clinical psychologist. He has published more than 400 scholarly publications and 20 books, including the 5-volume APA Handbook of Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy Relationships that Work, Insider’s Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical & Counseling Psychology, and Systems of Psychotherapy: A Transtheoretical Analysis, now in its 8th edition.  He served as president of several APA divisions and international organizations, receiving multiple professional awards, such as APA’s Distinguished Career Contributions to Education & Training Award, Pennsylvania Professor of the Year from the Carnegie Foundation, and election to the National Academies of Practice.  For more info, please visit Dr. Norcross’s website.

DEAR-ME

 

 

FROM THE DESK OF JOHN C. NORCROSS:

Continue reading →

On the Pulse massacre: Who is left out of the current discourse?

Pulse2Photo by PeskyMonkey / iStock.

This blog post is a joint collaboration between: Minnah W. Farook, APAGS member and Student Affiliate Member of Divisions 17, 45, 35, 29, 52, and 56 and Counseling Psychology Ph.D. Candidate, Roberto L. Abreu, Counseling Psychology Ph.D. Candidate and Co-chair of the  National Latina/o Psychological Association Orgullo Latinx: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity SIG  and Division 45 Student Committee Co-liaison, and James J. García, Clinical Health Psychology Ph.D. Candidate and Past Chair of the APAGS Committee for the Advancement of Racial and Ethnic Diversity (APAGS-CARED).

Disclaimer: The opinions in this blog represent the personal opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of APA, APAGS, NLPA, or any other divisions of the APA.

A year ago we mourned the loss of 49 LGBTQ+ victims (58 wounded) during the Pulse nightclub massacre, most (90%) of whom were of Latinx and Puerto Rican heritage.  Since then, the LGBTQ+ community, especially queer Latinx and people of color (PoC), have struggled to heal while fostering resilience and finding ways to work through fear and hypervigilance.  Needless to say, both the Latinx and LGBTQ+ community at large have, and will continue, to mourn.  Additionally, there have been repeated attempts by conservative politicians to co-opt this traumatic experience for the LGBTQ+ and Latinx community in order to advance an anti-Muslim agenda.  This has contributed to a sociopolitical narrative that:

  1. Allows the media and politicians to scapegoat the Muslim community by promoting anti-Muslim rhetoric and policies.
  2. Does not recognize the complexity of internalized homophobia and heterosexism, mental health issues, and gun control legislation that may be factors in the Pulse attack.

On June 10, 2017, ACT for America, a group that has been identified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, organized a “March Against Sharia” in 20 states and 28 cities across the country.  Although described as defenders of Muslim women and human rights, the founder of the group, Brigitte Gabriel, has equated all Muslims with terrorists, claimed that Muslims cannot be loyal to America, and has spread hate speech to demonize all Muslims.  In close proximity to the march, and timed with the anniversary of the massacre at Pulse nightclub, members of the group took the opportunity to connect their anti-Muslim message with support for LGBTQ rights.  This opportunistic ploy has attracted misinformed LGBTQ individuals and LGBTQ allies to these marches and to the thinly veiled anti-Muslim agenda of ACT for America.

Continue reading →

In Case You Missed It!

ICYMI2The gradPSYCH Blog has had some amazing guest contributors since its inception in 2015. Our newer followers may have missed some great content from older posts that is still quite relevant today. In case you missed it….

9 Mentorship GIFs I Wish Someone Had Shown Me in Grad School

Need a chuckle? Daniel Reimer’s post on Mentorship GIFs will give you a laugh while providing some useful tips to help you find the mentorship you need.

Speak Up: Giving a Memorable Presentation

Who doesn’t appreciate advice on how to give a stellar presentation? Public speaking may not be your thing but it is an important skill to have in the field of psychology. Melissa Foster provides tips and resources to help ease a fear of public speaking.

The Academic Hunger Games: Are the Odds in Your Favor?

Can graduate school be seen as an academic version of the Hunger Games? If so, what can you do to improve your odds? Here are some thoughts…..

Are there any topics you’d like covered by gradPSYCH Blog? Let us know in the comment section!

 

Dear Me, Future Psychologist. Yours truly, Dr. Alison Gopnik

Check out our latest installment of Dear Me, Future Psychologist, a gradPSYCH Blog exclusive in which a prominent psychologist writes a letter to their 16-year-old self. We hope you enjoy these letters and glean some invaluable wisdom and guidance as you decide whether to enter graduate school in psychology, as you navigate the challenges of graduate school, and as you make decisions about your career and life.

Gopnik photo really hi-res tiff (002)This letter is from Dr. Alison Gopnik. Dr. Gopnik is a professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy at the University of California at Berkeley, where she has taught since 1988. She received her BA from McGill University and her PhD. from Oxford University. She is a world leader in cognitive science, particularly the study of children’s learning and development. She is the author of over 100 journal articles and several books including the bestselling and critically acclaimed popular books “The Scientist in the Crib” William Morrow, 1999, “The Philosophical Baby; What children’s minds tell us about love, truth and the meaning of life” Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2009,  and  “The Gardener and the Carpenter: What the new science of child development tells us about the relationship between parents and children” Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2016. She is a fellow of the Cognitive Science Society and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

She writes the Mind and Matter science column for the Wall Street Journal. And she has also written widely about cognitive science and psychology for The New Yorker, Science, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Times Literary Supplement, The New York Review of Books, New Scientist and Slate, among others. She has frequently appeared on TV and radio including “The Charlie Rose Show” and “The Colbert Report”. Her TED talk has been seen over 2.75 million times. She has three sons and three grand-children and lives in Berkeley, California with her husband Alvy Ray Smith.

DEAR-ME

FROM THE DESK OF ALISON GOPNIK:

May 2017

Dear Me,

Now by all the rules, you should be the one who is hesitant and uncertain, just starting out in life as you are, and I should be the one who’s figured it all out – I have the very unfair advantage, after all, of knowing how things will turn out. But, knowing you as I do, I’m afraid it’s mostly going to be the reverse. You are so sure about who you are and what you’re going to do, and most of my wisdom is a lifetime’s accumulation of doubt, even about the most fundamental biographical facts.

Continue reading →