Filling in a form for Assistant Psychologist Job

Lots of the students in Psychology disciplines talk about the difficulty of getting a job as an assistant psychologist. Here is an example of some instructions for applying for a post.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Job title: – Assistant Clinical Psychologist

PLEASE NOTE: special instructions for completing the application form.

We anticipate a high number of applications for this post, which will make it impossible for us to read long entries in the “Supporting Information” section.  For our initial screening, we will read only the first SIXTEEN LINES of your “Supporting Information”, which must be laid out as follows.

Eight of the criteria below are marked with an asterisk (*).  At the beginning of your “Supporting Information” you must provide succinct evidence to show how you meet these eight criteria (you may not meet them all).  This may be in note form, as long as it is clear.  Refer to each criterion by number, start a new line for each criterion, and use no more than SIXTEEN LINES in total. 

Wherever possible, please give an example of something that you have DONE which illustrates how you have applied or acquired the skill or quality.  For example:

2:  AP on LD team for 6 months; delivered some individual CBT and
psycho-ed group interventions.

5: presented psychological assessment results to medical and nursing colleagues; co-facilitated support group for self-harming adolescent inpatients.

Space limitations will not permit you to list here all of your relevant experience, so you will need to choose the examples that best demonstrate how you meet the criterion.

We will use this initial information to shortlist approximately 40 applications.  If your application is included in this initial shortlist, the rest of your form will then be read thoroughly, including any other text that you have included in your “Supporting Information”, in order to shortlist further for interview.

Graduate Resarch Showcase Event

I have observed 12 of this years presentations form students, noting down what they are doing – good and bad. This is to feed into my presentations training workshop. I thought I would try and get the DVD of Andrew Morris the keynote speaker who used some of the classic techniques like: Tell people what you are going to talk about. Vary tone. If you are showing a graphic / schematic – tell people what it is / why you are showing it.

 

The other purpose of attending was to build my knowledge of what scientific research is – and specifically what King’s research is. The presentations today and yesterday included: stair clinbing difficulties, gentic links and mood disordrers in obesity, how nurses develop professional skills, bone disease, the impact of taking intereron on kidney patients, the impact of PTSD on memory and the economics of stroke.

Stephen Minger

Just got round to listening to a podcast by Dr Minger on his career. Inspirational. But why is it inspirational? Because – leaving aside the qulity of the work he leads here at King’s it is all so accessible. Here is someone who bumbled about a bit as a young adult – as most people do – and slowly focused his energies and values and intellect -  a bit of luck, a mass of talent, an even bigger mass of discipline and dedication. We all get a bit cynical about institutions we work in, but if Stephen Minger works here – its got to be a great place to be. He had some interesting coments about talking to the media and standing up for Science – his area is viewed by some as  ’controversial’ – so he feels its important to explain it to people. I am sorry to have to say it, but he has become a bit of a hero for me.