Behavioral Science: A Career as a Pyschologist

1st Reflection: The decision to study (or work in) psychology/ behavioural science

Reporting:

I decided to study psychology/ behavioural science after I took a year off school. In the year off I worked as a Snowboard Instructor. You have to work in close relationship with customers. I realised that while I thoroughly enjoyed working, I was at ease to connect and build a trusting relationship as a teacher with the student. So I decided to study something I had already shown interest in over the years and at the same time had a talent for.

Relating:

Another big decision I had to make was what to do after concluding year 12. I decided to go to New South Wales and work during the winter season. I made this decision by cancelling out all the things I knew I did not want to do that year, such as start University or stay at home and work full-time. I wanted to do something fun and I drew up all the options as a mind map, with several branches of each pathways. I had to see it visually to finally decide on going to New South Wales, due to my passion for the sport and prior experience in snowboarding.

Reasoning:

I’d like to point out that I made both these decisions, because I enjoyed the idea behind the career and had prior skills for the job. This study by Hussain and Rafique (2013) examining career salience and parental expectations in career decision making showed that career salience was a significant factor for college students in deciding on a career. There was a slightly bigger trend of boys having higher scores than girls on career salience. It has to be put into consideration that this study was done in Pakistan, which is different to the Western culture we live in and I assume girls to be slightly more traditional. Stumpf an...

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