Lost about post-graduation work

March 1, 2011 9:50 PM

Trying to figure out what to do after college

I'll be graduating soon with a B.A. in psychology and have realized how hard it is to make much use of the degree. I'm still not sure what I want to do, so I want to use my next year or two to explore my options further rather than go straight to grad school. All I know so far is that I don't want to go into research and I probably don't want to teach.

I have specific interests in working with children and am looking into possibly going into social services type of work. Some things I'm considering for the next year or two:

- Peace Corps or other similar programs
- fellowships that focus on children/public service
- nonprofits for children with special needs, such as autism
- positions that advocate play in child development
- services for refugees

I'm wondering if anyone has had experience in any of these fields and can tell me more about them? Pros and cons? Do these types of jobs need a lot of experience?

And if you have any tips on how I can go about searching for these positions, that'd be great too... Or any other recommended types of jobs or even specific organization? Aside from Peace Corps, I don't really know the name of any other organizations to look into.

Thanks in advance for any tips you can provide!

posted by pockimidget to Work & Money (5 answers total)

Mental health worker at a psychiatric hospital (look for adolescent programs). Positions at schools for children with special needs (schools for the blind, deaf, those with psychiatric needs/learning disabilities). AmeriCorps.
posted by smokingmonkey at 10:21 PM on March 1, 2011

I graduated college almost a year ago (with degrees in History and Sociology) and also needed time off. I'm currently volunteering with Brethren Volunteer Service (my college was also affiliated with the Church of the Brethren). Don't let the religious stuff scare you off -- I'm a queer agnostic Unitarian Universalist and that wasn't an issue. If BVS hadn't worked out, I would have probably either done a few longer-term stints through the National Park Service (don't remember the link where I found these) or Americorps' National Civilian Community Corps.

The Peace Corps are always super competitive and have become moreso lately, and the time from your date of application to actually leaving is almost two years, if I remember from my friends' applications correctly, so that might not be the best option for you.

You might also have luck searching at http://www.idealist.org/ to see if you find anything that sparks your interest. Also, if you are Christian, lots of denominations have long-term volunteer service programs -- the UCC, Mennonites, Lutherans, Jesuits, and Methodists all do, off the top of my head. (Some of these programs require to you to be Christian and/or a member of their denomination, some of them don't, so it's worth looking regardless.)
posted by naturalog at 2:00 AM on March 2, 2011

- positions that advocate play in child development

Check out Institute of Play.
posted by brainwane at 2:15 AM on March 2, 2011

Have you gone to your college's career services center?
posted by brainwane at 2:16 AM on March 2, 2011

positions that advocate play in child development

You might check out Playworks. They have internships and Americorps positions.
posted by geegollygosh at 7:32 AM on March 2, 2011