From Psychologist to User Experience Expert

The world of psychology has grown since its birth and has grown exponentially in the last decade. When I started my education in psychology as a bachelor student I knew I had to earn my masters degree in order to make a career from the subject I loved so much.

During my masters work I quickly realized that counseling would not cut it for me. I was too intrigued by things that were not clear to me - like attachment and the developing mind. It was at that moment that I realized a doctorate program was my end route. Psy. D. or Ph. D. was the big question now. This was an easy one for me to answer since I knew counseling wasn't for me and I was pulled toward research.

While in my doctorate I was faced with another question: how to get guidance on doing something other than clinical work. While everyone was planning their pre-doctoral internships according to their goal of being a forensic psychologist, a psychologist in private practice or a psychologist working with a specific populations or in certain settings, I was planning my exit from the predetermined path.

I'll soon be celebrating my fifth year out of the clinical world and I can look back on my journey with confidence to share these 5 things that shaped my path into the tech world.

UX research relies heavily on psychology.

Source: Photo by UX Indonesia on Unsplash

1. Find a mentor as "bold" as you.

Going to my peers and fellow colleagues during my doctorate program was not an option. Almost every person had a hard time following my passions and what I wanted to do. I admit, it was a sewn together, pie-in-the-sky articulation at best but seeing confused faces, having conversations ended abruptly, and seeing no space for me in the post-doctoral world, I often felt defeated. My advisor, Dr. Wendy Packman, saw me. She saw me for the bold and innovative person I was. She supported me when I took paths never taken in the program and when things didn't go as planned she would remind me, "You're extremely resourceful. You'll figure this out." I did. Find someone bold and create a supportive relationship with them.

2. Practice tolerating ambiguity.

When you learn a new language in high school you know some words and others you don't know. As the semester or year goes on you start to understand some words and not understand others but by the end of your studies you can put a few questions and statements together. You were comfortable with not knowing everything. When you venture away from the typical path taken by psychologists at the doctorate level you will not know everything. After finishing my pre-doctoral internship I went into another internship with a startup tech company. I didn't know how this would work out but I knew this was the next right step. Get comfortable with knowing some things but not everything.

3. Forget the elevator pitch.

I clearly remember I was a few years past my pre-doctoral internship and was catching up with peers from my program. They all had this concise summary of what they were doing. It usually went something like this, "I'm doing my post-doc at University of XYZ and working with veterans." The brazen summaries were still so concise, "I'm in Hawaii starting my private practice in cross-culturalism for ex-pats." Mine was still unfinished and all I had was my pie-in-the-sky script. So I ditched the pitch and started to focus on what I was doing in that moment, "I'm training chatbots to deliver evidence-based mental health interventions." Did a slew of questions come after that? Sometimes. Other times it just fell flat. Either way, I knew what I was doing for the moment and that was good enough.

4. Take a contract job as your first gig in your new industry.

My first job in tech was as a user experience (UX) researcher for Google on their hardware team. I hated it. Google was great, everything you read about: the bikes, the free food, the basketball courts - is true. But I hated researching hardware. I wasn't making a difference in any one's life. I quickly realized the part I loved about psychology (the part we all probably love) is making a difference in lives. I had to find a way to do that without direct service. Good thing this job was a contract and I could leave. If you have the privilege (which I did), try some gigs out before entering into full-time employment.

5. Your resume is now your life story.

I can put all my jobs and experiences in a resume or CV format but what most people are intrigued by is how I made the switch from psychology to tech. Reading that in a list format it one thing, but hearing my story and process is quite another. While it's important to have a polished resume and CV, I highly recommend taking a storytelling class or brush up on your narration skills. How you tell your story, how you narrate your CV will be your true selling point.

If you're ready to ditch the path, you're already on the journey.

Source: Photo by Clemens van Lay on Unsplash

Eventually you will get to a point where you are deciding who you want to work for rather than crossing your fingers that this interview becomes an offer. Why? Because going through the process of leaving a well-travelled path becomes incredibly unique and intriguing. People want to work with you because of your innovation, your resourcefulness, and your zeal (trust me this take a lot of energy!) .

You no longer have to be at the mercy of employers because you don't fit a persona, you don't fit a general type of psychologist. You're now an outlier who will demand study.