The XI National Congress of the Collective of Psychology Students closes its doors today after three constructive days, full of new challenges for students who will soon be the psychologists of tomorrow.
After speaking with Psychology Degree students from various Spanish universities, learning about their fears and concerns, we spoke with Fermín Carrillo, ISEP’s Director of Projects and International Relations, who was with them and shared in a presentation last Tuesday the importance of knowing how to develop their personal brand to face their imminent entry into the job market.
One of the main fears that psychology students have conveyed to ISEP during the Congress is what will happen to them after finishing their degree, the uncertainty of knowing if they will find work. Do you believe that universities today forget that their students, upon completing their academic training, must face a job market full of difficulties?
I don’t believe universities lose sight of the job market. In fact, degrees are approved based on the socio-labor need for the qualification. In a way, university education aims to improve employability. The difficulty lies in responding to all the factors that influence professional insertion, which are many and varied. Nowadays, it’s not enough to be well-trained or to possess a credential. It’s necessary to develop a diversity of technical and transversal skills, and among the latter, personal brand management and professional reputation are key from the early years of the degree so that, once the student finishes their training and enters the market, they have a certain visibility and stand out in their field.
The problem lies in the fact that universities probably have many functions: such as providing all the basic theoretical, research, and technical training, which is not insignificant, to allow the student to become a good psychologist; a very complicated task to develop in just 4 years.
Another complexity is that many professors are excellent teachers and researchers, who master their area of knowledge, but some are disconnected from the professional world or it is not their main dedication.
Finally, each year, more than 5,000 psychology students complete their studies across Spain. Competition is fierce, and universities must somehow help them find a job. Universities homogenize a psychologist’s profile when the job market surely demands differentiation. In any case, I have no doubt that the priority of universities is the job placement of their students; rather, I understand the difficulty.
To what extent is it important for a psychologist to create their personal brand?
It is very important. There is a belief that to be a leading psychologist, one must have many qualifications and extensive experience, and while this is true, it is only partially so. In reality, only when others choose you can it be affirmed that you are “the expert,” regardless of how many years of experience you have in the job market. Therefore, to the extent that a psychologist is named by others as a professional, that is, as a reference in their mind of “this is the best psychologist I know or recommend,” they will have a greater probability of being chosen for jobs or as a psychotherapist by their patients.
If no one knows “what you can do,” in what areas you can contribute to your community, you will never be chosen. It is estimated that only 20% of job offers are public (advertised in media such as newspapers, job websites, etc.), so 80% of jobs are awarded to people who are referred or known by recruiters. The main channel referenced in many studies for accessing job positions is contacts, far ahead of personnel selection processes. The sooner a student develops a professional network, linked to their image as a psychologist, the greater their employability will be.
What do you believe are the key characteristics to make a name for oneself as a leading psychologist?
First, self-knowledge and knowing in which area, field, or specialty you want to stand out. Without this premise, we will never be consistent in our communication. Then, being visible to those audiences, companies, clients, or patients by whom you want to be known. Visibility is achieved when the psychologist determines which audience they want to know them. Then, they must choose the communication channels they wish to use to reach those groups who they want to hire them or count on them. And finally, they must have a distinctive, differentiating trait. Any psychologist will have demonstrated during their studies WHAT they know, but the key to being a leading psychologist is no longer the WHAT (the knowledge) but the HOW you do it, or as I like to say, the unique approach you demonstrate to others that makes you the chosen option.
How does ISEP help the community of psychologists to face the difficult employment situation in Spain?
ISEP is aware that to stand out in the job market, it is essential, first and foremost, to be a very good psychologist. This premise is the *sine qua non* condition without which it is impossible to practice. Therefore, we train them with the best quality through our master’s degrees. ISEP’s international level of excellence stems from its methodological, theoretical-practical conception: only with a committed faculty and highly qualified professional experience and training can new leaders be developed. Our more than 450 professors are active professionals with over 10 years of experience and a proven professional track record. All ISEP training programs include cooperative learning, problem-based learning, and case studies… theoretical knowledge is transformed into practical knowledge. Additionally, they include supervised real-world internships.
The second condition is to develop reliability and validity as a professional, which is linked to being competent (knowing how to communicate, lead, manage teams, negotiate, have emotional intelligence, etc.) in a variety of circumstances, and not just in the intervention itself. This is worked on with the ISEP Leads program, exclusive to ISEP students.
Finally, we try to help them create their own professional project and personal brand. This personal brand allows them to have a distinctive trait that differentiates them and makes them visible. ISEP will soon develop doctoral research to evaluate the influence on employability of a training program to develop these two important elements in psychology and education professionals. ISEP is aware of the difficulties psychologists currently face in developing their professional practice, and the opinions students have conveyed to us during the Conference make us even more aware of the important work that remains to be done.