Facing rejections in the field of Psychology
Hello everyone and welcome to the next edition of our blog. Today we hear from Evelin Raju, and overseas student, and her journey towards becoming a Health Psychologist. Evelin highligthed the enduring commitment a Psychology professional calls upon throughout exhausting studies, and the subsequent interview process to obtain a paid role. We hope learning about Evelin will inspire your curiosity to pursue a pathway to a Psychology career.
Evelin Raju BSc., Msc. (Health Psychology: Stage one training), GMBPsS
http://www.linkedin.com/in/evelin-raju
As a recent graduate in Health Psychology, every week I am hopeful about a job interview that is always brought to a halt with an automated rejection mail or a call with a kind voice relaying the news to me.
And I still choose to show up anyway because I made a promise to my younger self.
Growing up, being a child of the internet culture, being chronically online and a true Gen-Z persona meant that my decision to be a Psychologist was taken as a result of multiple personality tests online and intensely going through the list of professions where empathy was a main core value.
Did I stick to it? Yes.
I graduated with a degree in Psychology from India and kept that inner ambitious and driven girl alive by engaging in voluntary posts and eventually leaving my home in Qatar and India and shifting to an entirely different country to keep the spark alive.
Studying an MSc. in Health Psychology was not the initial plan in my books. Like most people, I began my journey with an interest in Clinical Psychology which then shifted to Counselling Psychology. However, I wanted to know what pulled me towards Health Psychology and learn more about research and its practical impacts.
I completed my dissertation with distinction alongside my placement provider, Live UTI Free, exploring the risk of antibiotic resistance in individuals with recurrent urinary tract infections. It was a complex process to mentally go through, and one that tested my limits as a researcher as it was a mixed methods study. However, the struggle was fruitful with a positive end result. As a person who had to fuel a lot of my career aspirations through the inner work I had to partake in, that external validation kept me going.
More struggles came in the form of being an international student which led to a mental state where I am constantly worrying about my visa and keeping up with the immigration rules.
My quest to follow my desires to be a Clinical Psychologist led me to being lost. I read other blogposts on this page and it gave me hope – that I am still meant to be on this path even if it might not be extremely clear to me now as I am still applying for practitioner roles.
Every other blogpost I have read has a paragraph mentioning how their life has changed. That hasn’t happened to me yet. Yes, it is daunting but I am determined to persevere and try anyway. There are winners and losers in every competition but we all know the losers don’t stop there. We continue to show up and try, only to rise later and write a blog post on ‘How I am Not An Overnight Success’.
Maybe I will revisit this blogpost and update but until then, here’s to hoping.
Update: I tried to revisit this writeup and change its format but, I think its important to record what I initially felt when I was invited to do this. I got an offer recently to work as an Assistant Psychologist (Community Partnerships) at St Andrews Healthcare. The interview went so well and I immediately fell in love with the team. I am excited to work in this setting and look forward to what’s coming up next.
If I could give any advice to anyone in a similar position, it would be to network. Connect with people you aspire to become on LinkedIn and ask questions on Reddit. Utilise these online resources and you will find compassionate people. The silver lining that connects all the Psychology graduates is the lived experience of not being enough at some point, in a professional manner. All of us are very familiar with that state of being, so reach out and I hope you stay determined to pursue your passion.
Thank you so much Evelin for writing about your journey. We wish you all the very best in your new role and let us know how it develops!
If you were interested in writing a blog for us, please get in touch. We invite trainee- and qualified Practitioner Psychologists, Psychotherapists, PWPs, Mental Health Practitioners, and Counsellors to write about their inspirations and perspirations along the way to becoming a Psychology professional.
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