How to Make the Most of Volunteering Experience for Psychologists? A Psychology Careers Podcast Episode.

Traditionally, we tell aspiring psychologists that if they want to break into the extremely competitive field of clinical psychology, educational psychology or any form of applied psychology then they have to do volunteering. Typically, this involves the aspiring psychologist doing years of unpaid work experience or volunteering to even be able to break into the field and get an interview for a paid job. However, this is bad advice to some extent, because volunteering is all well and good, but not all volunteering is created equal. And some volunteering is actually useless in terms of getting a job. Therefore, in this careers in psychology podcast episode, you’ll learn how to make the most of volunteering experience, how to pick useful volunteering experiences that will help you on your psychology journey and more. If you want to learn more about getting a psychology job, how to stand out to psychology employers and advance your psychology journey, then this will be a great episode for you.

Today’s psychology podcast episode has been sponsored by Your Unshakable Self: A Guide to Clinical Psychology, Mental Health and Social Psychology Guide to Sense of Self. Available from all major eBook retailers and you can order the paperback and hardback copies from Amazon, your local bookstore and local library, if you request it. Also available as an AI-narrated audiobook from selected audiobook platforms and library systems. For example, Kobo, Spotify, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, Overdrive, Baker and Taylor and Bibliotheca.

Why Do You Need to Make the Most of Volunteering Experience As A Psychologist?

When I was a teenager, lots of people, including my school’s career advisor, my parents and a lot of other important people in my life, stressed to me the importance of doing volunteering. They argued that volunteering would look good on my resume, it would give me a lot of valuable skills and it would mean that I could easily get job interviews in the future.

This is a lie.

In reality, volunteering can be flat out critical but unless you’re wise and very aware of your volunteering experience then volunteering can be next to useless when it comes to getting a job. That’s why in later sections of this podcast episode, I’ll explain how to pick volunteering opportunities purposefully and carefully so they actually help you on your psychology journey.

Personally, when I was a teenager, I used to be heavily involved in Scouts (just think Boys Scouts of America for international listeners, because Scouting originated in the United Kingdom), and everyone told me that Scouting would give me great experience of leadership, practical skills amongst other valuable skills that employers were looking for.

At the time of writing, I am 25 years old, I have been searching for a job for close to a year and even when I had a job as a teaching assistant at a special educational needs school, scouting was useless. Scouting didn’t give me anything relevant, it didn’t help me land a job and this form of volunteering didn’t impact my employability at all.

Therefore, the very idea that any form of volunteering will improve your employment prospects is a lie. Instead you have to be a lot more purposeful and we’ll talk about that later in the episode.

This is important for aspiring psychologists to be aware of, because breaking into psychology is extremely difficult. It requires years upon years of unpaid work experience where you do the exact same job as a paid assistant psychologist on £30,000 a year and this is just the accepted route into psychology. Of course, there are profound issues with this requirement because there are so many amazing aspiring psychologists that would love to work in mental health but they cannot afford to do years of unpaid work experience. Myself included. This is one of the reasons why clinical psychology is a very white middle-class, female-dominated profession. Aspiring psychologists from other backgrounds and races just cannot afford to do years of unpaid work experience.

Anyway, I have written about these issues extensively in other places, mainly my Clinical Psychology Reflections books.

As a result, even if you are or are not fortunate enough to be able to do the required years upon years of unpaid work experience to break into psychology, volunteering can be useful if you’re wise and purposeful with it.

How To Make the Most of Volunteering Experience for Psychologists? By Being Purposeful

Firstly, if you want to make the most of your volunteering experience and ensure that it actually helps your psychology journey, you need to be very purposeful with your volunteering activities. For the rest of this section, I’ll explain what this means using the examples of a clinical, educational and business psychologist before giving a personal example.

If you’re an aspiring clinical psychologist then you’re going to want to do volunteering in the National Health Service, and the traditional advice says that is great. I remember once listening to my Head of School during my final year and he explained to a young poor woman that her experience of an NHS cleaner was still fairly golden. Looking back on all my assistant psychologist job applications and interviews, that’s a lie. Being a cleaner is useless in terms of becoming an assistant psychologist, so it isn’t true that any NHS experience is good.

And yes, I understand that working as a cleaner or anything in the NHS would give you a working knowledge of how the NHS works but in terms of all the other clinical skills that assistant psychologist roles just expect you to have, being a cleaner won’t help you.

As a result, you need to be more purposeful. You need to reflect on what skills does an assistant psychologist need to have? Well, they need to have research and auditing skills, they need to have experience working with people with mental health difficulties and it’s best if you support a range of mental health conditions. That opens a lot more doors for you and you can be purposeful in your search for volunteering opportunities. You can focus on finding some volunteering that gets you to interact and support a wide range of mental health conditions in a healthcare setting and you can shadow the “qualified” or “paid” workers as they do more specialist stuff.

More on that particular tip in the next section.

On the other hand, if you’re an aspiring educational psychologist, then you might think that working with children or just doing anything in a school would be great volunteering experience. Maybe. Probably not. It depends. That’s my answer.

Again, you need to look at what an educational psychologist actually does. Here’s a reminder of what an educational psychologist actually is.

“Educational psychologists are professionals who specialise in applying psychological theories, research and principles to the field of education. They study human behaviour and mental processes related to learning and human development. Also, educational psychologists research the social, physical, psychological, emotional and wellbeing factors that aim to explain the individual differences in academic performance, student motivation and learning styles.

In addition, educational psychologists focus on designing and developing informative instructions for a wide range of learners, and they apply their knowledge of human development and learning to create academic programmes, assessments and interventions. As well as educational psychologists evaluate existing academic programmes and recommend improvements based on their research.

Finally, educational psychologists conduct research to deepen and advance our understanding of learning and education. For example, they might research the effectiveness of revision strategies, how the teacher-parent relationship is modulated by organisational factors or the relationship between student motivation and trauma.”

As you can see, there are a lot of elements to actually being an educational psychologist so you need to be purposeful with your volunteering so you can start to develop some of these skills. For example, you definitely need to get volunteering experience working with children in an educational setting. That is a must. Yet educational psychologists are also researchers, so explore whether you can do research in an educational setting. As well as the definition above doesn’t show it but educational psychologists do a lot of work with people with learning disabilities and children with mental health difficulties. See if there are any volunteering opportunities in special educational needs schools.

A final example is if you’re an aspiring business psychologist, then instead of thinking any volunteering experience in a business is good, narrow it down. We know that business psychologists typically work in human resources and recruitment departments. Therefore, you could explore and try to find a volunteering opportunity specifically in those departments so you can understand how these departments work, how you can apply psychological theories and research and more.

On the whole, at the end of this section, it is all about reflecting on what skills and experiences you actually need from your volunteering opportunities to get ahead in your psychology journey, and then finding volunteering that will allow you to develop these skills.

On a personal note, recently I’ve been reflecting on this because I’m learning so many non-psychology skills because of some intense volunteering that I’m doing at the moment. for example, skills in volunteer coordination, campaigning, social media content creation and so many more. As well as I’m applying for jobs that I never would have been able to apply for before, and that’s only because I’ve been able to think purposefully and shape the volunteering to what I need.

Let’s explore that point in the next section.

Get The Most Out of Volunteering Experience By Tailoring It To Your Needs

A second major tip to help aspiring psychologists to get the most out of their volunteering experience is to ensure that you tailor it to your needs. This is critical for aspiring psychologists because if you actually look at what helps you on your clinical psychology, educational psychology and other forms of applied psychology journey, you’ll notice that it’s all about the skills and experiences that you develop during your volunteering that matter. Not so much the volunteering itself.

For example, you can volunteer in a hospital ward that provides mental health support to older adults, and that is good in itself. Yet unless you develop other skills like communication skills, interpersonal relationship skills, psychological assessments and so on, then this form of volunteering will only have so much use to you.

For example, if we cast our minds back to the definition of what an educational psychologist is, it’s all about applying psychological theories and research to educational settings. As well as it’s vital that you understand how different levels of interpersonal relationships, social and cognitive factors and more can impact a child’s educational journey. These are the skills that will actually help you to move forward in your psychology journey.

As I explain in these two paragraphs below that I typically include in a cover letter for job applications:

“I have an ability to link and apply psychological theories, principles, understanding and knowledge to applied practice. For instance, in classrooms I apply Self-determination Theory to increase student motivation and teach them they are in control of their actions and learning. I increase student autonomy by encouraging student-led inquiry, I increase competence by praising students and I increase relatedness by listening to students and showing genuine interest in their ideas. This led to a happier classroom where students felt intellectually safe to ask questions, they became more motivated and more engaged in learning. This will help me as an Assistant Psychologist because it demonstrates I will always approach my work from a compassionate and holistic psychological perspective.

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory is central to my way of working. I consistently apply the theory to the educational and mental health settings I work in. For example, as a teaching assistant responsible for the diabetic treatment of a SEN child, the theory helped me understand the importance of developing a good relationship between myself and the parents, senior management and the other support staff. Our relationships indirectly impact the child's educational outcomes. The way how I applied the theory and strengthened my working relationships with those who directly and indirectly impact the SEN child led to successful diabetic treatment, increased attainment and increased wellbeing for the diabetic child.”

These two paragraphs clearly show recruitment people the skills that I developed during this time. Granted, this was for a paid job but hopefully you can see the importance of learning particular skills in volunteering.

Some other examples of specific skills are included below:

“In my role as a Teaching Assistant at a SEN school, I have experience of reading and implementing care plans for children with special educational needs. For instance, I read a child’s care plan, I learnt he typically asked new adults to do things he could do for himself, like cutting food, and I was able to support the child in becoming more confident in developing his fine motor skills. This led to the child becoming more confident in his own abilities and I was able to see the growth and development over the period of time I worked with him.

As a teaching assistant, I have good written and verbal communication skills including an ability to work and effectively communicate complex information. Once, I worked with a student with autism, ADHD amongst other conditions and he was being very disruptive, shouting and screaming. He was making other students anxious and scared. Other staff members had tried talking to them but they could not get him to calm down. I went over to him and we had a calming, validating and nonjudgemental conversation about what had caused his behaviour, how it was impacting others and how we could come to a solution. He wanted to go outside but it was raining heavily so he could not. I offered to take him for a supervised walk around the corridors, the teacher gave us permission and we did the walk. The student self-regulated and he was calmer. This allowed him to renter the classroom, continue with his work and the other students benefited too.

In addition, I am aware of the importance of accurate record keeping and proper documentation within mental health care, because it improves communication within a multidisciplinary team, improves client outcomes and increases accountability. As evidenced by the daily healthcare records I filled in as part of my medical duties of a Type 1 Diabetic child. Also, proper documentation prevents delays in client treatment and allows others to quickly understand client medical history, therapeutic relationship dynamics and previous clinical work completed with the client. Therefore, if successful in the post, I will ensure all my work is documented and records are kept to a high standard.”

I typically include those three paragraphs in cover letters because it’s important to highlight the communication skills, my experience with healthcare plans and more on job applications as these are some of the key criteria that employers look for when looking for assistant psychologists.

On the whole, when it comes to getting ahead on your psychology journey, once you’ve purposefully found a volunteering opportunity, don’t be afraid to jobcraft or use the volunteering to fulfil specific criteria that you need to become an assistant psychologist. For example, if you need experience in working with children with socioemotional difficulties, reading and implementing healthcare plans or observing an assessment, talk to people at the organisation and see if they can help you.

Remember To Use the STAR Method in Cover Letters, Job Interviews and Job Applications

Whilst I do not pretend to be a master of this topic, it is all well and good you having all this volunteering experience, but unless you can effectively communicate it on your cover letter, your job application and in your job interviews then it is meaningless. This is why to make the most of your volunteering experience as an aspiring psychologist, it is best to use the STAR method.

The STAR method is a structured approach that helps you to answer interview questions (and write good job applications) by describing the Situation, the Task, Action and the Result. The STAR method is effective because it helps you to provide a clear, concise as well as compelling answer and it’s encouraged that you use this format because past behaviour is considered the best predictor of future job performance.

Therefore, you use the STAR method by briefly describing the background or context of the situation and you include enough detail for the interviewer to understand the circumstances, but you need to keep it concise.

Next, you explain your specific responsibilities or the challenges that you faced in the situation, and you need to clarify what was at stake and the goal that you were trying to achieve.

Thirdly, you focus on the steps that you took to address the situation, so you highlight your decisions, your thought processes and the skills that you applied to the situation. Also, it’s best if you use “I” statements instead of “we” statements to emphasise your personal contributions.

Finally, you talk about the outcome of your actions, and this includes measurable achievements or qualitative impacts. Also, you can discuss what you learnt and how the experience made you a stronger professional.

Ultimately, this is important for aspiring psychologists because you need to be able to talk and write about your volunteering experiences so that the employers understand that whilst you might not have been an assistant psychologist before in a paid capacity, you still have all the skills needed, and that you’re ready for this opportunity.

Below are some recent examples of my non-psychology volunteering experience that I’ve written into paragraphs using the STAR method. These might not be perfect but hopefully they give you a sense of how to do it.

“As Campaign Coordinator for the Cuxton, Halling and Riverside By-Election between June and July 2026, I have policy experience because I wrote and communicated policies for the by-election campaign, and created social media content. I was Social Media Lead for the campaign so I created 36 YouTube shorts-style videos, 36 social media graphics and wrote engaging copy for each post. My posts focused on policy, our candidate and how our candidate could deliver change for residents. This led to a regular stream of social media content that was repeatedly praised, shared and highlighted in local media. Local Authority Online reported my content as relentlessly earnest and prolific. My content helped residents in the ward to clearly understand what we stood for and how we would deliver for them.

I have experience meeting tight deadlines and handling logistics. During the five-week by-election campaign, I led on creating, coordinating and delivering over 500 personal letters to postal voters, delivering 6,400 leaflets, canvassing over 1,000 houses amongst others across a large geographical area. Myself and my campaign team often worked full-time hours in this volunteering role to ensure everything was completed on time. The result of my coordination and logistical efforts meant we successfully delivered all campaign materials on time despite being understaffed and under-resourced.

I have experience in written and oral communication with different audiences. As Press Lead for the by-election campaign, I was responsible for writing the press release that went out to my media contacts. Also, I wrote the policy content for the leaflets for local residents, emails for volunteers and party members and I confidently and effectively communicated our policy stances to volunteers and residents when canvassing. The results of my effective communication where our volunteers were confident in expressing our policies and stances so they could effectively communicate and flip voters on the doorstep, our volunteers were excited to help out and the press release was published by three media outlets within the first 24-hours.

I have experience in volunteer coordination because during the by-election campaign, I had to coordinate 50 leafleting and 50 canvassing volunteers. This meant I had to communicate with them through email, WhatsApp and ensure my communication was clear. This helped volunteers to understand they were valued, they would be supported and they understood what was needed of them. I responded to their enquiries with kindness, compassion and validation so they would continue to engage with the campaign despite some interpersonal difficulties that erupted within the volunteer team. My actions resulted in a good, sustainable turn out of volunteers that helped the campaign to achieve its goals.”

Finally, the reason why I’ve included this section and my examples of non-psychology volunteering is because, as I discuss in my book Beyond the Lecture Volume 7, it’s always a good idea to have a plan B for your psychology journey. This is one of the reasons why I’m developing my campaign, my comms, my policy and a whole bunch of other skills so I can branch out and get a job. Since psychology jobs are like gold dust.

Careers In Psychology Conclusion

I’m really happy that I got to do this podcast episode because whilst I am still passionate and working towards getting a psychology job, I still see a lot of people, and partly this includes myself, going down the wrong volunteering routes because they think that any volunteering experience is better than nothing. That might be true to some extent but in a job market like psychology that is extremely tough to get into, not all volunteering experience is created equal.

And I would rather you wonderful listeners don’t spend years doing volunteering that won’t pay off.

The three tips that we’ve learnt in this episode are:

·       Be purposeful with your volunteering- focus on roles that will actually give you the skills you need to advance your psychology journey

·       Jobcraft and tailor your volunteering role to give you the experience and skills you need

·       Use the STAR method on job applications, cover letters and in job interviews to effectively communicate your volunteering experience

I hope you enjoyed today’s clinical psychology podcast episode.

If you want to learn more, please check out:

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