university graduate in robes

It isn’t always possible to get something 100% applicable to your career goals but I would think of the transferable skills you may be able to get.  

Student's can often feel pressure to get a co-op placement that aligns with their future career goals, but often the biggest learning comes from the transferable skills they develop. Amy speaks about how she still uses these skills today.

Tell us a bit about yourself, what course did you study in UL, what has your career looked like to date?

My name is Amy Walsh, and I completed both my undergraduate and Master's at UL. I did the BA Joint Honours in Psychology and Politics and then went on to complete the MA in Psychology.  I am currently working as a Clinical Psychologist in Northern Ireland having completed my Doctorate of Clinical Psychology at Queens University Belfast.  

Tell us a bit about your co-op placement, what organisation did you work with and what year it took place?

For my co-op placement in 2014, I worked in the local GROW office. GROW is an international organisation which provides peer support groups for those experiencing a range of mental health difficulties. The placement gave me a wealth of experience from gaining knowledge of various mental health conditions, understanding the importance of peer support and coproduction in mental health services and helped me to develop my group facilitation skills.  My placement helped me to build the skills needed to gain further roles in my chosen field and progress with my career.  

What impact did your co-op placement have on your future career?

Without the experience I gained in co-op I would not have got my first assistant psychologist role which was the beginning of my journey towards becoming a clinical psychologist. I still use the skills I developed on co-op and often draw on my experience there in my current role.  

What piece of advice would you give to students going on co-op now?

The advice I would give people is to try and gain a co-op placement that has some relevance to the area you want to work in. It isn’t always possible to get something 100% applicable to your career goals but I would think of the transferable skills you may be able to get.