Psychology Undergrad from a state school - Need ideas

[Anonymous]

A good friend of mine recently became a widow with 3 children at the age of 40. Her husband was self employed and all they owned was equity in there home. After the sale of the home she will have about 6 months living expenses. She has an undergrad degree in psychology from a state 4 year school. She's done office work and teen social work in the past.

DH and I can put her up for a year to get her on her feet. We need suggestions of where she can start looking for work. Any professional work will do. She doesn't have a strong aversion to any professional field.

[Anonymous]

Change your major

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Change your major

??

[Anonymous]

Planned Parenthood counselor?
ACS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Planned Parenthood counselor?
ACS?

What's ACS?

[Anonymous]

Working with a local school system as a school counselor?

[Anonymous]

What was the husbands business? Can she take that over?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What was the husbands business? Can she take that over?

Carpentry and No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Working with a local school system as a school counselor?

That's top on her list. We are working to see how one goes about that.

[Anonymous]

She needs to start temping ASAP. Maybe as an admin assistant with hopes of becoming an executive assistant. They can make 90k and still have reasonable hours. The fact that she has a degree will seve her well in that field.

[Anonymous]

It's not easy. She needs her masters

[Anonymous]

I know it is a hard pill to swallow, but she will probably have to take something entry level, which in reality is her skill level. my best advice - look for a good company and take whatever entry level/admin job she can get. if it is a good company and she truly is a good worker then more opportunities will open up for her in the future. sad situation for your friend though, very scary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Working with a local school system as a school counselor?

That's top on her list. We are working to see how one goes about that.

I don't know about this... she will be up against people with masters degrees and experience already in schools. I seriously doubt any school would hire anyone with just a psych degree and no experience for a counselor position.

what about working on a research study at a university?

[Anonymous]

Really? No life insurance?

Same thing happened to my friend but she had life insurance and retirement. She cashed both and paid off the house.

She works in the school as a sub and got a long term sub position. She has health insurance and a place to live.

The kids get social security. (Won't her kids get social security?)

They get free lunch.

I don't suggest letting her move in with you. She can do this on her own but if she lives with you she will never learn that and then blame you for her horrible life when you finally ask her to move out.

Who advised her to sell? She needs a financial planner, you should pay for that.

[Anonymous]

An undergrad psych degree is useless for any type of position requiring licensure or even certification (unless she wants to be an alcohol/drug counselor, which is tough work for not much pay--and she'd still have to train for it).

I'd echo the advice to look for a good company that needs admin/entry level staff. Once she has her foot in the door and a stable job, she can think about other things if she wants to.

All the best to your friend. You and your husband are great to help her out.