School psychological examiner skills for your resume and career

Grads should not think of that year as a throw-away period between serious work on degrees. Instead, they should use this as a time to redefine their own vision. They should ask themselves, "After I have considered everything that I could do with my life, what one things must I do?". Students shouldn't just think about a career in terms of skills acquisition. They should also think about how that time in between degrees could be used to find meaning, adjust their attitudes, build relationships. Among the many things this Era of COVID has taught us, the most important is that none of us is an island. We all live within the society; our task is to find out what that means for our individual lives.

Due to the pandemic, many graduates had to finish their classes online, meaning that for most, that required more independent learning and virtual team work. Employers will definitely look at how well you function in a virtual environment, especially whether you can conduct and host virtual meetings. Being aware of how multiple systems such as Microsoft Teams, Skype, Go-to-Meeting, and Zoom work can help distinguish a potential candidate. Written skills are also important as email communication may be the primary way to communicate with those within and outside of the organization. Understanding how to write in a clear and concise manner can help boost your resume to the top. Additionally, in some work settings, in-person meetings may not be possible, so you may be writing more messages when you are unable to "see" or call someone on the phone.

Some of the most straightforward: Organization and planning, basic writing (surprisingly deficient these days) and email etiquette, effective teamwork (again, I worry how online classes affect that one). "Grit" is a popular one tossed around today. Psychometrically, "grit" is actually a bit of a kludge of different psychological factors (mostly personality factors). But one element of it I think is important: a growth mindset. That is the mindset that I can and still need to learn, and to be willing to take on challenges and risk failure. Failure is one of the most important learning opportunities, and increasingly our educational system seems to focus on shielding students from failure rather than teaching them to learn from it. I think that's a big problem. Students and new employees need to be willing to ask questions, challenge themselves and learn from their failures. Good management and mentorship is a big part of that, but so is that growth mindset in the graduate.

School psychologists need to collect and make sense of assessment data to recommend appropriate interventions to help children succeed in academic settings. School psychologists administer various assessments that help educators and parents understand how children learn and process information. Understanding the information these tests give you and determining if a child has a learning disability based on the assessment results is vital.