Forensic psychology is an incredibly challenging and demanding field, there’s no denying that. But if you’re resilient, understanding, prepared, and well educated, there’s no reason why you can’t forge a successful career for yourself in this industry.
To find out what you must do to become a forensic psychologist, be sure to read on.
Obtain necessary qualifications
Forensic psychology isn’t an industry that you can just stroll into. If you’re serious about pursuing a career in this field, you’re going to need to obtain a number of necessary qualifications.
First and foremost, you will need to earn yourself a bachelor’s degree in psychology. On this course, you will learn about the inner workings of the human psyche and, ultimately, obtain a working knowledge of your field.
Hold your horses — you’re not ready to step into the world of work just yet! Once you’ve graduated from your bachelor’s course, you need to go one step further in your attempt to learn everything there is to know about your field. Your next port of call in this instance should be to enroll yourself on a Master of Science in Forensic Psychology course. On this type of higher education degree program, you will learn about behavioral health and, importantly, you will be taught about the intrinsic relationship it shares with the law and criminal justice system.
Finally, you need to get yourself enrolled on a doctoral program. A PhD qualification is prerequisite for most of the world’s leading forensic psychology firms, which is why you must be prepared to embark on this intense level of study.
If you aren’t prepared to devote 8+ years of your life to studying, forensic psychology is probably not the right profession for you…
Master a number of soft skills
Learning about the intricacies of psychology and forensic science will only get you so far. If you want to embark on a successful career in the field of forensic psychology, you’re also going to need to master a number of soft skills.
Once you’ve left the university lecture hall behind for good, you should take some time to hone the following skills and expertise:
Communication
In your role as a forensic psychologist, you will be tasked with conducting interviews on a regular basis. To ensure that you get the answers you need out of each interview that you conduct, it’s essential that you have strong communication skills. This will help you to establish trusting relationships with the people that you talk to, which in turn will increase your chances of getting the truth out of them.
The ability to read body language
If the people that you interview aren’t forthcoming when it comes to answering your questions, you’re going to need to find another way to get the truth out of them. No, this doesn’t mean that you should resort to extreme interrogation measures — it means that you should learn how to read their body language. Each interviewee will, in some way or another, answer the questions that you ask them… you just have to be able to read between the lines to ensure that you obtain the information that you require.