Fanny Gloor, Assistant Psychologist in Child Psychiatry, Fondation de Nant

As an assistant psychologist, I'm still training to become a psychologist specialising in psychotherapy (FSP), under the supervision of psychologists and doctors. I have a 4-year contract, which I was able to extend by a year. A percentage of my time is therefore devoted to my training: I take part in conferences, seminars, clinical trials, etc. My professional practice is broadly divided into two areas. The first is child psychiatric investigation, where I see children or adolescents and their families for several interviews to assess the situation. I then present the case to a manager, and we make a diagnosis and recommend a course of treatment. I appreciate this supervision, which allows me to perfect my practice. The second stage is therapeutic treatment, which can take very different forms: individual psychotherapy, participation in therapeutic groups, family guidance, etc. The range is wide and it's a real pleasure to work with you. The range is wide, and that's what makes my work so interesting: every situation, every experience and every family context is different. The difficulties may be minor, but they may also involve serious psychopathology. But in every case, the encounter with the other person is at the heart of everything I do. I appreciate this human contact and the relationship of trust that develops between the families, the young people and myself.

During my psychology studies, I knew that I wanted to work in the field of child and adolescent psychology. I had the opportunity to gain my first experience in this sector during my final year of a Master's degree in psychology, specialising in child and adolescent psychology with consultation. When I finished my Masters, I started looking for a placement because my university years had given me a theoretical background but not much practical experience. My first placement was in a PPLS (Psychology, Psychomotricity and Logopaedics in the School Environment) department. For a year, I worked 50% of the time and simultaneously completed the MAS in child and adolescent psychology, which was a prerequisite for doing a placement in this field. I then did a second one-year placement at 80% at the Fondation de Nant, in a therapeutic day centre for children. Finally, I replaced a maternity leave for 6 months at the Fondation de Verdeil before being hired back at the Fondation de Nant as an assistant psychologist. During my placement at the Fondation de Nant, I expressed an interest in continuing my work with them, and I kept in touch with my manager in the months following the end of my placement. Building and maintaining a network is very important, and it's often how I've been able to get my various jobs.

You need to be brave, because it can seem difficult to enter the job market as a recent graduate. What's more, it's not always easy to get a feel for what lies ahead in terms of professional practice. However, once you're in the job market, you can start to build up a network and things become much easier. Overall, you need to be able to work as part of a team. In child psychiatry, we do a lot of networking, whether with schools, paediatricians, the Youth Protection Service (SPJ), speech therapists or psychomotor therapists. During your studies, take every opportunity to gain some experience, as this will help you to find a work placement. For example, people who are already trained in psychological assessment (affective and cognitive tests) will certainly have an advantage. At the Fondation de Nant, many psychologists have found a placement following an internship, which is a good way of making initial contact. It is also important to make clear your interest and desire to specialise further. In the field of child psychiatry, the psychotherapist specialisation is often preferred. Contact the assistant psychologists, who are responsible for appointments. Finally, don't hesitate to make unsolicited applications, as institutions will very often keep your file and bring it out again when they put a post up for competition. This makes it easier for you to stand out from the crowd of applicants.

If you're looking for a work placement, you should look for companies that offer training in your chosen field. Generally speaking, the best-known companies offer the most internship opportunities, as they cover a wide range of different professional fields. The graduate programme is essentially aimed at people with a Master's degree. The aim of these programmes is to promote employment, and they offer excellent supervision by experienced people. During the placement, find out about training opportunities, express your interest and talk to colleagues. Ideally, you should be able to finish the placement with a certificate attesting to one or more further training courses, which you can then use in your future career. A key element in the job search is to ask your contacts (friends, family, course colleagues, etc.). Let people know what you're looking for, explain your profile and keep in touch with your fellow students. Personally, I really enjoyed being able to share my job-hunting experiences with fellow students, both on how to write a CV and how to go about a job interview. Finally, doing a work placement in a company is an excellent experience (whether before or during your studies), because it allows you to develop your interpersonal skills in a different way from the university environment and to learn the right personal behaviour to adopt, whether with clients or colleagues. Personally, I worked almost every summer in the insurance company for which I did a three-month placement before my Bachelor's degree.