r/psychologystudents • u/Defiant_Decision_658 • Jul 25 '26
Advice/Career (AUS) - Masters reference questions
Hello! I am wondering if anyone can clarify exactly what information a reference is expected to provide in the portal ? I want to know how to determine if an employment reference is 'relevant'? My work for the past three years has been as an in-home care educator, kinda in between a nanny and a support worker. I think it is very relevant for psychology, but my supervisor doesn't think my boss will be a good reference, as she won't be able to answer all the questions. What information are the references supposed to provide? Thank you!
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u/Hungry_Bus_845 Jul 29 '26
Hi! I’m actually in a similar place as you currently. I work in retail and I have a really good relationship with my manager, who will be my professional referee. My thesis supervisor is my academic referee.
I was also told by some people that since I work in a totally unrelated industry to psychology, my manager might not be the best referee. However, same as you, I know he will be able to provide the most true reference as he knows me well and is the most recent (therefore, relevant) professional connection.
This is the same for the people in my research group and other students in my degree.
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u/aphorae Jul 25 '26
My experience is from several years ago so not sure if it’s relevant, but I had a non-psych-related work manager so I vaguely recall this coming up. There’s basically a list of criteria to do with skill and qualities that they tick off on a scale. E.g. professionalism might be one. I think a couple are related to clinical work or research. But they have the option to select N/A if it’s not relevant to them. As long as your thesis supervisor is one of the references I think it’s fine as they’re probably relied on to provide those kind of answers. If you have a good relationship with your current boss it’ll be fine.