The following are just a few of the many psychology-related job titles that you might want to explore. Some are directly in the field of psychology, while others require additional training in another field or specialty area.
Best Jobs For Psychology Majors
It can be hard to find the perfect job after you graduate from college. Luckily for students who graduated with a Psychology degree, we have got you covered. We found the jobs that most Psychology majors prefer by examining millions of job listings and 216,201 Psychology major resumes.
1. Human Resources Coordinator
Human resources specialists recruit, screen, interview, and place workers. They often handle other human resources work, such as those related to employee relations, compensation and benefits, and training.
2. Recruiter
Human resources specialists recruit, screen, interview, and place workers. They often handle other human resources work, such as those related to employee relations, compensation and benefits, and training.
3. Research Assistant
4. Human Resources Generalist
Human resources specialists recruit, screen, interview, and place workers. They often handle other human resources work, such as those related to employee relations, compensation and benefits, and training.
5. Human Resources Assistant
6. Human Resource Specialist
Human resources specialists recruit, screen, interview, and place workers. They often handle other human resources work, such as those related to employee relations, compensation and benefits, and training.
7. Program Coordinator
Social and human service assistants provide client services, including support for families, in a wide variety of fields, such as psychology, rehabilitation, and social work. They assist other workers, such as social workers, and they help clients find benefits or community services.
8. Human Resources Internship
9. Counselor
A Counselor helps people to explore feelings and emotions that are often related to past and present experiences. They work with individuals, groups, and communities to improve their mental health.
What Can You Do with a Psychology Degree?
Few fields are as far-reaching as psychology, which is excellent news for those wondering what to do with a psychology degree. This discipline requires mastery in a variety of topics, including sociology, behavioral research, medical science, and even legal issues.
Typically, you’ll need a doctoral degree in psychology in order to build a career as a clinically practicing psychologist, but a therapist can often hold a successful career in different fields with lesser (and less expensive!) degrees. Some examples include:
These examples aren’t even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the possible psychology degree jobs open to you. Let’s look at each degree option to answer the question of what job can you get with a psychology degree.
Human Resources Staff
Human resources (HR) staff recruit and train employees, counsel workers, negotiate contracts, mediate personnel conflicts, administer benefits programs, and set policies/standards for managing employees. Psychology majors who take coursework in industrial/organizational psychology at the undergraduate or graduate level gain insight into workplace dynamics. Psych majors develop interviewing skills and the ability to appraise the qualities of people who serve them well on the recruiting side of HR.
Psychology majors tend to possess the communication skills and finesse with people necessary to counsel employees, mediate conflicts, and negotiate contracts. HR staff are heavily involved with employee assessment, evaluation, and research where the psych major’s knowledge of the scientific method can be quite useful.
Salary Information and Job Outlook: According to the BLS, the median annual wage for human resources specialists was $61,920 in May 2019. Employment of human resources specialists is projected to grow 5% through 2028, which is about as fast as the average for all occupations.
Clinical Psychologist
Clinical psychologists assess, diagnose, and treat clients struggling with psychological disorders. These professionals typically work in hospital settings, mental health clinics, or private practices.
Although clinical psychology is the single largest employment area within the field of psychology, there are still plenty of jobs available for qualified professionals. In order to become a clinical psychologist, you must have a doctoral-level degree in clinical psychology and most states require a minimum of a one-year internship.
Make an Important Discovery About Your Future
You’ve just seen how useful it can be to have an educated understanding of the psychological mechanisms that cause people to act (or not act) in certain ways. Knowing how to apply that knowledge to real-world situations can be a big asset in nearly any career—not just within the field of psychology.
Even so, a lot of people still ask, "What can you do with a psychology major?" That’s why it helps to have both a general idea of the career possibilities as well several specific examples. Looking at the bigger picture, it’s apparent that people with backgrounds in psychology can do things such as:
- Help people overcome personal obstacles and make better choices to improve their lives
- Discover and promote healthier ways to live that help prevent mental illnesses and social problems
- Find clues to almost any aspect of human behavior that might otherwise continue to be clouded in mystery
- Help businesses or other organizations identify and implement new methods for improving productivity, raising morale, and attracting and retaining good employees
- Contribute to public safety by using insights about human behavior within the criminal justice system
- Help improve the educational system by discovering better ways to instruct, motivate, or test students based on how they learn and perceive the world
- Discover new ways to inspire people to act for the benefit of their communities and the environment
Those are just a few reasons why a person might choose a psychology-related education. It’s a field of study that can reveal a huge variety of potential career paths, not just those that require advanced credentials. In fact, in 2013, only about 45 percent of all psychology majors went on to earn an advanced graduate degree. That’s because this area of science applies to almost every sector of human endeavor.
So take a closer look at the programs offered by colleges for psychology. You might just discover that the type of job you’re after doesn’t necessarily require multiple years of school. Or you might discover a path that you haven’t thought of before and feel inspired to pursue a whole new set of goals.
References:
https://www.zippia.com/psychology-major/
https://careersinpsychology.org/50-best-jobs-psychologists/
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/top-jobs-for-psychology-majors-2059641
https://www.verywellmind.com/a-list-of-psychology-careers-2794917
https://www.trade-schools.net/articles/psychology-careers