Psychology Degree Career

Psychology is a broad term that includes various streams of specialization in the related field. The various sub-fields of psychology include clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, personality psychology, neuroscience, social psychology etc. Find out the prospects for careers in psychology.

Psychology degree career

Psychology by itself is a vast field and has many areas that can be covered after completion of a course in the same. Graduates with a degree in psychology have the choice of becoming professional psychologists after completion of formal training, after gathering knowledge in the same field and on successful completion of a post graduation program. Careers in the field of psychology can be broadly categorized into:

• Careers for which psychology degree is necessary
  
  
• Careers in psychology open to graduates from any discipline
  
  
• Careers where a degree in psychology proves to be supportive and helpful
  

Psychology degree career guide

This type of a career choice requires the person to have either graduate degree or a post-graduation in the field of psychology.

Clinical psychologist: Work in hospitals, public environment etc where people encounter problems in learning or mental health. They concentrate mainly in areas related to mental health such as anxiety disorders and learning problems in children.

Educational psychologist: Deal with students who have problems in learning, social and emotional problems. They also work with teachers, social workers regarding student problems.

Counseling psychologist: They help in relieving anxiety related disorders, keep check on depression and related problems by applying psychological hypothesis, techniques and research methodologies.

Forensic psychologist: They apply psychology to civil and criminal justice systems and gain employment mainly in NHS social service, prison service, voluntary service etc.

Occupational psychologist: They help train staff in the fields of psychometric analysis, communication, managing work environment in an efficient style. They mainly specialize in the field of organizational psychology, ergonomics dealing with human issues and engineering significance of psychology, industrial psychology, personal psychology, time management, etc.

Health psychologist: This is a relatively newer field of applied psychology and is practiced mainly in hospitals, health departments, universities etc. They deal with attitude, behavior and thinking of the people and help in altering pre-conceived thoughts of humans.

Psychotherapy: They follow various methods of treatments to cure various physical and mental illness in people.

Teaching psychologist/Research psychologist: They teach/research psychology in colleges depending on the levels they have chosen.

Students who complete a course in any stream of graduation are chosen for some jobs where they are subsequently trained in specific areas as per the requirement of the work environment. Though employers prefer graduates who specialize in psychology itself, there are employers who wish to mould their employees in the required fields.

All graduates who specialize in the field of psychology need not necessarily stick on to the related field alone. They can also choose other careers where they can apply their knowledge of psychology for better performance. For e.g. in the field of market research, advertising, nursing, social work, career guidance, personnel management a degree in psychology helps in understanding people and the work environment better. People armed with a degree in psychology can help make a difference in such fields. They are trained in evaluating characters, preparing questionnaires, conducting interviews, drawing new systems of learning and child development.

Pursuing psychology career degree

Students have the option of either doing an under-graduation course in psychology or have the option of further specializing in the sub-fields of psychology by opting for a post-graduation degree in the same field.

Bachelor's degree in psychology: Will help fetch a job as an assistant to an already practicing psychologist. Other avenues are jobs in the fields of marketing research and management.

Master's degree in psychology: They gain jobs as assistants to doctoral-level psychologists or can gain entry as industrial-organizational psychologists.

Doctoral degree in psychology: Can practice as independent counseling psychologists, teach in universities, conduct research, work in health care services etc. They have a wider option to choose from when compared to the rest.

To work as specialists in psychology, special training or degree in that particular field of psychology is required. For e.g. to be a specialist in school psychology a degree in this specialization for a period of three years is compulsory. All independently practicing psychologists have to hold a valid license issued by the concerned authority.

Job opportunities for psychology graduates

With increasing emphasis on value the psyche of people at educational institutions, work place and virtually all walks of life, the demand for psychologists is definitely on the rise. Finding a job for psychologists will mainly be related to where they choose to work and specialization. Hospitals, educational institutions, offices, health departments, social welfare departments are a few places that are always in need of psychologists and fresh minds.

There are many openings in this field and requirements can be studied from psychology job listings that are maintained by Association for psychological science, the American psychological Association etc. Social psychology network offers job posting forum where job search related to particular fields can be conducted.

Psychologists are in high demand and this demand is only expected to rise with more and more people approaching professionals, be it occupational groups such as sales, marketing, computer professionals, hospital and social welfare offices or educational institutions.