If you were a psych major, what kind of work are you doing now?

[Anonymous]

If you want to do psych…you need to continue past a BA or BS. If you’re fine getting whatever random job you can wiggle into, a psych degree is fine.

[Anonymous]

I was a English major with a psych minor.

Ready to retire here in about 8 years, but I’ve had a diverse career history including corporate recruiting, contact administration, training and now government management.

[Anonymous]

My sister was a psych major and is a very successful TV writer in Hollywood!

[Anonymous]

I was a psych major and now work in market research for a Fortune 500 company. I am VERY glad I got my psych degree- having that background knowledge has helped me in so many ways with my job (designing, administering, and analyzing surveys/survey results, analyzing consumer behavior, considering demographics, etc.) I did end up getting my MBA, but that would have been necessary to move up in the field even if I would have majored in something more applied like marketing or business or statistics.

I agree that if you want to work in the psychology field specifically then a graduate degree is necessary (clinical psychologist, psych professor, school psychologist, therapist etc.) but I disagree completely that it is useless on its own. there are many many fields where having a grasp on human behavior and an understanding of research methods and statistics are enormously helpful.

[Anonymous]

I majored in psychology (and minored in sociology) and now work as a school psychologist in FCPS. My graduate degree is an EdS (educational specialist), which is a step above a master's. Program was three years- one year of classes, one year of classes and a 600-hour practicum (field work), and then one year of full time internship. I make $95k. I'm not rich, but I do meaningful work, get great benefits and summers off, don't have to deal with a lot of the BS teachers do (to be fair, there's still plenty of BS), and get to have a lot of variety in my work. About half of my time is spent doing special education evaluations, and then the rest is individual and group counseling, consulting with teachers, and systems level work.

I would highly recommend the field to anyone who is interested in education (but doesn't want to become a teacher) and enjoys psychology, learning, and behavior. Plus, there is a shortage of school psychs. More people retiring than there are folks graduating from SP programs. You can get a job really easily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was a psych major and now work in market research for a Fortune 500 company. I am VERY glad I got my psych degree- having that background knowledge has helped me in so many ways with my job (designing, administering, and analyzing surveys/survey results, analyzing consumer behavior, considering demographics, etc.) I did end up getting my MBA, but that would have been necessary to move up in the field even if I would have majored in something more applied like marketing or business or statistics.

I agree that if you want to work in the psychology field specifically then a graduate degree is necessary (clinical psychologist, psych professor, school psychologist, therapist etc.) but I disagree completely that it is useless on its own. there are many many fields where having a grasp on human behavior and an understanding of research methods and statistics are enormously helpful.

There is a difference between something that is useful to you in doing your job vs. something that is desired or respected by employers looking to hire. A psych degree is useless in applying for jobs. That's what most of us mean by "useless."

Now, maybe you use your understanding of psychological concepts in manipulating consumers' behavior, in interacting with the public as a police officer or investigator, or in understanding your employees -- so an individual can find some applications for what they learned through their psych degree. But, in terms of getting a job, I feel very certain in saying that a psych degree has not been "useful" in getting an interview or being hired. Almost any other degree would be more "useful" in getting the attention of an employer than a psych degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A bachelors in psychology is essentially worthless. It’s a degree that requires grad school to turn into any sort of career in the field. I have BA in psych. I intended pursue a psyD, but life happened and I never went back. I have worked a variety of jobs from retail to preschool teacher to ABA therapist, but have never made over $40k.

Got a Psych degree and worked in Fintech right out of college. Psychology was useful especially when I become a manager.

You just proved the point that you can’t work in the psych field with only a bachelors.

There are psych BA jobs, but they don't typically pay well. We hire psych BAs to be behavior health techs at my hospital. They make about $20 an hour.

[Anonymous]

My sister double-majored in psych and women's studies (i.e. she's basically DCUM's worst nightmare). She and her DH started a successful digital marketing firm when online advertising was just becoming a thing, and they managed to weather some big economic downturns. More recently, they've also spun off a tech company based on some of the internal IP they developed.

One of my childhood BFFs was a psych major. She is now a law professor and the Vice-Dean at a well-ranked law school.

[Anonymous]

I was a work-study student in my school's HR department. Decided to stick around before going to law school, but am now 15 years into my career in faculty recruitment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a psych major and now work in market research for a Fortune 500 company. I am VERY glad I got my psych degree- having that background knowledge has helped me in so many ways with my job (designing, administering, and analyzing surveys/survey results, analyzing consumer behavior, considering demographics, etc.) I did end up getting my MBA, but that would have been necessary to move up in the field even if I would have majored in something more applied like marketing or business or statistics.

I agree that if you want to work in the psychology field specifically then a graduate degree is necessary (clinical psychologist, psych professor, school psychologist, therapist etc.) but I disagree completely that it is useless on its own. there are many many fields where having a grasp on human behavior and an understanding of research methods and statistics are enormously helpful.

There is a difference between something that is useful to you in doing your job vs. something that is desired or respected by employers looking to hire. A psych degree is useless in applying for jobs. That's what most of us mean by "useless."

Now, maybe you use your understanding of psychological concepts in manipulating consumers' behavior, in interacting with the public as a police officer or investigator, or in understanding your employees -- so an individual can find some applications for what they learned through their psych degree. But, in terms of getting a job, I feel very certain in saying that a psych degree has not been "useful" in getting an interview or being hired. Almost any other degree would be more "useful" in getting the attention of an employer than a psych degree.

How so? When we hire entry level analysts, we definitely seek out psych majors. It depends on the school but usually the psych background is a fantastic fit for what the job entails.

[Anonymous]

Understanding people. How their minds work. How they influence each other and what influences their behavior.

Those seem like pretty useful insight for organizations made up of people, don't you think?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a psych major and now work in market research for a Fortune 500 company. I am VERY glad I got my psych degree- having that background knowledge has helped me in so many ways with my job (designing, administering, and analyzing surveys/survey results, analyzing consumer behavior, considering demographics, etc.) I did end up getting my MBA, but that would have been necessary to move up in the field even if I would have majored in something more applied like marketing or business or statistics.

I agree that if you want to work in the psychology field specifically then a graduate degree is necessary (clinical psychologist, psych professor, school psychologist, therapist etc.) but I disagree completely that it is useless on its own. there are many many fields where having a grasp on human behavior and an understanding of research methods and statistics are enormously helpful.

There is a difference between something that is useful to you in doing your job vs. something that is desired or respected by employers looking to hire. A psych degree is useless in applying for jobs. That's what most of us mean by "useless."

Now, maybe you use your understanding of psychological concepts in manipulating consumers' behavior, in interacting with the public as a police officer or investigator, or in understanding your employees -- so an individual can find some applications for what they learned through their psych degree. But, in terms of getting a job, I feel very certain in saying that a psych degree has not been "useful" in getting an interview or being hired. Almost any other degree would be more "useful" in getting the attention of an employer than a psych degree.

How so? When we hire entry level analysts, we definitely seek out psych majors. It depends on the school but usually the psych background is a fantastic fit for what the job entails.

which is what? DD wants to major in psych but no sure abut masters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Understanding people. How their minds work. How they influence each other and what influences their behavior.

Those seem like pretty useful insight for organizations made up of people, don't you think?

+1 It's pretty typically for people in psychology who don't want to go to grad school right away to go into human resources or project management if they are going the corporate route. To do so, just encourage your kid to look at the job postings for what software skills they are currently looking for and learn those software (getting a credential if possible). Then just get an internship in a human resources department or try to get a work-study job in an on-campus office that has project management roles they can assist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a psych major and now work in market research for a Fortune 500 company. I am VERY glad I got my psych degree- having that background knowledge has helped me in so many ways with my job (designing, administering, and analyzing surveys/survey results, analyzing consumer behavior, considering demographics, etc.) I did end up getting my MBA, but that would have been necessary to move up in the field even if I would have majored in something more applied like marketing or business or statistics.

I agree that if you want to work in the psychology field specifically then a graduate degree is necessary (clinical psychologist, psych professor, school psychologist, therapist etc.) but I disagree completely that it is useless on its own. there are many many fields where having a grasp on human behavior and an understanding of research methods and statistics are enormously helpful.

There is a difference between something that is useful to you in doing your job vs. something that is desired or respected by employers looking to hire. A psych degree is useless in applying for jobs. That's what most of us mean by "useless."

Now, maybe you use your understanding of psychological concepts in manipulating consumers' behavior, in interacting with the public as a police officer or investigator, or in understanding your employees -- so an individual can find some applications for what they learned through their psych degree. But, in terms of getting a job, I feel very certain in saying that a psych degree has not been "useful" in getting an interview or being hired. Almost any other degree would be more "useful" in getting the attention of an employer than a psych degree.

Why assume that your unenlightened view is generalizable to all other employers? Clearly, all of these posters getting good jobs were appealing to the decision-maker. I find their arguments more convincing than your bias.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A bachelors in psychology is essentially worthless. It’s a degree that requires grad school to turn into any sort of career in the field. I have BA in psych. I intended pursue a psyD, but life happened and I never went back. I have worked a variety of jobs from retail to preschool teacher to ABA therapist, but have never made over $40k.

Got a Psych degree and worked in Fintech right out of college. Psychology was useful especially when I become a manager.

You just proved the point that you can’t work in the psych field with only a bachelors.

There are psych BA jobs, but they don't typically pay well. We hire psych BAs to be behavior health techs at my hospital. They make about $20 an hour.

That is because we are capitalist society, and caring for other humans is valued less than making people rich.
That does not mean that such work is less important or fulfilling.