Career Planning for Psychology Students
Not sure what to do with your psychology degree? Unsure about what courses to take to get the career you want?
A Psychology Department career adviser is available to help you:
- Explore career options available to you as a psychology major.
- Discuss the best courses to take at OHIO to get your desired job.
- Discuss the experience, skills, and abilities needed for desired jobs.
- Discuss and assist you in job search strategies.
- Review resumes and cover letters.
- Discuss other resources for career preparation (including Career and Leader Development Center services).
Career advising is available for psychology majors, minors, and prospective psychology majors through the Psychology Advising and Resource Center. Walk-ins are always welcome! To schedule an appointment, call us at 740-597-3206 or send us an email at psychadvising@ohio.edu.
To explore our handouts regarding specific career paths, please see Advising Tracks.
Explore Your Psychology Career Options
Contrary to popular belief, there are many career paths in psychology. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employment for psychologists is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through 2012. To become a professional psychologist, you do need an advanced degree (i.e., master's and doctoral degrees), but you have many options for career paths with a bachelor's degree in psychology—and the job outlook for psychology majors remains good!
The great thing about a psychology degree is that it is much more flexible and adaptable than other degrees. A quality undergraduate education in psychology helps you develop skills and abilities that make you very marketable in a wide variety of jobs from social services to business. In fact, many psychology majors are often hired because they are have well-developed people skills, analytical skills, and research skills.
Although many psychology majors go on to graduate school, the majority do not. Using the skills they developed through their undergraduate training in psychology, these individuals find fruitful and satisfying careers in fields such as human services, education, research, human resources, and business. In fact, business, education and human services supply the most jobs for psychology majors?with business jobs offering the highest salary.
For example, psychology majors are often employed within:
- Federal and State Human Services agencies
- Shelters, Nursing Homes, Group Homes
- Correctional Facilities and Juvenile Detention Centers
- Human Resources
- Advertising and Sales
- Market Research
- Management and Business
- Community and Public Relations
- Student Affairs (e.g., admissions, residential life, career center)
- Probations and Law Enforcement
- Education (e.g., teacher, child care worker)
- Scientific and Academic Research
Exploring Graduate School Options with a Psychology Degree
Although the employment market for psychology majors with an undergraduate degree is promising, individuals holding advanced degrees in psychology have additional career opportunities. According to economists at the Department of Labor, opportunities for people with graduate degrees in psychology are expected to grow between 10 to 20 percent by 2010. Additionally, many psychology majors also pursue advanced degrees in law, business, education, or other professional areas.
For more information on graduate school in psychology, please see Graduate School Preparation.
Psychology Advising and Resource Center
Advisers in the Psychology Department Advising and Resource Center can assist you in exploring the career possibilities available to you with a psychology degree. Additionally, advisors can help you to become a better job or graduate school candidate by discussing potential courses to take, discussing research and internship opportunities, and helping you through the job/graduate school application process (e.g., job search strategies; resume writing).
The center has a number of resources available to help you evaluate different career paths with a psychology degree. Examples include:
- Career Paths in Psychology: Where Your Degree Can Take You edited by Robert Sternberg
- Great Jobs for Psychology Majors by Julie DeGalan and Stephan Lambert
- What You Can Do with a Major in Psychology by Shelley O'Hara
- The Psychology Major: Career Options and Strategies for Success by R. Eric Landrum & Stephen Davis
Additional Resources
The following are important sites associated with career planning and career paths in psychology.
Ohio University's Career Network
The Career Network is committed to the career support and success of Bobcats throughout their career engagement life cycle. With a network of Success Advisors, Experience Designers, and Industry Hub Strategists, we partner with you to develop a customized plan to achieve your post-graduation goals.
Occupational Network (O*NET)
O*NET is an online database of occupational information. The site offers occupational statistics such as salaries and growth potential for all occupations. Additionally, you can search occupations by name or by your own interests, skills, abilities, etc.
Occupational Outlook Handbook
This is an excellent site that allows you to learn more about potential career paths. Specifically, it gives you information on the training and education needed for the job, earning potential, expected job prospects, what you would be doing on the job and what the working conditions are like. Additionally, the site offers job search tips and information about the job market in each state.
APA Careers in Psychology
The American Psychological Association?s online career center offers resources on career paths for both undergraduate and graduate psychology students, including information on the field of psychology and careers in psychology as well as tools for finds a job (e.g., job and internship listing database, resources on resumes, CV, etc).
Marky Lloyd's Careers in Psychology
This is a great website that provides information and useful links on the field of psychology and career paths in psychology.
Online Psychology Career Center
This website is directed primarily at social psychology students, but has resources available to students interested in any area of psychology. The site provides tips and resources on getting into graduate school, finding jobs and internships, and has a ton of information on social psychology.
Exploring Areas of Psychology
This site provides information and links on various sub-disciplines in psychology (e.g., clinical psychology, forensic psychology, health psychology, industrial-organizational)