Many students decide to take on a business degree simply because they think that it is going to lead to a highly lucrative career. However, while business majors surely can bring great financial success, a psychology degree can increase the prospects of a brighter career even more. Many men and women holding a bachelor’s degree in psychology can have a salary that is large enough to afford them a brand new automobile every year. Moreover, they can also have their own practices or have meaningful jobs and associations with various private and government bodies. A bachelor’s degree in psychology can be the starting point for numerous exciting career paths. Here is a brief look at what such a degree can do for a student.
Most popular career paths
Most students studying for a bachelor’s degree in psychology prefer to work with the social services. Among the most common jobs in this sector include career counseling, rehabilitation specialist, psychiatric technician and case manager. All of these jobs require skills that a degree in psychology can provide with; these include understanding the various needs of a specific client, keeping organized and accurate records, being a good listener who can express compassion and empathy and helping the clients in the best way possible.
Apart from the mainstream careers that are directly related to the field of psychology, there are also a number of other career paths that a person with a bachelor’s degree in psychology can choose from. These include business manager, advertising, library assistant and probation officer. It is important to note that many people who pursue a bachelor’s degree in psychology do not end up enrolling themselves for a graduate degree in the same field. They may also use the elements of psychology to help their own careers as they join other fields.
The most lucrative psychology careers
If you are someone who has enrolled himself or herself for a bachelor’s degree in psychology, then you can choose from any of these following careers as they are extremely lucrative from a financial standpoint.
Engineering Psychologist
The role of a professional engineering psychologist is to study human behavior and human nature in relation to technology. Over the last few decades, business and personal lives have become increasing technology driven, and this has changed the way we relate to each other. It has also impacted our ways of communication and thinking, concentration, focus and goals. Engineering psychologists also take into consideration how certain technological means can affects groups of people in very specific ways. For instance, some technological innovations may actually frustrate some users instead of helping them. Inability to use a computer or an ATM machine properly may leave a person with a lower self esteem or confidence. Engineering psychologists may also focus their energies on studying the effects of nuclear weapons and aviation technology in the lives and minds of human beings. They may also deal with overall system performance to improve the ways human beings and technology interacts with each other.
Child psychiatrist
- Child psychiatrists can earn almost half a million dollars within a single year just by handling a single job. One of the most comprehensive jobs relating to psychology and psychiatry, the role of a child psychiatrist is to understand and evaluate the emotional, mental and behavioral issues present in children aged between 2 and 15 years.
- Children often experience feelings or ideas that are very different from adults. They can also be at times difficult to handle because kids are often at a loss when it comes to expressing their thoughts and feelings in words. It is for this reason that a child psychiatrist needs to use not only his or her own academic knowledge but also make use of gut instinct and intuition to understand what a kid might be wanting to say but finding it difficult to say so.
- A student needs to have an advanced degree in the field of psychology to be a professional child psychiatrist. The basic academic training should be followed by 8 years of professional training; 4 of which will be carried out at some psychiatric residency. The rest 4 years would be completed in a medical school.
Forensic Psychologist
- If you are into solving crimes and mysterious cases, then a career as a forensic psychologist would probably suit you the most. To become a forensic psychologist, you need to have a doctorate degree which should be followed by several years of detailed clinical experience.
- As a professional forensic psychologist, you are going to have a number of intricate responsibilities.
- Firstly, you will need to understand and evaluate criminals and see whether they have the right mental disposition to stand trial. You may also need to testify during a trial and present your viewpoints about the diagnosis of a person’s mental condition and behavior.
- The federal government of USA has a high requirement of forensic psychologists, so it won’t be difficult to find employment in this field.
Industrial-Organizational Psychologists
As more people are realizing the importance of psychology in our day to day lives, there is a greater demand for industrial-organizational psychologists now than ever before. The role of industrial-organizational psychologists is to make use of psychology to come up with better business policies. They also help in understanding the ways in which an effective business model operates. They also help in employee screening for different types of jobs such as FBI, security officer, police officer or any other field that requires an employee to carry firearms. A professional industrial-organizational psychologist may also work together with employees to improve the quality of work habits and workplace culture. They can also play a special role in enhancing the level of productivity.
A bachelor’s degree in psychology from a respectable university can open many doors for a student that leads to a successful career. You can choose any of the career paths discussed above or even decide to be a career counselor, a child care worker or opt for any other job that you think fits your personality and skill sets perfectly.