Lesson 1: Mastering Your Life

12 - Jobs Available in Psychology

Entry-Level Jobs For Psychology Majors

Although you need a masters or a doctoral degree to be a ‘psychologist’, many entrylevel jobs are open to people with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Entry-level jobs for psychology graduates use people skills. For example, communicating with and relating to people from diverse backgrounds is often required by case workers, sales, marketing, personnel, and management positions. Some entry-level jobs need analytical skills that are useful in the work place because they give the necessary skills for problem solving. Other skill areas include writing, which is useful for logically developed written reports and research that can involve statistical tables and graphs to analyze problems and to communicate relevant findings.

These skills acquired at the undergraduate level can be used in a variety of work settings including human services (counselling, social work), business, criminal justice (probation officer, corrections officer), health and recreation, and education.

Types of Jobs Available for those with a Master’s and/or a PhD in Psychology

Teaching and Research

People who teach undergraduate, master’s level, or doctoral-level students usually work in universities. Most people who teach at the university level are also involved in research. If you do not want to teach and only want to focus on research, then you can work for various government agencies or private research organizations. To work as a psychologist in any of these settings, you most likely require a Ph.D in psychology. You might be able to get a job teaching psychology courses at a community college with a Master’s degree in psychology.

Applied Work

Psychologists, depending on their specialty area, are able to work in different fields . They can teach and share their knowledge, research and generate new knowledge, and work in fields where they can apply their knowledge. These areas include clinical psychology, counselling psychology, forensic psychology, health psychology, industrial and/or organizational psychology, and sports psychology.

• Clinical psychology
People with psychological problems are assessed and treated by clinical psychologists. Some psychologists act as therapists for people who experience normal psychological crises such as the death of a close family member. Psychologists can be generalists who treat patients from a wide variety of the population or they can be specialists who work with specific groups such as children, women, or the elderly. Usually, clinical psychologists work in universities, hospitals, community health centres, or private practice.

• Counselling psychology
Counselling psychologists concentrate more on a person’s adjustment problems instead of working with people who suffer from severe psychological disorders. They are located in universities, counselling centres, community mental health clinics, and private practice.

• Forensic psychology
Forensic psychologists are found in many places including prisons and associated facilities such as halfway houses, working as consultants for trial lawyers, serving as expert witness in jury trials, or formulating public policy on psychology and the law. Some forensic psychologists have both psychology and legal qualifications.

• Health psychology
Health psychologists work for the promotion and maintenance of good health and the prevention and treatment of illness. They can design and run programs that help individuals lose weight, stop smoking, manage stress, and stay fit. Health psychologists work in hospitals, medical schools, rehabilitation centres, public health clinics, university settings, and private practice.

• Industrial/organizational psychology
Often called I/O psychologists, they are interested in the relationship between people and their work environment. They can develop new ways to increase workplace productivity or help in personnel selection. I/O psychologists work in business, government agencies, and academic institutions.

• Sports psychology
Sports psychologists deal with the psychological factors that improve athletic performance. Some look at the effects of exercise and physical activity on psychological adjustment and health. Sports psychologists work in academic institutions and/or are consultants for sports teams.

A sports psychology consultant currently working in the field suggests that three areas of specialization are available:

• Educational sports psychology emphasizes teaching performanceenhancement skills such as goal setting, focusing, imagery, and arousal control in an athletic environment.
• Clinical sports psychology deals with sports-related psychological problems such as depression, substance abuse, and eating disorders among athletes.
• Academic sports psychology focuses on research and teaching. In the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, more than twenty sports psychology consultants worked with the athletes. One-third of the golfers on major tours work with sports psychologists. Until recently, a sports psychologist was considered by athletes as a person one saw with a problem. Now, sports psychologists are viewed as an integral part of many athletes’ lives because their mental health is viewed as just as important as their physical health.

Education

Many counselling-related career options are available in the educational field. If you plan to work in a public school setting, you must also have an education degree.

• Educational psychology
Those involved in this field try to understand the basic aspects of human learning and develop materials and strategies that help the learning process. An educational psychologist might study the reading process and then develop a new technique to teach reading to those who cannot learn in the traditional classroom setting. Educational psychologists are trained in faculties of education not psychology. They in universities and colleges as well as at the school board level.

• School counselling
School counsellors work with children who are troubled. They try to help these children function more effectively with their classmates and their teachers. They also help children deal with family problems. School counsellors are employed at all levels of the educational system.

• School psychologists
If a child is having difficulties in school, school psychologists are asked to test the child. They try to diagnose the problem and sometimes suggest ways of dealing with the problem. School psychologists are usually trained in facilities of education and work in the public education system.

Social work

If you are interested in counselling, you may want to consider social work. Social workers who practice psychotherapy are called clinical social workers or psychiatric social workers. Clinical social workers assess and treat psychological problems. Psychiatric social workers help individuals, families, and small groups. Both are located in mental health centres, counselling centres, sheltered workshops, hospitals, and schools. Some have their own private practices.

Supplemental Information
If you would like to learn more about careers, these web sites have a great deal of information.
Discovering your personality:
http://www.advisorteam.com/user/ktsintro.asp

The most adventurous careers in the 21st century
http://library.thinkquest.org/3340/INDEX2.HTM

The next step magazine (a magazine for US high school students, but it has a Canadian component):
http://www.uakron.edu/hefe/fam1.html#link/

Career finder: (You must register.)
http://www.cdn.cx.bridges.com