Why should psychology be your major? Are careers in psychology good? These are questions you have probably asked yourself if you have ever thought about getting a psychology degree.
One of the most common college majors among undergraduates worldwide is psychology. A bachelor’s degree in psychology is awarded to more than 100,000 students in the United States each year, making it the fourth most popular major.
Why is psychology such a hit field? Students can pursue a wide range of employment prospects and personal improvement with a psychology degree.
An Overview For many reasons, psychology is a great college major and career. Many industries and high-demand jobs are available with a psychology degree. It can also help you get to know yourself and change lives. When deciding whether to major in psychology, consider these considerations.
1 Develop Multiple Careers
Psychology is not a career for everyone. One of the biggest benefits of a psychology degree is the wide range of career options.
Some of these potential professions include:
•Clinical psychology
•Sports psychology
•Forensic psychology
•Health psychology
•Industrial-organizational psychology
•Human factors psychology
2 Understand Yourself and Others
Ever pondered why individuals act a certain way? Or have you always desired to understand your thoughts, feelings, and actions? Psychology degrees help you comprehend people.
These Skills Are Highly Transferable
In addition to satisfying your own interest in human nature, having a solid understanding of what makes people do certain things can be a very marketable skill in a wide variety of job settings, including social services, advertising, marketing, education, health care, and politics.
3 Seek Out a Career That’s High Demand
Psychologists should anticipate a bright job market due to the high need for their services in institutions such as schools, hospitals, treatment centers for substance misuse, and social service organizations. Professionals with backgrounds in industrial-organizational psychology, school psychology, and clinical psychology should find plenty of work opportunities in the years to come.
Obtaining a graduate degree and getting postdoctoral work experience may give you an extra competitive edge if you want to work in a job directly related to psychology.
4 Enjoy Fun, Rewarding, Challenging Work
If you enjoy tackling practical or theoretical difficulties, consider a psychology degree. Some psychologists help people address real-world difficulties or manage complex emotions. Others investigate and add to scientific knowledge to better comprehend the human mind and behavior.
Is Psychology a Good Career?
Research suggests most psychologists enjoy their jobs. Most psychologists are “somewhat” or “very satisfied” with their careers.
5 Make a Difference
If you want to change lives, a psychology degree can help. Psychologists, counselors, therapists, and community service providers assist people overcome obstacles, improve their health, and reach their potential.
6 Collect, analyze, and interpret data
Psychology students study statistics and research methodologies extensively. Even if you hate research, understanding how to obtain, organize, analyze, and evaluate data can help you in many vocations. Educators, administrators, scientists, marketers, and advertising use such assignments to make decisions, evaluate progress, and finish projects.
7 Prepare for Graduate Study
An undergraduate psychology degree can prepare you for graduate school. Many students pursue graduate degrees in psychology, while others choose counseling, teaching, or social work. Even if you want to change careers in graduate school, majoring in psychology may help. Human psychology can lead to law, medicine, or life science studies.
8 Pursue a Specialty
Imagine you enjoy sports and fitness as well as psychology. Sports psychology combines the two seemingly unrelated fields. Psychology degrees allow you to follow your passions. A student who loves dealing with children can concentrate in developmental psychology with a concentration on early childhood development, while another who loves aging can do the same. Psychology specialists that work with seniors may also have good job prospects.3 Psychology’s geropsychology field, which helps aging seniors, is projected to increase.
9 Impress Potential Employers
Psychology students learn to analyze data, communicate complex information, and comprehend human behavior, which employers value. Around 64% of the 1.3 million persons with bachelor’s degrees in psychology claim their degree is directly connected to their career, while the rest use their psychology knowledge in other fields.
These could include:
•Advertising
•Business
•Criminal justice
•Education
•Health services
•Human resources
•Management
•Marketing
•Public affairs
•Sales
10 Study a Topic You Love
The best possible reason to earn a degree in psychology is simply a love for the subject matter. If you look forward to going to your psychology courses, enjoy discussing psychology topics, spend your free time browsing psychology websites, and love learning new facts about psychology, then chances are good that earning a psychology degree is the right choice for you.