Persons trained as psychologists find employment in a variety of settings. In the academic world, psychologists are employed as instructors and/or research scientists in departments of Psychology, Psychiatry, Medicine, Education, Business Administration, and Criminal Justice. Psychologists are also employed at student counseling centers and student health centers.

State and federal governments employ psychologists in many work sites such as mental hospitals, mental health clinics, parole and probation offices, rehabilitation counseling services, employment offices, juvenile detention centers, prisons, psychological testing programs, personnel evaluation sections, and research institutes. Psychologists are also used as consultants on government projects.

In business and industry, psychologists are employed in positions as personnel and human resource managers and consultants, human factors/engineering psychologists, personnel evaluation and selection specialists, human factors analysts, public relations workers, market analysts/researchers, and program and production evaluators. For example, companies such as Proctor and Gamble employ psychologists to do consumer product research, and advertising agencies employ psychologists to conduct surveys.

Schools and school district offices use school psychologists, psychological counselors, psychometricians, and educational and clinical psychologists.

Human service agencies, such as drug treatment centers, group homes, sheltered workshops, day care centers, nursery schools, gerontology centers, and others, often employ people trained in Psychology.

Psychologists often engage in private practice as consulting psychologists. Some professional psychologists combine their proficiency in Psychology with expertise in another field and become consultants in unusual areas such as "behavioral considerations for architectural design" or "psychological aspects of hearing disabilities". The largest area of private practice is the clinical application of counseling or psychotherapy. Applied areas are large and continue to grow.

Educational Requirements

For many positions requiring a psychologically-trained person, some graduate training beyond the bachelor's degree is necessary. Most of these positions require, as a minimum, a degree at the master's level. Often, they require a doctorate. Nevertheless, many persons who do not plan to attend graduate school complete a bachelor's degree in Psychology and find this background useful in their vocational field. There is evidence that demand for individuals with bachelors degrees in Psychology is on the increase; most of the expansion is in human service agencies.

The American Psychological Association publishes two pamphlets of interest: Psychology as a Profession and Careers for the 21st Century. The latter is available in Baker Bookstore. They are also available from the American Psychological Association order department, 1200 17th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20036.

Employment Data on Persons with Bachelors Degrees in Psychology

Past surveys have found that graduates with bachelors degrees find employment as management trainees, sales managers, personnel assistants, public relations directors, live-in counselors, research analysts, social workers, rehabilitation counselors, produce buyers, retail and wholesale sales managers, real estate brokers, laboratory technicians, recreation directors, statistical data processing analysts, and activity supervisors. Students will find it very helpful to read DeGalan, J., & Lambert, S. (1995). Great jobs for psychology majors. Lincolnwood, IL: VGM Career Horizons. It is available in Hill 313 and at the Reserve Desk in Meyer Library.

The Placement Office of Missouri State University is one of 183 placement offices in 161 universities across the country surveyed by the College Placement Council. For more information, go to the Career Planning and Placement Office (CAR 309, 836-5636). Please also check out the web page for Career Services.

Many openings are available to persons with Bachelor's degrees in Psychology. However, you should be aware that Psychology, like most other professions, has a very tight job market. Therefore, persons with degrees in Psychology must undertake a diligent search for jobs, including the use of all available employment services. It is true, however, that there are jobs in a variety of areas, at decent salary levels, available to graduates of the Psychology Department.

Two sources of assistance for obtaining employment are the campus Career Services (CAR 309) and the Missouri Division of Employment Security (State Employment Service) (895-6859). The Placement Center has three services for which the job-seeking student should register. The most effective has been their system of placement through job vacancies, followed by their computerized job referral system, and, finally, on-campus interviews. Students are urged to take advantage of these services. The State Employment Service has indicated that many jobs available under the State Merit System involve relocation to other areas. In general, students have more employment opportunities if they are willing to relocate. Finally, other employment services are listed in the Yellow Pages.

Employment and Non-Psychology Courses for Psychology Majors

After graduation, many persons seek employment with the Bachelor's degree in Psychology rather than going on to graduate school or some other training. It is, therefore, important to consider the usefulness of non-psychology areas of study which may improve the career skills of the bachelors-level graduate. Some course work areas which may be useful are in the paragraph below. Such course work may be taken as a few individual courses, a second academic major, or an academic minor. The suggested areas in the following paragraph are not necessarily the only areas of study which may complement the B.A. or B.S. in Psychology. You may think of others that are of value.

Course work in statistics, computer science, or mathematics has obvious potential for contributing to the career skills of a person who may seek employment as a lab assistant, research analyst, or program analyst, to mention a few possibilities. Courses in chemistry, physics, biology, and biomedical sciences are often useful to persons interested in work as lab technicians or assistants.

Students planning to work in business or industry in management, administration, buying, sales, or other related areas will find management, marketing, and general business courses useful.

For those individuals interested in going into work such as probation, parole, or helping-relationship areas, courses in criminal justice, sociology, and social work may be useful. Cultural anthropology is also a useful area in that it helps people understand society beyond our own culture. Work in recreation, nursing, child development, or speech pathology is also likely to have some value.

For more information, see your advisor; also to SuzAnn Ferguson, in CAR 309 (836-5836).