Should i become an organizational psychologist

To maximize their chances of landing a lucrative and challenging job in industrial-organizational psychology, students should participate in networking events as early on in their careers as possible. Many graduate programs for industrial-organizational psychology feature speaker colloquia that allow learners to interact with seasoned professionals in the field.

Attending the annual convention of the APA also provides an excellent opportunity to network with top names in the profession. To obtain the maximum value for the cost of attending this meeting, aspiring I-O psychologists should prepare to attend relevant program talks and formal receptions and visit the hotel bar, which many participants frequent before and after their private dinners.

Below, we provide the details of four online platforms that post jobs in industrial-organizational psychology. Federal agencies post job openings on the platform, and the site helps match qualified applicants to available jobs. The site also provides up-to-date advice on how to land a psychology job. Glassdoor Glassdoor allows current and former employees to anonymously review organizations they used to work for and report the salaries they made. Job applicants can also search for and apply for specific jobs on this platform.

Indeed Indeed is a subsidiary of Recruit Holdings, the company that runs Glassdoor. The Indeed platform allows job seekers to search job listings, apply for jobs, and upload application materials for potential employers to review. The website also publishes articles about how to improve your chances on the job market, including free downloadable resume and cover letter templates. Collapse All Expand All What degree do you need to be an industrial-organizational psychologist?

How long does it take to become an industrial-organizational psychologist? The time involved in becoming an industrial-organizational psychologist depends on the career path you pursue. Some industrial psychology jobs require up to seven years of work experience but no job-specific education.

Thus, it takes about years to become an I-O psychologist, including postsecondary education and work experience. What qualifications do you need to be an industrial-organizational psychologist? To become an industrial-organizational psychologist, you may need a graduate degree in the field, two years of supervised job-specific experience, licensure as a psychologist, and certification in I-O psychology. What is an industrial-organizational psychologist's income?

Many psychology positions require applicants to possess advanced degrees. Professionals with a bachelor's degree in psychology may need to pursue a master's degree or doctorate to progress in their field Explore online associate, bachelor, master, and Ph.

Free online psychology courses appeal to psychology students seeking a deeper understanding of a specialty area or topic outside regular classroom learning. Prospective psychology majors who want to test the Hard Skills Analytical Skills: Analytical skills enable an individual to gather, interpret, and present data. This is achieved by focusing on the aspects of the organization that directly impact upon staff or that staff have a direct impact upon, and looking at how to make these as efficient and productive as possible.

With that in mind, organizational psychology usually focusses on six areas across industry to achieve this:. A career as an organizational psychologist is unlike any other. Organizational psychologists play a specialized role in our society. Unlike many other types of psychologists, these professionals focus on groups of people and on problem solving within workplaces and other public places like airports, malls, and libraries.

Organizational psychologists usually work to find creative solutions to problems relating directly to the workplace, or other public spaces. Organizational psychologists must often shoulder the responsibility of finding creative ways to make workers more productive.

According to Rutgers, organizational psychologists must also strive to create environments of fairness and impartiality, while also enhancing the relationships of those with whom they work.

Delivering goods and services within the context of organizations which serve the public and private sectors are their chief responsibilities. Organizational psychologists must manage others successfully, finding ways to motivate employees into peak performance. They are often responsible for hiring new employees, for conducting leadership summits, and helping employees solve family problems. An organizational psychologist might also develop multiple surveys to help better understand and consequently improve the work environment.

Overall, the organizational psychologist is concerned with the way people function in the workplace, and other public settings. In the private sector, they often consult with large corporations, as well as film and TV networks. They also often help design the packaging for fast-food products, toys, cosmetics and other merchandise.

They use their knowledge of human behavior to determine what social determinants and variables are likely to cause people to buy certain products. Organizational Psychologists use statistics often, in order to try and predict human behavior.

Organizational psychologists play a critical role in developing workplaces that are safe, productive, and which promote worker job satisfaction. Like most psychology specializations, entry into the industrial-organizational psychology field requires extensive study. Some industrial-organizational psychologists will go on to earn a doctoral degree. Licensing and certification guidelines for psychologists vary by state; be sure to check the guidelines for the region in which you plan to study.

Some typical job descriptions include working in consulting, consumer, engineering or personnel psychology. Your client options are endless.

In addition to working in typical psychology environments like schools, clinics and hospitals, you can apply your psychology skills to corporations, small businesses and anywhere improved performance and morale are goals. Graduate schools provide future psychologists with the opportunity to perform original research.

Students choose faculty advisors and committees to guide them in choosing a research project, designing and carrying out a study, interpreting results, and coming to a conclusion. Dissertations should be acceptable for publication in professional journals. Once a psychologist has earned his or her doctorate, he or she will need to obtain a license.

Licensing is the function of the individual states, territories, and provinces, and applicants for licensure need to contact the psychology board where they intend to practice to learn what its requirements are.

Once licensed, psychologists generally need to continue their education to maintain their license. Individuals interested in becoming an industrial-organizational psychologist can actually start their training in high school.

There are many courses within and outside of psychology that may prepare students for more advanced studies in undergraduate and graduate programs.

These courses include:. There are certain skills and qualities that are required of an individual in order to be a successful industrial-organizational psychologist that go well beyond the classroom. In fact, while these traits may not guarantee success in the form of monetary rewards, they may guarantee success in personal fulfillment and a career match.

There are certain traits which may allow individuals to not only succeed in this field, but enjoy it immensely as well.

Individuals who pursue a career in industrial-organizational psychology should possess a high level of emotional intelligence. Quite simply, emotional intelligence is the idea of being able to identify and monitor not only your own emotions, but the emotions of others as well. An industrial-organizational psychologist may be faced with complex issues such as employee management or training. If an industrial-organizational psychologist possess a great deal of emotional intelligence, they may be better able to provide solutions to these multifaceted and complex issues.

Without a high degree of emotional intelligence, individuals may find a career in this field to be challenging to say the least. In addition, industrial-organizational psychologists should also be detail orientated.