Future of Undergraduate Degree
King Lerxst
I have an undergraduate degree in psychology. I'd like to know
what exactly is the future with someone soley with this degree. I am
not concerned with a graduate degree right now. But I am concerned with
my employability.
Thanks,
King Lerxst
Jim Justjim
Other than the usual "flip burgers at McDonalds", there are a lot of things
that you can do. First of all, many employers (outside of the field of
psychology) don't care what your degree is in, just that you HAVE a degree.
Getting a bachelor's degree is an accomplishment and shows that you can
start and finist something and that you can stick to it.
Within psychology you would end up getting the low-level jobs, but they
really ARE good experience (sometimes they are bad experiences, but they
will encourage you to get a graduate degree, which in my opinion, makes
then GOOD experiences). You can work in a mental hosptial or other mental
health in-patient/residential facility as a "tech". They call them
different things at different facilities, "counselor", "line staff", mental
health tech", etc. You can also work for county or private social
services, as a case worker/case manager (like for social service agencies:
child protective services, drug and alcohol services, ARC, Aging, or foster
care). In states that have "wrap-around" services (or whatever they call
them in other states) agencies will hire people with a bachelor's degree to
do Theraputic Staff Support. Basically you would work as a one-on-one aid
with a child who has emotional problems. The only true "therapy" or
"counseling" job that you would probably get is as a substance abuse
counselor. But a lot of agencies want people with a master's degree,
today.
The downsides of these jobs are: 1)low pay, 2) HARD work, and 3)VERY low
prestigue. But the flipside is you get good experience in the field that
you studied in. My advice, though, is to get a grad degree. The pay goes
up A LOT (between bachelor's and master's degrees) as does the prestigue.
Hope this helps!
Jim
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King Lerxst
What do you know about human factors, or industrial psychology?
This would be the area of interest I would desire to go into. I don't
see myself as the social worker type. I came from a technical
background I also hold a minor/associates in computer science. I was
told human factors/ergonomics and I/0 psych would be perfect fit for my
background and education.
King Lerxst
Jim Justjim
> Jim,
>
> What do you know about human factors, or industrial psychology?
> This would be the area of interest I would desire to go into. I don't
> see myself as the social worker type. I came from a technical
> background I also hold a minor/associates in computer science. I was
> told human factors/ergonomics and I/0 psych would be perfect fit for my
> background and education.
>
> King Lerxst
>
Actually, I teach a class in Organizational Psychology, but that is
basically because they couldn't find anyone else to teach it. It isn't my
area of expertise. I would think that there are jobs in human resources
that might be the "entry level" equivelant to being a mental health tech.
One of my professors in my undergrad studies was a "human factors engineer"
for IBM. I am pretty sure that there would be positions like that for
people with a bachelor's degree (maybe not like my prof, who had his PhD,
but as an "associate"). I would suggest looking into big tech industries,
but like I said, it isn't really my field.