What Can I Do with a Degree in Psychology?
Students who study psychology go on to jobs in a wide range of fields. While some careers in psychology (such as being a therapist) require a graduate degree, there are many job opportunities available to those with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. A bachelor’s degree in psychology provides students with a number of key skills that employers value, including the ability to communicate effectively, think critically, understand others, and navigate interpersonal relationships with empathy. In addition, the student of psychology learns how to conduct and evaluate research and gains quantitative skills that are useful in many jobs.
Identifying your career goals is an evolving process. First of all, you are growing and changing, so it is important to be open to new ways of thinking about yourself and your goals. As you move through your undergraduate education (and your life), you will almost certainly need to revisit your understanding of your interests, strengths, values, and goals. A new class, internship, or job can open up new learning about who you are and what you like, at least at this moment. In addition, the job market is also subject to change. Having a flexible approach to understanding your goals and capabilities will help you navigate the (sometimes dramatic) shifts in your career trajectory.
You can also get ideas for post-graduate careers by exploring specific jobs and careers. Most people only know about a small sampling of the careers open to psychology students – it can be very helpful to explore the full range of possible options. Here are some resources to begin exploring job and career options relevant to Psychology students:
- What Can I Do with My Psychology Major? (Cawley Career Education Center): A career guide for Georgetown Psychology students.
- Preparing to use your Bachelor’s degree in psychology (APA website): A good overview of how to translate a Bachelor’s degree in psychology into solid career options. Be sure to click the “more” buttons under each section for additional resources. A great place to start.
- The Skillful Psychology Student (APA website): An overview of workforce-ready skills gained through completion of a typical undergraduate psychology degree program.
- An Online Career-Exploration Resource for Psychology Majors, Version 2 (OCER-2): Over 2,400 hotlinks psychology majors can use to explore 300 careers (some requiring a graduate degree and others that do not require a graduate degree). A great place to get ideas for different potential career pathways. The resource is described more fully here.
- CWS Data Tool: Careers in Psychology (APA website): An interactive tool showing career pathways for those in the workforce with a degree in Psychology (the most recent dataset is from 2019). You can select the data for different degrees (Bachelor’s, Master’s, Doctorate).
- CWS Data Tool: Degree Pathways in Psychology (APA website): A graphic showing the degree pathways for those who held a Bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2019.
- Careers with a bachelor’s degree in psychology: An interview series (APA website): Interviews with 13 psychology majors who discuss how they prepared for their careers and what advice they would offer to current psychology majors.
- Career Paths in Psychology (APA website): An overview of the range of career pathways in psychology across a variety of fields (not specific to those holding a Bachelor’s degree, but a useful starting point for considering different options).
You can also explore jobs more broadly through O*NET OnLine and CareerOneStop, career exploration and job analysis search tools sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor. You can search for jobs along many different dimensions, explore self-assessment tools, and find out more about salary and educational requirements for different occupations.