What kind of job can you get with an undergraduate Psychology degree?

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Special K

Diamond Member
Jun 18, 2000
7,098
0
76
Originally posted by: steppinthrax
Originally posted by: Throckmorton
Why do people choose majors without thinking ahead of what they'll do for a living?

Biggest reason:

Majors such as Socialogy, Psychology, Music etc... are not hard science degrees they are more/less liberal science or soft science. In other words they are easier for the average person who dosen't want to over-apply themselves to get.

Also:

Because people don't think with $$$$$$ in the front of their mind they think about "what's fun" and fun dosen't always = money. When you get older (or they) you relize how much of a mistake you made and should of tried harder for a better degree.

Yeah, but if the harder fields don't interest someone at all, they might have a hard time realizing any success from them.
 
May 16, 2000
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Quite a bit, since psychology is pretty much foundational to every aspect of human existence. Law enforcement, counselor (especially at a school), research assistant (in psych programs for example), any form of manager will do better with such knowledge (though most would also like to see a business degree), etc.
 
May 16, 2000
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Originally posted by: steppinthrax
Psychology dosen't require too much thinking like Eng or Math. It's a soft science so it's easy to get. There are a couple other degrees that are like that. But we science majors call these "Cake Degrees"

BWAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
May 16, 2000
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Originally posted by: PrinceofWands
Originally posted by: steppinthrax
Psychology dosen't require too much thinking like Eng or Math. It's a soft science so it's easy to get. There are a couple other degrees that are like that. But we science majors call these "Cake Degrees"

BWAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yuppers...you're totally right. It was no trouble whatsoever to go through four years with an average of 25-30 required texts a semester, another 20-40 full books a semester for projects and outside research, 100+ journal articles a semester, writing 60-100 pages a week, spending every free moment traveling around to archives and museums and other academic centers for research and collecting needed data, all culminating in a 50 page publishable original work capable of enduring peer review.

Would have been so much harder to spend a couple hours a day working math problems out of a book or two from the comfort of your home.

Look, I left computer science because I knew I didn't want to work in the field, but there wasn't anything all that difficult in it. My first undergrad was a BA in History with a minor in PoliSci. It was BRUTAL, even with a love of the material. Now I'm doing a double BS, Math and Chemistry. This is so much easier it isn't even funny. Now I'll grant you that advanced sciences are very difficult subjects in their own way, but unless you've done it yourself to make the comparison you might want to reconsider your opinions.


ooops, meant this as an edit, not a reply. Oh well.
 

SoundTheSurrender

Diamond Member
Mar 13, 2005
3,126
0
0
Psychology only complements other degrees. What I mean is if your a marketing major with psychology degree and can figure out why people act the way they do toward your product or your location of service etc..
 

LegendKiller

Lifer
Mar 5, 2001
18,256
68
86
Originally posted by: steppinthrax
Originally posted by: Throckmorton
Why do people choose majors without thinking ahead of what they'll do for a living?

Biggest reason:

Majors such as Socialogy, Psychology, Music etc... are not hard science degrees they are more/less liberal science or soft science. In other words they are easier for the average person who dosen't want to over-apply themselves to get.

Also:

Because people don't think with $$$$$$ in the front of their mind they think about "what's fun" and fun dosen't always = money. When you get older (or they) you relize how much of a mistake you made and should of tried harder for a better degree.

lol, I am glad every psychologist in the world has you to thank them for saving themselves from their stupidity.

I have a psych BS and I probably make multiples of what you do. I got my BS not because it was easy, but because I really thought I wanted to become a pshrink. I found out later I didn't.

I am glad you know so much about the world though. Your own knowledge of psychology itself is amazing, since you can obviously know what people are thinking/doing/feeling, because you know the motivations. Furthermore, you know about statistics and quantitative analysis so much that you know that *all* people in psych are morons looking for an easy ride. There's no such thing as a normal distribution, or deviations, it's all just fact because you say so.

Go right ahead sparky, keep thinking that while you visit your psrink to try to figure out why you hate yourself.
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,599
19
81
Originally posted by: MasterOfKtulu109
Originally posted by: Throckmorton
Why do people choose majors without thinking ahead of what they'll do for a living?

I've never understood this either. If you're gonna spend thousands and thousands on a degree, you should get some return on it.

I've seen a lot of business majors that just pick business because they are in college and they need to declare a major. Our management professor periodically asks the class what they want to do with their degree and most people have no idea, and they're a year away from graduating. It's like they study finance without having any idea what a person in finance does. Makes no sense to me.
I liked something a coworker told me:
His father and grandfather both got degrees in mathematics, so that they could teach math. They'd teach math to other people, who would also earn math degrees so that they too could teach math. It's like some self-feeding machine.

So there you go, earn an otherwise useless degree, so that you can teach other people to use this otherwise useless degree, so that they too can teach it. :)

My dad got a bachelor's degree in psychology. Never used it. He got and then held a job as an administrative assistant. I think he's had it since before I was born, and will retire from that same job. He tried getting a Master's degree, but he couldn't finish the required internship because of his work schedule. I really don't know what he plans to do anymore. Starting his own practice would require money that our family just doesn't have, and even so it'd be a monetary risk that we're just not willing or able to take.

But with a master's, like some people have mentioned, then you'd open yourself up to a much more accepting job market.
 

Sust

Senior member
Sep 1, 2001
600
0
71
I was a psych major in the bad old days before all of the hub-bub about neuroscience programs. Granted psych was pretty soft, but I've always loved the brain's disciplines.

Anyways, while I was still a junior, I got a part time job at a local state involuntary psych facility and I got up close and personal with all of the abnormal psych I had only read about. It was awesome.
Then I went to the NIMH in Bethesda, MD and did 4 years of MRI research on schizophrenia while taking some classes at the local universities. What's really awesome is having a 5 million dollar 3 tesla MRI scanner at your fingertips and looking at brains all day.

Now i'm painfully back in skool again and coming to hospital possibly near you in 2010.
I still love brains.

If your friend has any real interest in psych then he'll figure something out for himself.
If he's the overly-pontificating type then give him 5-across-the-eyes and tell him to just get out and try something.
Pay is going to suck, but if he wanted big money then he needs a more enterprising major. Perhaps Industrial/Organizational Psych so that he can be like these guys?
 

dr150

Diamond Member
Sep 18, 2003
6,571
24
81
Without a graduate the degree, Psychology is worthless in terms of progressive employment.

With experience, you can land a job that uses the degree but count yourself lucky if you can earn 25k a year.

The Psych degree is good for law school, MBA or Med School (provided you have the classes) though.
 

spidey07

No Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
65,469
5
76
Originally posted by: LegendKiller
Originally posted by: steppinthrax
Originally posted by: Throckmorton
Why do people choose majors without thinking ahead of what they'll do for a living?

Biggest reason:

Majors such as Socialogy, Psychology, Music etc... are not hard science degrees they are more/less liberal science or soft science. In other words they are easier for the average person who dosen't want to over-apply themselves to get.

Also:

Because people don't think with $$$$$$ in the front of their mind they think about "what's fun" and fun dosen't always = money. When you get older (or they) you relize how much of a mistake you made and should of tried harder for a better degree.

lol, I am glad every psychologist in the world has you to thank them for saving themselves from their stupidity.

I have a psych BS and I probably make multiples of what you do. I got my BS not because it was easy, but because I really thought I wanted to become a pshrink. I found out later I didn't.

I am glad you know so much about the world though. Your own knowledge of psychology itself is amazing, since you can obviously know what people are thinking/doing/feeling, because you know the motivations. Furthermore, you know about statistics and quantitative analysis so much that you know that *all* people in psych are morons looking for an easy ride. There's no such thing as a normal distribution, or deviations, it's all just fact because you say so.

Go right ahead sparky, keep thinking that while you visit your psrink to try to figure out why you hate yourself.

Don't both with them LegendKiller. They still think their major/degree actually matters.
 

RGN

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2000
6,623
6
81
Originally posted by: steppinthrax
Originally posted by: azazyel
Originally posted by: Throckmorton
Why do people choose majors without thinking ahead of what they'll do for a living?

I already had a job and a ton of experience and all I wanted was the piece of paper.

People who know academia know the difference between Cake Majors and Real Majors. So you may fool some people but not everyone.

Right, but if the paper is all that matters, WTF is the difference?

Meaning, "We would hire you for this $130k/year job based on your 15 year of experience and great references, but you don't have a degree, so you suck."
 

aplefka

Lifer
Feb 29, 2004
12,016
2
0
My older sister just got a job working with autistic children. But she also plans to go to grad school. Why the hell would he get a psych degree without any intentions of going for further degrees? Is he an idiot?
 

PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
21,732
561
126
Originally posted by: MasterOfKtulu109
Originally posted by: Throckmorton
Why do people choose majors without thinking ahead of what they'll do for a living?

I've never understood this either. If you're gonna spend thousands and thousands on a degree, you should get some return on it.

I've seen a lot of business majors that just pick business because they are in college and they need to declare a major. Our management professor periodically asks the class what they want to do with their degree and most people have no idea, and they're a year away from graduating. It's like they study finance without having any idea what a person in finance does. Makes no sense to me.

Business is a pretty good degree choice if you don't know what you want to do. Its applicable to almost everything.
 

krunchykrome

Lifer
Dec 28, 2003
13,413
1
0
You can work at starbucks. After a few years of that, you can become a job recruiter.

The mall is another place to look for employment.
 
Feb 10, 2000
30,029
66
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I have an undergrad psych degree, and went on to law school. Honestly most liberal-arts degrees don't lend themselves readily to employment without a grad degree. I don't regret being a psych major, even if I did it largely because I had a hot Psych 202 professor.
 

Casawi

Platinum Member
Oct 31, 2004
2,366
1
0
He can be someone's husband...lol I always wonder why people take a loan to study History or Spanish if they are not planning on going to grad school.
 

Xavier434

Lifer
Oct 14, 2002
10,377
1
0
I was not a psych major and nor do I work in a psych field, but I can tell you that the undergrad psych students and the professors that taught them all said the same thing to me when I was in college. That is, unless you get your masters or doctorate in Psych then do not expect to do ANYTHING psychology related in your career. HR is probably the closest you will get.

It makes sense to me too. Think about it...when was the last time that you met a career professional whose job was something that made you think "psychology" and he/she didn't have their doctorate or masters in Psych hanging on their office wall?
 

Xavier434

Lifer
Oct 14, 2002
10,377
1
0
Originally posted by: Casawi
He can be someone's husband...lol I always wonder why people take a loan to study History or Spanish if they are not planning on going to grad school.

Because it is sooooo interesting! lol