Well, I do have a BA in Psychology and yes, it’s helped me get jobs, and no, they’ve never been jobs in the Psychology field.
So…pretty much what everyone else said.
Three. You can also pursue a teaching certificate and teach history at the primary ( middle school ) or secondary ( high school ) level. With psychology I’m fairly sure you can get a counselor job at the same level ( and a few high schools offer a psychology elective - mine did, taught by a history teacher w/ a psych minor at that 
).
But otherwise, yep - unrelated job or grad school describes 95% of what you’ll find. There are always exceptions, but they tend to be rare and are more often lucked into.
But as noted that is no reason not to pursue those studies if that is what interests you. Just about any degree has some intrinsic value and grad school ain’t that bad. As noted there are really only a handful of degrees where good-paying jobs are immediately open to new candidates with just a bachelors. Pursuing one of those just for the easy(ier) dollars is apt to leave you unhappy in the long run if it proves it is not for you.
Well I think it was a humorous answer to a serious question, more polite than mine, and quite appropriate to the situation. Wish I thought of it.
There are actually a good number of jobs somewhat in the field, I think many of the posters aren’t really familiar with them.
Most states these days have an array of “community mental health” corporations, which are quasi-governmental (in many states the state is divvied up by region into various service areas which are granted to CMH Providers as the first line of contact), and there are also positions with state government.
In pretty much every one of the fifty states you’ll have these community mental health companies that provide services for people with MR/DD, mental illness, substance abuse problems and et cetera. The sort of jobs you’d be eligible for right out of college would be case worker, low level supervisor in group homes, et cetera. In state government, the various bureaus of mental health have usually a lot of general “program manager” type jobs that have various underlings working for them and you’d be eligible for one of the underling positions.
Now, the thing about most of these jobs is a lot of them are just looking for college graduates. Psychology usually isn’t a requirement but it is related and it could be a foot in the door.
If you want to move up in state government or with a community mental health provider you’ll eventually need to get a master’s degree. Either in psych or more likely in a more social-oriented field like counseling or social work.
I deal Blackjack with mine.
In fact, I just found out it may actually be HURTING me. I applied at a place where I know someone. He’s talked to the hiring manager and said they don’t want to hire me for the positions that are open because with an education I’ll move up right away.
So that’s something. But at the moment I’m still dealing Blackjack.
Would you consider teaching English abroad? Our school here in Korea has the following requirements: A Bachelor’s or better in any field, TESOL certification (easily and cheaply obtained), ability to pass a criminal records check, no HIV, no drug use in the last 12 months. That’s it.
I think you could make a go of a career in sales or advertising; it would pay a lot better.
The BS in psychology, at most schools that offer both, requires coursework in statistics (and possibly other math) that the BA doesn’t; this is also true for other majors, like political science and economics. At schools that offer one or the other, it may indicate the level of math involved, or it may just be “how it’s always been.” I assure you that my BA in biophysics is not “crippled”; like all degrees offered by UC Berkeley’s College of Letters and Science, it’s a BA because that’s all they offer – that’s “how it’s always been.” Anyone with a BS from Berkeley majored in a science taught in a separate college (College of Chemistry, College of Engineering, College of Natural Resources, etc.). Berkeley used to have a College of Natural Science, but it got rolled into L&S in 1915, and I don’t know whether BS degrees were offered then, either.
For what it’s worth, William & Mary requires statistics just to get the BA, and lets you get a BS by adding in, say, biology coursework.
As for the OP, journalism is a classic what-do-psych-majors-do answer.
Yip. That’s what I came to say. My sister works in that field. She is rare in that she doesn’t have her degree, and she’s the only one at her clinic who can’t get salary, but has to be paid by the hour. The fact that she is always cleaning up after the degree holders’ mistakes and actually just got promoted to replace a degree holder isn’t sufficient without a degree. Fortunately, she’s allowed to take online classes from the local community college while on the job, so she can move even further up.
And, yes, it’s a quasi-governmental clinic–it’s one of those new third-party on-campus school counseling clinics that actually deal with mental health, rather than the old counselors who just scheduled classes and gave pep talks.
Pile it higher and deeper is the consensus, then.
What if I want to become a talk therapist? What route would I take? Ask if you need more information first.
I had to take two semesters of statistics to get my B.A. As a grad student, I TA’d at a school that required statistics for students getting either a B.A. or B.S. in Psych. The difference between those two programs was more related to the amount of biology and chemistry, as well as animal lab work, required for the B.S.
It’s probably going to depend on which state you want to practice in and exactly what you want to do. This page http://www.op.nysed.gov/prof/mhp/ has links to the requirements to obtain certain mental health practitioner licenses in NYS, all of which require a master’s degree.There are also licenses for psychologists and two for social workers.
Try practicing this convenient phrase:
And why do you what french fries with that? Does that have anything to do with your father?
My middle son is majoring in Political Science and Rhetoric. I joke with him that he won’t even be qualified for a job in McDonalds. “Are you sure you want french fries with that?”
Truthfully, American business would be better off if they hired liberal arts majors instead of those MBAs. Liberal Arts majors learned how to think. My son, the Liberal Arts major, is running one of the kitchens at his college, and revamping the student newspaper’s website. He is also leading a team of people working on revamping the software the paper uses for its work. He’s negotiating with lawyers about contracts, overseeing plans, and is generally considered the goto guy when something needs to be done.
During the summer, this 18 year old kid is second in command in running a over night camp. He’s responsible for all activities, and helps with the hiring. He’s also a trained EMT and volunteers at various first aid squads.
When he graduates with his political philosophy and rhetoric degree, he’ll have quite an impressive resume. The courses in college are teaching him to think and he’s applying those lessons in his life.
A Liberal Arts degree is not a trade school degree, but then college isn’t a trade school. Or, at least it shouldn’t be. You are a part time student. I assume you’re working full time. That in itself, working while putting yourself through college, shows a lot of gumption that many people want to see in their employees.
Get involved in other activities. Work for the school paper. Join whatever professional psychiatry organization there is on campus. Get involved. When you finish, you’ll not only have a college degree, but you’ll be able to show that you’ve picked up some valuable skills that any employer would be more than happy to have at their organization.
Jon Stewart is also a psychiatry major, and he’s not doing to badly for himself. When you finish college, you want not just a college degree, but enough stuff to show that you’re a responsible human being. A person who has the capabilities to tackle various situations, and a person who knows how to think for themselves.
In the end, it doesn’t matter if it’s English, History, or Psychiatry, any degree program, combined with extracurricular activities and employment, will show a potential employer that you know how to think. Well, almost any degree will show that you know how to think. I would make an exception for MBAs.
Psychiatry is a subfield of medicine, and psychiatrists go to medical school. Psychology is a social science, and psychologists obtain M.A. and/or Ph.D. degrees in the field.
Or, like the best psychologist I ever had, they can get their PsyD.
Finance, actuarial science, nursing… Can we think of any more?
:smack: Forgot about that one.
Actually, Jon Stewart is a Psychology major. My misstatement.
However, the point still holds: A BA/BS degree that isn’t technical isn’t a dead end position at McDonald’s many of us with technical degrees like to poke fun of.
College should be more than a mere trade school. There’s a lot of experiences – including many that do not include drugs and/or sex – that in many ways are the true core of your education. There are internships, societies, journals, research, and a whole slew of activities on campus. You meet various contacts, learn new ideas, and maybe even attend a class or two.
I’ve stressed to my kids over and over again that college does not end in the classroom. Get involved in other organizations, meet people, make contacts. Learn something that isn’t in a text book.
A college campus consists of people who are experts in their fields, lots of research dollars, and a bunch of energetic, intelligent, and maybe a bit hormonally driven young adults. It is the only time in your life where your only responsibility is to learn and explore. Heck, you don’t even have to clean your room. You will never have that opportunity again.
In the end, whether your degree is in psychology or history is irrelevant. You will never come up to your boss and say “You know, this situation is very similar to the plight of the Huguenots in 16th century France. I believe I can use my extensive knowledge of this matter to help us meet our 3rd quarter earnings forecast.”
What matters will be the discipline you’ve developed in achieving a long term goal like a college diploma. You’ve learned from your course how to think. And, if you’ve taken the time to participate in the world outside of your classroom, you’ve learned to have a bit of compassion and understanding.
There’s a lot of liberal arts shellacking going on in this thread. As a Lit and PHL grad, I assumed I was destined for academia or Starbucks. Somehow, I landed in the IT field.
I agree with the previous comment that a “liberal arts” (phrase I detest) degree demonstrates an ability to think with a measure of agility. A degree in, for example, BioChem, demonstrates an ability to regurgitate formulae. To each his/her own.
In my decade of experience in IT-world, I’ve encountered some folks with hardcore science backgrounds who impressed me. They were usually managed by folks with liberal arts degrees.
You can go into my line of work: behavior therapy. Most behavior therapists work with the developmentally disabled, autistic, or mentally ill population. Depending on your location, the government may fund non-public agencies to provide behaviorism services. Here in California, you only need a Bachelor’s to work as a therapist. However, some counties require a Master’s and a BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) if you want to advance to a supervisor.