I am now thinking of applying to grad school for social psyc. However, I am concerned about the job prospects following graduation. With a PhD in social, my guess is that most go into faculty positions. WHat else can do?

I am now thinking of applying to grad school for social psyc. However, I am concerned about the job prospects following graduation. With a PhD in social, my guess is that most go into faculty positions. WHat else can do?


Wow, must not be a good outlook since no one knows! ;)

I am now thinking of applying to grad school for social psyc. However, I am concerned about the job prospects following graduation. With a PhD in social, my guess is that most go into faculty positions. WHat else can do?

A colleague of mine has a PhD in social psychology and currently works as a usability tester for an insurance company. Applied jobs are out there.

A colleague of mine has a PhD in social psychology and currently works as a usability tester for an insurance company. Applied jobs are out there.


what kinda pay do you think your colleague is getting?

what kinda pay do you think your colleague is getting?

$60-80K/year to start.

I am now thinking of applying to grad school for social psyc. However, I am concerned about the job prospects following graduation. With a PhD in social, my guess is that most go into faculty positions. WHat else can do?


I loved doing social psych but the job prospects are dismal. Assistant professor positions are few and the competition is unusually stiff. Six close friends of mine found themselves floundering after finishing the PhD and 2 are working in tiny colleges in small towns, the other 4 are working as research assistants as we speak. Unless you absolutely love the work and are able to have a productive graduate career (many publications, several courses taught, etc.), it is difficult to find work and may even get worse (my supervisor's view).

If possible, see if you can go for industrial/organizational psychology or human factors. Both are applied in nature and several people from our department ended up in large (sometimes international) consulting companies with salaries in the 90-115K to start.

If I had known then what I know now........oh well :(

I loved doing social psych but the job prospects are dismal. Assistant professor positions are few and the competition is unusually stiff. Six close friends of mine found themselves floundering after finishing the PhD and 2 are working in tiny colleges in small towns, the other 4 are working as research assistants as we speak. Unless you absolutely love the work and are able to have a productive graduate career (many publications, several courses taught, etc.), it is difficult to find work and may even get worse (my supervisor's view).

If possible, see if you can go for industrial/organizational psychology or human factors. Both are applied in nature and several people from our department ended up in large (sometimes international) consulting companies with salaries in the 90-115K to start.

If I had known then what I know now........oh well :(

Thanks for the info Nora. Part of my reason for wanting to be a clinical psychologist is the desire to help a population that needs help. I dont see myself as a businessman. It is difficult for me to validate in my mind becoming a I/O psychologist. What do you think?

Thanks for the info Nora. Part of my reason for wanting to be a clinical psychologist is the desire to help a population that needs help. I dont see myself as a businessman. It is difficult for me to validate in my mind becoming a I/O psychologist. What do you think?

Oh, I wasn't aware of your interest in clinical psychology as it is often a completely different animal than social psychology (at least in my school of psychology). From my own PhD work and my friends', we did pure social psychological research (things like stress, psychosocial impact of date rape, motivation...etc.). Some applied courses were thrown in like psychometric stuff, community psychology, and evaluation research, but the program did not prepare one to be clinical psychologists as it didn't have many of the courses offered in counselling and certainly no internship (up to 1600 hours for graduation in a usual clinical program).

I think clinical programs are great and there are some people who do research as well as run a practice.

The folks I've spoken to who landed consultant jobs said they loved the work, often working with non-profit agencies and government to improve program access and delivery. I think they saw themselves more as experts/advisors in their fields rather than business people, although you couldn't tell from their expense accounts and the company cars they drive ;) .

I hope this helps.

If possible, see if you can go for industrial/organizational psychology or human factors. Both are applied in nature and several people from our department ended up in large (sometimes international) consulting companies with salaries in the 90-115K to start.

What exactly do your I/O friends do? I have heard that applied jobs in psychology tend to pay pretty well, but was never certain about the kinds of things that I/O psychologists actually did for a living. Is it ergonomics/human factors kinds of things and organizational behavior?

I think they saw themselves more as experts/advisors in their fields rather than business people, although you couldn't tell from their expense accounts and the company cars they drive ;) .

Oh yeah? What kinds of cars are we talking about?

Oh yeah? What kinds of cars are we talking about?

lol, i was wondering that also

Bmw Z4?

Bmw Z4?

I was thinking more like a Lambo or at least Mercedes 600SL

They work for companies that do management consulting. These companies are hired by corporations or government agencies in all types of industries: media, energy, healthcare, etc. They usually work on organizational development, change strategy, mergers, and performance improvement. They work with teams comprising business executives, engineers, accountants and others (heard of one team with a woman holding a PhD in biology working with biotech. companies).

I know of only one person who trained in human factors who was hired by the ministry of transportation as a specialist but the others have been hired by research centers specializing in the field.

The company cars I referred to are not expensive ones. When travelling to clients' cities, they could borrow company cars or rent ones and not have to pay anything. One has actually never bought a car with the amount of travelling he does.

They work for companies that do management consulting. These companies are hired by corporations or government agencies in all types of industries: media, energy, healthcare, etc. They usually work on organizational development, change strategy, mergers, and performance improvement. They work with teams comprising business executives, engineers, accountants and others (heard of one team with a woman holding a PhD in biology working with biotech. companies).

I know of only one person who trained in human factors who was hired by the ministry of transportation as a specialist but the others have been hired by research centers specializing in the field.

The company cars I referred to are not expensive ones. When travelling to clients' cities, they could borrow company cars or rent ones and not have to pay anything. One has actually never bought a car with the amount of travelling he does.

You don't have to study I/O Psych to go into management consulting. In fact, they often hire BAs, PhDs, MDs, JDs, whoever did well and went to a (usually) prestigious school.

I (personally) don't recommend this route. They often work 60+ hours a week and are constantly travelling, which means having no life. And its an up-and-out system: every two years you are either promoted or fired, so its a stressful situation. Yes, the pay is good, but everyone is there for only the money. You will not have the opportunity to do a lot of stuff in organizational behavior unless you specifically work for an OB consulting company, not a management consulting company.

None of the PhDs I knew meant to go into consulting, its just what they fell back on when they got sick of their field/academia. If you want to do general management consulting, do it now, you can move up the ladder a lot faster if you skip the 6+ years of grad school.

No doubt, most of the people in management consulting come from business backgrounds (MBA, BAs in finance, accounting and such) including the professional school graduates. A PhD in I/O is not necessary but it does make you a specialist in your area and helps you skip a couple of steps in the corporate ladder (e.g. associate, analyst, consultant, manager, etc...).

I can only speak of the people I know but a couple have already been in their positions 5-6 years and love working on a new project every 8-10 months and don't mind all the travelling. The hours are pretty brutal, often 70 or 80 hours a week in the beginning.

About the psychological content of their work, most have to be very flexible including those with other professional degrees. You build on your knowledge but must learn other things as well. I would think management consulting may not be the best fit for someone who wants to work only in their area of training.



You don't have to study I/O Psych to go into management consulting. In fact, they often hire BAs, PhDs, MDs, JDs, whoever did well and went to a (usually) prestigious school.

I (personally) don't recommend this route. They often work 60+ hours a week and are constantly travelling, which means having no life. And its an up-and-out system: every two years you are either promoted or fired, so its a stressful situation. Yes, the pay is good, but everyone is there for only the money. You will not have the opportunity to do a lot of stuff in organizational behavior unless you specifically work for an OB consulting company, not a management consulting company.

None of the PhDs I knew meant to go into consulting, its just what they fell back on when they got sick of their field/academia. If you want to do general management consulting, do it now, you can move up the ladder a lot faster if you skip the 6+ years of grad school.