This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

imperatorblaqk

New Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2016
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
I am a current Psy.D student (in clinical psych). I've recently become interested in Industrial/Organizational psychology, however. I was wondering if I could pursue a career in I/O psych with a doctoral degree in clinical psych. I am having difficulty finding info about this anywhere online and wondered if anyone knows if this is possible.

Members don't see this ad.
 
I am a current Psy.D student (in clinical psych). I've recently become interested in Industrial/Organizational psychology, however. I was wondering if I could pursue a career in I/O psych with a doctoral degree in clinical psych. I am having difficulty finding info about this anywhere online and wondered if anyone knows if this is possible.

What experience do you have in I/O psychology? If none, then your answer is close to no. May be something you can work into later in your career. Executive coaching strikes me something one could probably get into with a clinical degree down the line without having to get an MBA or any extra training in stats or I/O stuff.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has a post-doc in organizational development (a branch of I/O) that clinical psych folks can often get into. However, working for the VA, I must say, I have no idea what they do, and if they were effective, I doubt we would have some of the scandals we do.

http://www.va.gov/NCOD/Postdoctoral_Fellowship.asp
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Yeah, I have no experience. I know there are respecialization programs in I/O for those who already have doctorates in other fields, but they're expensive and I doubt they're trustworthy. Thanks for the info about the VA post doc...I'm surprised that I'm not finding any other similar postdoc programs. Oh well.
 
I wouldn't say outright "no", it just depends what you mean, what you would want to do and how immediately you want to get there. Outside the realm of licensable fields the lines between professions grow somewhat blurry. There is nothing to inherently prevent you from doing IO work, though you would likely have a hard time convincing someone you are competent to do it. A slow transition over time could create opportunities for you to function in more of an IO type role. Incredible persistence and a willingness to move literally anywhere for that first job might allow a more rapid transition. Its basically the same thing as asking whether a psychologist could work as an epidemiologist or a statistician or a health economist, etc. Is it possible? Absolutely. Are you likely to be hired into a job looking for someone to do traditional IO type activities straight out of grad school? That is very unlikely and you probably wouldn't know what to do if they did hire you!

IO is quite diverse, so what did you have in mind?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Top