Job opportunities in psychology

IbanezFreak

Hello I doing my Leaving Certificate at the moment and am considering applying for a psychology degree as my "Dream Course" in third level. Although these courses seem really interesting (I have looked into exactly what is thought on them), from what ive read so far the career opportunities do not seem too promising when you obtain your degree, and the postgraduate courses are "Fiercely Competitive", in other words nearly out of the question!Can anybody tell me what career opportunities would be available to me if I completed a degree in psychology and approximately how much id be earning etc. Any information would be much appreciated!

p.pete

I'm hoping that it's just certain areas of post degree courses that are hotly contested - clinical psychology being one of the more competitive areas for example.
There's more money and less competition in areas like occupational psychology afaik.
Certainly with just a degree there would be too many 'psychology' jobs available to you - generally you'll need to go further and specialise. That's not to say though that you wouldn't be in a position to sell yourself for a lot of other types of jobs.

IbanezFreak

p.pete wrote:

I'm hoping that it's just certain areas of post degree courses that are hotly contested - clinical psychology being one of the more competitive areas for example.
There's more money and less competition in areas like occupational psychology afaik.
Certainly with just a degree there would be too many 'psychology' jobs available to you - generally you'll need to go further and specialise. That's not to say though that you wouldn't be in a position to sell yourself for a lot of other types of jobs.

Thanks for the advice. If anybody else has any advice please offer it!

Playboy

p.pete wrote:

I'm hoping that it's just certain areas of post degree courses that are hotly contested - clinical psychology being one of the more competitive areas for example.
There's more money and less competition in areas like occupational psychology afaik.
Certainly with just a degree there would be too many 'psychology' jobs available to you - generally you'll need to go further and specialise. That's not to say though that you wouldn't be in a position to sell yourself for a lot of other types of jobs.

I don't think thats right. Clinical Psychology is probably the best paid while Occupational Therapy/Psychology is at the lower end of the pay scale.

p.pete

There's a fundamental difference between occupational therapy and occupational psychology. Occupational therapy is strongly rooted in the health side of things, a definition taken from ULs occupational therapy homepage ( http://www.occupationaltherapy.ul.ie/ )

Occupational therapy is a health discipline concerned with the occupational performance of people in their environments. Occupational Therapy is needed when an individual's ability to live independently, to care for their personal needs, and to participate in work, school, family, and community life is disrupted by factors such as disability, illness, disaster, socio-economic disadvantage or injury.

For the original poster, you might be interested in taking a look at the following link from the BPS (British Psychological Society) - In has information on the main areas of psychology, training needed and an idea of potential wages:

http://www.bps.org.uk/careers/areas/areas_home.cfm

hotspur

Go to the psychological society of ireland's website for advice and information:
www.psihq.ie

snorlax

actually OTs get paid a far bit(im a 3rd year student) and are fully qualified professionals when finished their 4year undergrad course (Or 2 years masters in UL).they also get extras like mileage and a good pension, and start off around 35k a year(moving up to about 45/55k after a few years) which isn't a bad starting wage for studying for 4 years. plus the courses in ireland are WFOT approved which means you canwork anywhere in the world once you finish.

Victor

I get the impression that the HSE is desparate for all types of psych professionals as many have moved into private practice, simply because its more stable than the 1-2 years contracts offered by the HSE, unless you make consultant.

tintinr35

does one not have to complete a MA or postgrad of some sort to be accredited by the PSI and therefore work as a professional psychologist?

Myksyk

Yes. Most professional positions require postgraduate degrees. With Clinical, all applicants who make it to interview have primary and masters degrees before applying as well as some experience in a health-related area.

Eoghan-psych

It must be kept in mind that most psychology graduates will never work as psychologists of any type - there are many other careers opened by undergrad psych training.

There are the obvious candidates of all those middle-management careers that merely specify "a degree", but there are also far more interesting options.

One that I've noticed recently is working in clinical trials with pharmaceutical companies - the stats and research methods training are highly sought after skills. Since my postgrad work has collapsed recently I'm going to be getting very interested indeed in career options outside the stereotype.

It's also worth noting that starting salaries for honours graduates have increased about 20-25% in the past 3-4 years [from 20-22k up to 25-28k].

NorthenQueen

Hi I did Psychology in college and I'm now a software engineer. Psychology was a really interesting course AND it helped me get a job in engineering too as my boss realised the benefits of psychology in teaching people how to solve problems, psychology degrees do not just teach people how to conduct experiments or do therapy, it is the basis for a lot of logical, problem solving jobs in engineering and in Business too. Most people in my class are working in finance. Also, after a few years experience you can go into project management from psychology and get payed outrageous sums of money if thats your thing!

Nordie Queen