What You Can Do With a Qualification in Psychology?

Fun fact: Psychology is one of the UK's most popular degrees, and its desirability only continues to rise. There are many reasons why this is the case - mainly because the career options are varied and psychologists are currently in high demand.

McCrindle Research found that 56.1% of undergraduate psychology graduates found full-time work within four months of finishing their course. Demand for the profession is supported by course applications as well, where course applications for counseling and psychology increased from 652 in 2013 to 734 in 2018 at the International Career Institute.

Career paths

When it comes to career paths, it’s important to note that your choice of career will ultimately depend on the level of qualification you have.

For those who graduate with a qualification in psychology, a common career path is human or social services. Examples of these roles include career counselor, case manager or psychiatric technician. As you move up the education ladder, the career options become wider, including in social welfare or clinical psychology. So, what are the different options you can pursue with a qualification in psychology?

Case manager

While education requirements vary depending on what stream you wish to enter, becoming a case manager will require a social sciences degree (such as psychology) and some practical experience.

Fields, where you can work, including social and human services and community programs. Job examples include aged care case manager, working with children and youth, victim support, family support, migration support, and rehabilitation case manager among others. People who flock to this type of work tend to be caring with good listening skills.

Career counselor

For career counselors, the ultimate aim is to help students and job-seekers figure out what they want to do and what they can do. It’s all about helping them realize their full potential.

This means helping them perform self-assessments, make career changes or help with vocational rehabilitation. As a psychology graduate, you’re uniquely qualified to help because you’ll understand how to get people to the point of self-discovery.

Childcare worker

This one is a tough job to be in as you’ll see and handle a lot of difficult situations. But it’s particularly rewarding. You may end up working in a mental health setting or even in childcare settings. A psychology qualification can also help when it comes to other occupation paths such as Early Childhood Education or Family Day Care.

Child psychologist

Again, you have to be a special kind of person to work with children, as there’s a level of trust you’ll need to gain to actually be able to diagnose and work with children.

As a child psychologist, you’ll help children by diagnosing issues that can lead to behavioral and emotional problems. You may find yourself working as a child and family therapist or psychologist, as a mental health clinician, as an early-intervention psychologist or even in schools.

Social worker

Social workers help people who are generally going through a difficult time or major transition in their lives. Usually, it’s with children or the elderly, people with disabilities or victims of abuse.

As a social worker, your main role is to help your clients feel safe and secure, provide support and help them improve their individual situations. Often, you’ll be visiting schools, care homes or hospitals and usually, you’ll specialize in one particular area, for example, children or families.

Communications and media

This is one career path that’s a tad different to the ‘usual’ psychology jobs. Just because you have a degree in psychology doesn’t necessarily mean you need to work directly in the field. Many people who graduate with a psychology qualification find themselves working in market research, communications or media, and advertising. Why?

Because a psychology degree gives you a unique understanding of how the human brain works, and this not only helps with communication, but it can also help with sales and marketing. You’ll also be well versed in analysis and scientific methodologies which can help in collating and analyzing data.

Writer

Again, not the ‘normal’ career path for a psychology student, but psychology graduates tend to gravitate towards writing careers. A psychology degree typically involves a lot of writing and some people even say that other than an English degree, it’s the one qualification that involves the most amount of writing.

So, it makes sense that many people who qualify with a psychology degree find themselves working as a technical writer, copywriter or even reporter.

Human Resources Specialist

A qualification in psychology provides you with a unique perspective on what motivates human behavior. That’s why a lot of the time, psychology students choose to follow a human resources career path.

An understanding of human behavior and decision making is a great background for HR, as you’ll be screening potential candidates, as well as interviewing and recruiting new employees. You’ll be able to ‘read’ them in a distinct way.

Explore your career options

Of course, there are several other career paths that you can choose a qualification in psychology. Whatever route you take, using your psychology qualification is a rewarding way to help people.