Careers with a bachelor’s degree in psychology

Alma mater: Georgia College

Wondering whether to pursue a bachelor’s degree in psychology? Meet 13 graduates who landed great jobs thanks to their psychology degrees.

Why did you study psychology?

I started studying psychology in high school, where I took intro to psychology and AP psychology courses. I quickly realized that my interests and the subsequent questions I was asking matched those of psychology. Through my coursework, I learned a great deal about the discipline and knew I wanted to pursue it further in college. I declared it as my major freshman year and never looked back.

What was your experience like at Georgia College?

I had a very positive experience at Georgia College. From the minute I arrived, until graduation day, I had ample support and resources to pursue my interests and goals. Dr. Gillis, department head of psychological science, has built a department that cares about students and their various aspirations postgraduation. Additionally, students are encouraged to get hands-on early in their studies, so they leave with practical in addition to theoretical knowledge.

What did you enjoy most about getting your degree?

What I enjoyed most about getting my degree was the opportunity to conduct, analyze, and share research five of eight total semesters. Additionally, I enjoyed going to a national conference and presenting research from the lab.

Any classes that stood out?

Notable classes include industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology, neuroscience, advanced research methods, psychology of learning, interpersonal communications, and social psychology. Within my business minor, I enjoyed taking business statistics, human resources (HR), and organizational behavior.

Each of these classes provided something unique. I/O psychology, HR, and organizational psychology directly related to my goal of studying I/O psychology in a PhD program. Although I ultimately didn’t end up pursuing that goal, these courses have proven useful in all the places I’ve worked thus far. Interpersonal communications and social psychology taught me that we are social creatures, and also, how to relate to others in a healthy way. Advanced research methods and business statistics gave me a way to love math for the first time. Neuroscience and psychology of learning were just simply fascinating; I still recall and share the information I learned in those courses.

Tell me about what you did during your time in school to start preparing for your career? Did you utilize any services such as career services?

At first, I anticipated going to graduate school for I/O psychology, so I signed up for research practicums in social psychology, the closest offering to I/O at the time. Later, when I/O psychology was offered I took that course as well. Additionally, I took on a business minor to increase my business knowledge.

My advisor was a huge help throughout the process. In my junior and senior years, I utilized career services. The interview prep resources, mock interviews, and job tours were great for me as I started to pursue jobs.

How did you find these services helpful? Can you expand on this a little? Any internships?

Through my network, I was able to secure two internships, one each my junior and senior years. The first was with an organization providing leadership testing. The second internship was in HR for a nonprofit, which led to my first full-time job.

What are you doing now?

I am currently a senior user experience designer for a design agency in Atlanta called Launch Interactive. We create thoughtful user experiences for global brands across a variety of industries. You can learn more at www.launchxd.com, and by the way, I helped design our site, so I hope you enjoy it!

We are project-based, so each project looks a little different. In most cases, I am doing primary or secondary research around the target user base, gathering requirements from clients, and designing a digital experience that meets both the user and client needs.

Talk a little bit about the process of getting your job.

The process of getting my current job was very self-directed. After graduation, I worked as an HR professional. One of my jobs was in higher education, and it was there I noticed how terrible our HR software was. Neither our admins nor our users enjoyed the difficult-to-use program. I wanted to make the experience more user-friendly and tailor the process flows to align more closely with our organization, but was limited in my ability to do so at the time. So, I went on a journey to figure out what job does that and discovered it is user experience design (UXD).

I spent a full year learning from people in the field, reading up on the practice, taking supplemental courses, dabbling in tools of the trade, and practicing. Perhaps most importantly, I engaged in the local UXD community, which helped me land my first full UXD job about two years ago.

How are you using your psychology degree in your job? How do you feel your degree in psychology has helped you with your job? How did you find that job?

Two years ago, a mutual connection in my network reached out to me about an opening at her company. While I had never met her personally, she mentioned that my psychology degree had caught her attention.

My psychology training has served me well in all my roles. For example, I know how to observe people and quickly glean actionable insights from those observations. Additionally, while earning my degree, I developed a passion and perseverance to consume and analyze copious amounts of research and data. Furthermore, as an undergraduate, I practiced interacting with and appreciating many different types of people. This can be understood as empathy, and it’s very important in my job and life. Finally, I started to learn how to communicate well with others. I use this skill on the job frequently—but it’s a life skill—and I’m extremely grateful for it.

For psychology students who are still in school and thinking about their career path, what advice would you give them?

First, give yourself time to figure it out. You likely won’t obtain the perfect job, or career, right out of college. And that’s okay. Every opportunity has something to teach you about yourself and others, even when you don’t like the job all that much; it’s all helpful information.

Not to say you should never quit a job or career, but by all means, leave a job if you’re miserable or get a new opportunity you’re excited about. Just don’t get too discouraged if your dream job hasn’t arrived just yet. It took me three and a half years to decide to leave HR to do UXD, and for many, it’s longer than that!

Additionally, be a researcher of your own life, and observe how you are reacting to things, both good and bad. Knowing yourself well will put you on a speedier path to your preferred role. Finally, care about who you are working for as much as you care about the work itself. My undergraduate mentor, Alex Gregory, told me, “Life’s too short to work for mean people,” and it stuck with me.

College provides a great support system and resource-rich environment that may not be available in all jobs. Make sure you inquire about this as you seek new roles to ensure it includes somebody you’d be glad to work for and the resources you need to grow and succeed.