Careers with a bachelor’s degree in psychology

Alma mater: Hope College

Russell Houpt is one of 13 psychology majors interviewed about how they prepared for their careers, are using their psychology degrees in their day-to-day work, and what advice they have to offer psychology majors.

Tell me about why you decided to pursue a degree in psychology?

I originally decided to take some psychology classes while in college, after I took an AP psychology class in high school and found that I enjoyed learning the material. I figured if I continued to like the material, I might make it a minor. After taking Research Methods and Social Psychology, I decided to change that minor into a major because I liked it so much. The whole field seemed incredibly exciting because it was so relevant to the world around me, giving me insight and theories so that I might better understand other people and what motivated them to do the things they do on a far deeper, more complex level.

What was your experience like at Hope College? What did you enjoy most about getting your degree? Any classes that stood out? Did you have a minor?

I truly enjoyed my experience at Hope College. The classes were rigorous, requiring not only that I learn about the specific content of the course, but also that I search out and find current research that was related and, in some cases, engaged in the research process myself as part of the course. The professors teaching the classes were also amazing, incorporating their experiences, wisdom, and love for their students into the material to make it engaging and exciting to study. Overall, the atmosphere of excitement and quest for understanding shared by both the students and the professors was incredibly influential and pushed me to be more involved.

Looking back, two classes that stand out to me were Social Psychology and our Advanced Research class. Social Psychology was the class that excited me with its diverse theories and real-world applications, and it was ultimately this class that pushed me from minoring in psychology to majoring in it. The advanced research class was one I took during my senior year, and it gave me a real first-hand chance to engage in research as the class performed one semester-long experiment that began with a literature review and culminated with each of us writing a final paper documenting the research in APA format.

I didn’t have a minor, but I did have a second major in mathematics (an admittedly unusual pairing, but one that made my research methods class far easier). 

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? 

During my time in college, I soon realized that I didn’t want to stop learning about psychology when I graduated, so I started looking for ways to keep involved with the field and using my degree, ultimately deciding that I wanted to go to grad school. To do this, I took multiple psychology courses, got involved with research happening on campus, and started using my professors and the amazing people at the career services center to explore my options. I also joined groups like Psi Chi, which allowed me to become more involved and more connected. Unfortunately, my decision to go to grad school came a little too late. I was not ready to apply during my senior year, so I decided that I would work for a few years as I prepared.

What are you doing now? Talk a little bit about the process of getting your job.

Currently, I work as a data manager for two psychology labs at Wayne State University. Both are engaged in psychology research, exploring the impacts of psychological, social, and biological influences on the health of children with asthma and an elderly minority population. I work with the data, organizing it, training research assistants on how to properly code it, performing analyses, and gaining further experience in the research process. I originally saw the data manager position posted on the university’s website and decided to apply because I had done the research myself as an undergraduate and figured I had a chance because of my experience. I formally applied and after passing a phone interview, I received an in-person interview where I had the chance to meet the staff, the graduate students, and the PIs. I found the lab and the research to be incredibly interesting, and thankfully, a month or so later I received an offer for the job.

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

I honestly use my degree every day. Knowing how to evaluate published research, how to run analyses, how to form and interpret hypotheses, and how to approach problems from a theoretical standpoint rather than just a practical one are all skills I began to develop while in college. Getting to use those skills and strengthen them is incredibly exciting for me as I continue to work and grow.

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

The biggest piece of advice I can give is to find someone with knowledge of the field who cares about you and talk to them about your future. I was uncertain both about grad school and applying for my job and had no real idea what to do until I started having real, honest conversations with the professors whom I felt closest to. They had their own experiences to draw from, they were knowledgeable about the field as a whole, and they knew a fair amount about what happens in the field outside of academia as well. Your professors can give you advice, ideas, and maybe even some possible people to contact as you begin to think about life after college.