What careers can i get with a bachelors in psychology

1. Finding a job
2. 15 High-Paying Jobs With a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology

By Indeed Editorial Team

Updated August 4, 2022 | Published February 8, 2021

Updated August 4, 2022

Published February 8, 2021

The Indeed Editorial Team comprises a diverse and talented team of writers, researchers and subject matter experts equipped with Indeed's data and insights to deliver useful tips to help guide your career journey.

Psychology majors can choose to practice with patients, in academic settings or in several other specialized industries. For those interested in competitive earnings, knowing the high-paying jobs with a bachelor's in psychology is useful.

In this article, we explain what a bachelor's degree in psychology is, highlight the industries in which you can work with a bachelor's degree in psychology and offer a list of high-paying jobs for psychology majors.

What is a bachelor's degree in psychology?

A bachelor's degree in psychology typically requires four years of study at an accredited college or university. In addition to general education courses, psychology majors often develop their understanding of psychology through specific classes like:

• Psychological theory

• The history of psychology

• Abnormal psychology

• Developmental psychology

• Experimental psychology

• Social psychology

Additional coursework related to the field of psychology that most academic institutions require for their students include:

• Communications

• Physiology

• Statistics

• Research methods

• Data analysis

• General mathematics

These courses help prospective psychologists enter many industries and specific jobs with useful psychological knowledge to help them better perform the specifics of their role.

Related: All About Psychology Jobs and Common Careers

Industries you can work in with a bachelor's degree in psychology

If you have a bachelor's degree in psychology, you can work in a variety of industries and specific jobs. Consider these common industries for psychology majors:

• Health care: While practicing clinical psychologists almost always need an advanced degree to see patients, there are still many positions in the health care field for those with a bachelor's degree in psychology.

• Management and administration: Psychology helps you learn how people think and react. A degree in psychology is highly useful to those in managerial or administrative positions.

• Accounting and finance: Since much of the training and coursework psychology majors do in college is data and research-based, these skills translate well to the accounting and finance sector.

• Retail and sales: Salespeople often perform well when they understand their customers' motivations and desires, which is a substantial part of an education in psychology.

• Social work: Social workers often use psychological tools to help their clients overcome obstacles and improve their lives.

• Advertising and marketing: Many advertisers and marketers rely on psychology to create effective marketing and advertising campaigns for their business or clients.

• Human resources: One of the primary goals of human resources is to support their company's personnel. Understanding the needs and wants of the individual employees in the organization is beneficial for this sector.

Related: How To Create a Psychology Resume (With Example)

High-paying jobs for psychology majors

For those psychology majors hoping to earn a top salary after graduation, consider these high-paying jobs you can get with a bachelor's degree in psychology:

1. Teacher

National average salary: $32,395 per year

Primary duties: A teacher is responsible for providing instruction and feedback to their students. In most cases, teachers perform job duties like preparing lesson plans, providing direct instruction, assessing students and collaborating with stakeholders.

Related: Learn About Being a Teacher

2. Mental health technician

National average salary: $36,230 per year (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Primary duties: A mental health technician is responsible for assisting psychiatric patients with daily needs and tasks, usually in a care facility. Common job duties for a mental health technician include ensuring the safety of the patients and other employees, helping patients with tasks like dressing and eating and working with other staff members to provide care to the patients.

3. Sports coach

National average salary: $41,653 per year

Primary duties: A sports coach is responsible for guiding their player or team to success. Typically, sports coaches perform a variety of duties through work, including planning practices, guiding athletes during games or matches and offering support to players.

4. Human resources specialist

National average salary: $45,209 per year

Primary duties: A human resources specialist is responsible for managing the personnel needs of an organization. Most human resources specialists perform job duties like overseeing the recruiting and hiring process, assessing the personnel needs of the organization and providing support to the company's employees as needed.

5. Career counselor

National average salary: $46,156 per year

Primary duties: A career counselor is responsible for helping people identify their strengths and skills as they relate to a career. In most cases, career counselors work with students, though some do work with older populations interested in career changes. Their job duties include tasks like providing skills assessments and advising their clients on which career to pursue.

6. Parole officer

National average salary: $46,595 per year

Primary duties: A parole officer is responsible for supervising people who have been released from prison. Typically, their job duties include tasks like checking in with their parolees, ensuring their parolees have the necessary information and support to live outside of prison and supervising their parolees when needed.

Related: Learn About Being a Parole Officer

7. Marketing specialist

National average salary: $49,788 per year

Primary duties: A marketing specialist is responsible for helping companies identify the best way to reach their customers through marketing and advertising. Some common job duties for marketing specialists include performing market testing and analyses, writing and presenting reports and advising companies on strategies for attracting customers.

Related: Learn About Being a Marketing Specialist

8. Social services director

National average salary: $51,603 per year

Primary duties: A social services director is responsible for providing and overseeing programming for a specific population. Many social services directors work for facilities like nursing homes or non-profit organizations. Typical job duties for this role include deciding which programs will most benefit the community, implementing appropriate programming and making changes as needed.

9. Public relations manager

National average salary: $55,650 per year

Primary duties: A public relations manager is responsible for communicating a company's stance or position to the public. Typical job duties for public relations managers include distributing press releases on behalf of the company, answering questions from the media and advising the organization on how to manage a particular situation.

Related: Learn About Being a Public Relations Account Manager

10. Medical services manager

National average salary: $55,714 per year

Primary duties: A medical services manager is responsible for conducting an organization's health services. Depending on the environment, a medical services manager's job duties might include improving healthcare or medical services offerings to members of the organization, maintaining compliance as needed and meeting with internal and external stakeholders to discuss programming.

11. General manager

National average salary: $59,812 per year

Primary duties: A general manager is responsible for ensuring the department or business they oversee operates effectively. Common job duties for a general manager include overseeing staff, providing the necessary training and support for employees and managing the budget.

Related: Learn About Being a General Manager

12. Marketing manager

National average salary: $63,373 per year

Primary duties: A marketing manager is responsible for overseeing the advertising and marketing endeavors of an organization. In most cases, marketing managers perform job duties like overseeing a team of marketing staffers, proposing marketing campaigns to organizational leaders and monitoring the implementation and impact of any marketing campaigns.

Related: Learn About Being a Marketing Manager

13. Sales manager

National average salary: $64,401 per year

Primary duties: A sales manager is responsible for managing a team of salespeople. Typically, sales managers handle job duties like providing training and support to the sales team, ensuring sales practices and protocols are effective and meeting with high-level leadership individuals to review sales practices and metrics.

Related: Learn About Being a Sales Manager

14. Social worker

National average salary: $66,365 per year

Primary duties: A social worker is responsible for helping their clients lead healthy and productive lives. Social workers can work with a variety of communities with differing needs, but social workers' common job duties include providing guidance and counseling to clients during challenging experiences, offering resources and support and collaborating with other support staff or organizations as needed.

Related: Learn About Being a Social Worker

15. Human resources manager

National average salary: $70,625 per year

Primary duties: A human resources manager is responsible for managing the human resources department and staff of their organization. Common job duties for this role include overseeing the recruiting and hiring process for the company, offering leadership and support to department employees and ensuring all human resources practices and protocols are effective.

Related: Learn About Being an HR Manager

Related: A Day in the Life of a Marketing Manager

Ron, a marketing manager, shows what a day in the life of a marketer is actually like including work hours, work environment and job duties!

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