Psychology Degree

[Pheebs1201 269]

Thinking ahead a little bit here but I was just wondering if anyone else out there has a BSc Psychology degree, and what kind of work opportunities this presents in the US? It's a fairly highly regarded degree in the UK, particularly as I went to a "top ten" university but I appreciate this reputation doesn't necessarily travel overseas with me and a few people have told me a Psychology degree is looked down upon in the US. Any thoughts?

[lvriesling 11]

http://www.apa.org/gradpsych/features/2009/first-job.aspx

"First, the bad news: If you're hoping to get a psychology-related job, the odds aren't in your favor. A 2003 survey by the National Science Foundation found that of the 122,800 people who graduated with BS degrees in psychology, less than 5 percent got jobs in the field.

Now, the good news: Employers of all stripes want and need your communication and interpersonal skills; your ability to collect, organize, analyze and interpret data; and, perhaps most important, your strong understanding of human behavior. As a result, many psychology majors find jobs managing human resource departments or working as recruiters..."

[emcia_81 43]

All I know is in the US you can work in any field not necessarily having a degree related to your job.

[Pheebs1201 269]

Thank you both! I'm not too worried about getting a job which is psychology-related, I just don't want to end up doing something I hate for $10 an hour! So it sounds like if I am flexible, I shouldn't be too limited

[POA 178]

All I know is in the US you can work in any field not necessarily having a degree related to your job.

Yes. I can attest to that. My degree is not related to my job but it was based on my previous experiences. It seems that here, education is desirable most of the time but sometimes experience wins.

[yuna628 9,680]

I would say you may have to consider getting your degree/grades translated as some may require it. I went looking around at some state jobs that required BSc's in his field of work, and they also required equivalency translations. You may find that social work or some kind of counseling would have use of your skills.

[Pheebs1201 269]

I would say you may have to consider getting your degree/grades translated as some may require it. I went looking around at some state jobs that required BSc's in his field of work, and they also required equivalency translations. You may find that social work or some kind of counseling would have use of your skills.

Yes I was planning on getting it translated

I am currently interested in HR/Marketing... I was offered several positions of these sorts in the UK but decided not to take them as we began the K1 visa process. I wonder if these options, although not related to my degree, would also be open to me in the US? Degrees in the US seem so much more specific that I wonder if this will limit me.

Edited December 22, 2014 by Pheebs1201

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

So specific...and I was thinking the opposite, but maybe not in the way you were thinking. I thought the UK was more specific.

My husband's daughter got a degree in Maths and Business and it seems like that is all she studied.

My daughters got degrees (and me too) but in addition to the degree courses, they had to take 4 courses in literature, 2 history, 2 laboratory science like chemistry, biology, 4 math, psychology, sociology, US Government, art history, etc. Then we took a bunch of courses in our degree field ...example accounting, education. Basically two years of a well rounded education in many subjects, then 2 years in the specific degree field.

There are some degrees which are aimed at specific careers like computer science, accounting, chemical engineering, teaching, meaning you wouldn't get an engineering job with a psychology degree. But other jobs are not tied to an exact degree. I'm not going to lie and say many doors will be open to high paying jobs offering benefits. The old joke "What will a psychology degree get you"? a job at Starbucks is sometimes true. But getting in the door somewhere can lead to taking other positions because of the experience you've gained not specifically related to psychology. For example you might get into sales and learn some marketing skills without having a degree in marketing. The experience will help you land the next job.

In my experience here, you will most often need an advance degree (Masters or PhD) in psychology or sociology to get a job as a counselor. But not always. One of the British girls from VJ that I am still in touch with was determined to find something in her field. She worked really hard at it and after 18 months finally got something working with prison inmates. Another British girl with a similar degree landed a job almost immediately with a credit union in the loan department. Then she left that to work as an admin assistant with the Alaska State troopers to get better pay and benefits. Now that she has gotten her citizenship, she has gone through the training and is a state trooper. Sometimes life and what you learn along the way takes you in a direction you never would have imagined when you started out. Just keep at it and don't get discouraged trying to find that first job. Or don't be afraid to give it up to move to something better. And network with everybody you meet. They might know somebody who knows somebody offering that job you want.

[lost_at_sea 995]

Degrees in the UK are definitely more specific than those in the USA. The degrees in the USA seem to let you pick and mix all kinds of unrelated subjects, so long as you have enough in any main subject to make up the "major" element. Degrees in the UK only study topics that are relevant (I have a comp sci degree from the UK).

I work now in my field (being in SF makes this very easy), and I've never had to even talk about my degree - but then I do also have a decade of work experience at this point, which is mostly all they're interested in for what I do. I realise this is different for health-care related work, but experience is always going to be just as much of a factor as your background and education.

You haven't mentioned much about your experience? Have you just recently graduated? If you've already been working in the field, it'll probably be easier and you will likely need to look into getting correctly certified in your state, but if you're thinking of moving into HR/Marketing, you should probably check out what sort of requirements these jobs are asking for and see how you stack up - you may need to look into taking some classes before, or taking something more entry-level and working your way up.

Edited December 22, 2014 by lost_at_sea

[Pheebs1201 269]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

By being more specific I meant there is a far wider range of subjects that can be the title of your major in the US, whereas in the UK I think there is really only about thirty options in most universities. I understand that what goes into earning your degree in the US is far more broad.

I will keep my fingers crossed that something comes along!