<p>Last Decemeber, I graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Psychology. Earlier on in my undergraduate career, I was planning on going to graduate school for a Masters Degree in counseling. However, as I was finishing up my junior year and taking higher level classes, I really started loosing interest in psychology. The focus on research and data analysis was the killer for me. It was dry, pasty, and did not interest me at all. For that reason, I just decided to get a bachelors degree. Right now, Im looking for entry level positions to apply for. I am applying for some mental health technician positions, as well as a few state positions. Yes, I am aware that a BS in psychology isnt much of a job magnet. Thats why Im writing this post. In the event that I cant get a job that pays a minimum of $30,000 by the end of this year, Im going to give serious consideration to going back to school for something else. I have a few questions:</p>
<ol>
<li> If I were to go back to school, would it be better to do a different undergrad major? Or do a non-psychology graduate program?</li>
<li> If I were to do a new undergrad major, which majors would fit the criteria below:</li>
</ol>
<p> Not heavily oriented with high level math, like calculus (eliminates engineering and other math intense stuff)
The field isnt overflowing with people who have bachelors degrees in it (like the fields of criminal justice and psychology)
The field is expected to grow and have more job openings as time goes on
A degree in this major will land you a solid job with a bachelors degree, not a field where graduate school is almost unavoidable if you want to get anywhere
A person fresh out of school from this major can reasonably expect to make at least $30,000 (with benefits) starting out, with significant opportunity to advance up the ladder as time goes on
I could get a degree in this field in 2 ½ years or less (I already have a lot of psychology, and other credits which could satisfy gen ed and elective requirements)</p>
<p>Any suggestions? I would really appreciate any input I can get. Thanks for your time.</p>
<p>How about human resources management? I have my BA in psychology and am currently an HR manager. You could either fulfill another bachelor’s degree in it or go right into a masters program. HR has excellent expected growth rates and you can move up from HR assistant to generalist, manager, district manager, regional, director, etc. without additional schooling. </p>
<p>The pay is decent (entry-level should get you $30-35k or more depending on your area and type of industry). But breaking in for the first time can be difficult, which is why taking as many internship opportunities as you can while in school will be critical. With HR management, you would also want a solid foundation in business to be taken seriously. HR managers need to understand their business as well as any of the sales and department managers.</p>
<p>You can be a generalist (meaning you know a bit about everything) or a specialist in recruitment, benefits coordination, compensation, etc. Generalists tend to make more money from my experience, and it’s easier to progress into managerial roles if you do not narrow your options to a specialty. </p>
<p>Another option may be nursing (since you have your BS you can find some accelerated programs that would just require 2 years of nursing courses and clinical experience to fulfill a second bachelors in nursing). An RN position would land you $40k - $50k+ depending on your area and the type of facility. You could pursue psychiatric nursing if that interests you, and would compliment your psychology background. You would find a job very quickly in this field even with little or no experience. You can move up to a charge nurse position, but additional schooling would be required beyond that if you wanted to become a nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant, etc. You could also get a master’s degree in nursing to go into teaching at the college level. In my area there is a shortage in nursing professors and a few local colleges are closing down or freezing admissions in the nursing departments because of this.</p>
<p>I picked up enough accounting hours to sit for the CPA exam, which took me 4 terms (2 summers, 2 falls). But my favorite part of Psych was research and statistics; you might find accounting just as dry and pasty as stats.</p>
<p>I will definitely add HR to my list. Nursing is something that a few people mentioned to me before. I will add that to my list, but I will need to see if I’m feeling doing that much science. Accounting is something that I heard pays well, but I don’t know exactly how much stats are involved in that class. With psychology, I was really turned off with running all those statistics when doing research, as well as just having to read long studies, BIG turnoff. For that reason, I’m a bit skeptical of accounting.</p>
<p>Perhaps teaching? I dont mean college-level PhD professor, but a high school teacher or something. There are some states where you could get certified with a state test, and dont need too much training. If you like Psych, I would assume you like people and interacting with them, and that’s a good way to interact in my opinion.</p>