I remember it was a sunny Tuesday when I first started thinking about how my psychology degree could be used in the business world. I had just finished my final exams and was feeling that mix of relief and “now what?” that comes after graduation. I started doing some digging online, just typing in stuff like “business jobs with psychology degree” into the search bar, hoping something interesting would pop up.
What I found was pretty surprising. Turns out, there’s a whole bunch of areas in business where knowing about human behavior is super useful. I saw things like industrial-organizational psychology, which is all about making workplaces better. They talk about using psychology to help with hiring, building teams, and training leaders. That sounded pretty cool, to be honest.
I also read that a big chunk of people who study psychology end up in jobs related to management, social services, teaching, healthcare, or office work. That’s a really wide range, which made me feel a bit better about my options. I wasn’t just limited to being a therapist or something like that, I could do stuff in the business world, too.
- Networking:I started reaching out to people I knew who worked in business, even if they didn’t have a psychology background. I’d just ask them about their jobs, what they liked, what they didn’t, and if they had any advice for someone like me.
- Informational Interviews:This was a bit scary at first, but I started asking people if I could chat with them about their careers. I found some folks on social media who worked in HR or marketing and had psychology degrees. Most people were actually pretty happy to talk about their work and how they got there.
- Internships:I applied for a couple of internships, one in HR and one in market research. I figured these would be good ways to see if I actually liked the work. The HR one was a bust, but the market research one was awesome! I got to help design surveys and analyze the data, which was right up my alley.
Here’s What I Tried Out:
The more I looked into it, the more I realized that psychology is a big deal in business. Companies use it to pick the right people for jobs, to help their employees, and even to design better products. It’s not just about understanding people’s feelings, it’s about using that understanding to make things work better.
One thing that really stuck with me is that it’s not about a “company” hiring you, it’s about a “person” hiring you. That made me focus more on building relationships and showing people how my skills could help them.
I also learned about something called “business psychology” which seems like a mix of both my interests. This was exciting because I could take some business-focused courses and combine that with my psychology base. A few years ago, I found myself working for a startup, helping them figure out their hiring process and how to keep their employees happy and motivated. It’s been a wild ride, but I’m really glad I took the time to explore all these options after graduation. It turns out my psychology degree was way more useful in the business world than I ever thought it would be.
