just graduated with a BA in psychology. why cant i find a job?

Question

i've been looking high and low for work. no one seems willing to hire me. what am i doing wrong!? is there somewhere i'm not looking? is there some untapped potential i'm missing?

Answer 1

The answer is - plenty! While some undergraduates continue their education in graduate school, the majority of students do not go to graduate school (only about 25% of undergraduate psychology majors nationally go to graduate school). This article is about the options, opportunities, and challenges for the rest--the remaining 75% who seek a good job with their bachelor's degree in hand.

At the undergraduate level, many students select psychology as a major because of their interest in someday becoming a psychologist. If you carefully read Eye on Psi Chi articles, talk to other students majoring in psychology, and listen to your professors, you'll understand that you will not be qualified to be a psychologist at the conclusion of your undergraduate training. It's best to think of your undergraduate education in psychology as learning "about" psychology, not learning "to do" psychology. McGovern, Furumoto, Halpern, Kimble, and McKeachie (1991) made this point clear when they stated that "a liberal arts education in general, and the study of psychology in particular, is a preparation for lifelong learning, thinking, and action; it emphasizes specialized and general knowledge and skills" (p. 600). A quality undergraduate education in psychology should prepare you to be a good citizen and a critical thinker. Fortunately, the skills and abilities that psychology majors acquire through their coursework and out-of-class experiences make them marketable for a wide variety of employment options.
Even though the bachelor's degree in psychology is not a professional degree, it is still a good choice in becoming a well-rounded, well-educated citizen and person. Why? Although psychology departments at colleges and universities differ, McGovern et al. (1991) identified
common goals for undergraduate students to accomplish. These goals include:

* A knowledge base. There is a wide array of information in psychology that you need to understand to truly be a student of human behavior. In other words, a future employer might actually expect you to know something about human behavior!
* Thinking skills. Critical thinking and reasoning, analysis of outcomes through experimental methods and statistics give psychology students the tools to make reasoned decisions.
* Language skills. As scientists, psychologists must be able to communicate findings to the broader scientific community; students must develop reading, writing, and presentation skills.
* Information gathering and synthesis. Psychology students need to be able to gather information from a number of sources (e.g., library, computerized databases, the Internet) and be able to synthesize this information into coherent lines of reasoning.
* Research methods and statistical skills. The development of quantitative and qualitative methods of data analysis and interpretation is central to the discipline.
* Interpersonal skills. Psychology students need to be sensitive to the diversity of the environment in which they live and be able to use this increased sensitivity and self-knowledge to monitor their own behavior.
* History of psychology. Psychology majors need to understand the contexts out of which popular ideas and people have emerged. George Santayana once said, "Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it."
* Ethics and values. Psychology majors need to understand the ethical treatment of research participants, to understand conflicts of interests, and to generate options that maximize human dignity and human welfare and adhere to high standards of academic and scientific integrity.

This is an important list. If you want to make the most of your undergraduate education, you should try and accomplish as many of these goals as possible. In fact, you might base curricular decisions (in part) by how well the courses and other experiences help you achieve your goals.
I've covered what educators want to instill in their students. To be successful, instructors hope that our students want to achieve the same skills, abilities, and qualities. But what about employers? What do they want? In an article I wrote with undergraduate student Renee Harrold, we surveyed employers around the country and asked them what skills and abilities are important when hiring psychology bachelor's degree holders. Our list is on the left side of Table 1. On the right side of the table is another listing published by JobWeb. Notice the similarities between the two lists. In our study, we also surveyed students about their perceptions of what they thought employers think is important. Out of these top 10 skills and abilities, students significantly underestimated their importance compared to actual employers. Students need to be aware of these gaps in importance, and if a good job is the goal, better align their perceptions with employer's perceptions.
Now we have an idea of the most important skills and abilities needed, but we need to know who is doing the hiring, in what types of jobs, and what the salary levels are. Schwartz (2000) reported that the top 10 occupations that employ persons with only a bachelor's degree in psychology are:

* Top- and mid-level managers, executives, administrators
* Sales occupations, including retail
* Social workers
* Other management-related occupations
* Personnel, training, labor-relations specialists
* Other administrative (record clerks, telephone operators)
* Insurance, securities, real estate, business services
* Other marketing and sales occupations
* Registered nurses, pharmacists, therapists, physician assistants
* Accountants, auditors, other financial specialists

While the opportunities are available, Schwartz (2000) estimates that only about 25% of psychology undergraduates end up working in a field closely related to psychology. As you can understand from the skills and abilities found in Table 1, these qualities make psychology majors marketable well beyond the boundaries of psychology. Table 2 presents a wide array of job titles suitable for psychology bachelor's degree holders. Note the variety in the opportunities available! This listing might give you some leads and ideas of avenues to pursue that perhaps you hadn't thought of before.
Hopefully there are some items on this list that you've never thought about. It is important to be open to possibilities that you might not typically think of. Psychology majors leave college with a valuable set of skills and abilities, and making the most of your undergraduate experience can help to enhance your marketability. We've had a glimpse of what you can do; now, how much can you make? This is a difficult question to answer because no one organization tracks this information formally and officially. Unfortunately, this leads to great variability in salaries for psychology bachelor's degree holders. The two most current estimates come from Schwartz (2000) and JobWeb (2001b). Schwartz reported that the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that in 1999, the average starting salary for psychology bachelor's degree holders was $20,600. JobWeb reported that the average salary offer to 2001 psychology bachelor's graduates was $30,338. Did the average starting salary really go up $10,000 in one year? No. This variation is due to the different techniques with which the data are collected. Since there is no uniform data collection mechanism, estimates vary. Also, please realize that there are significant regional differences in job offers and in the economy in general. Reality is probably somewhere in the middle of these two estimates.
A college degree is a special accomplishment. Only 13% of the United States population holds a college degree. This achievement puts you in the educationally elite in this country. Additionally, your degree tells employers much about you. You have the ability to set a goal and achieve it, and you did not give up on a long-term goal that had hurdles to overcome (Aubrecht, 2001). At the same time, psychology is a popular major. For the past few years there have been over 70,000 psychology bachelor's degree graduates each year. Remember, most of you will be competing with these graduates for the best jobs. What will you do to make yourself stand out in the competition? This article is the first of a three-part series, and in later articles I'll offer some concrete advice on how you can set yourself apart from the crowd, gain the skills and abilities that you need, and increase your marketability to achieve success.
One important lesson to remember is that in almost every type of job, you have to start at the bottom and work your way up. That is, you are not going to land the perfect job the first time you apply for it. You may think that your first job after completing college is beneath you. This is not a healthy attitude to have if you want to achieve long-term success. Be patient as you practice and perfect your set of practical skills and abilities while establishing your track record. This is a time during your employment career to show others your work ethic and establish a solid work history. It's easy to enjoy and succeed at a great job--can you find a way to enjoy and succeed at a job that is not as great as you want? Remember, when Bill Gates started Microsoft, he wasn't the world's wealthiest person. It took time, hard work, and some luck to be in the right place at the right time. You know what you need to do--now make it happen!

Answer 2

Ba Psychology Jobs

Answer 3

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Answer 4

There are many of passions to pursue in San Diego and that hotelbye is the spot to begin finds what San Diego must offer. In the San Diego holiday you'll stage external of one's safe place and you will discover new activities while you are here and you may only find that acquiring a fresh goal is an experience in itself. Among the places must see from San Diego is Balboa Park. That park has over a 1400 acre and here you can find old buildings, numerous museums, gardens, and natural space. The park was designed for the Panama California Exhibition of 1915-1916. The predominant structure is Spanish-Mexican design, reduced level houses that blend in with the normal surroundings. On the list of highlights of the park would be the Botanical Gardens and lily pool, the Museum of Man, the Museum of Natural History, the San Diego Museum of Art, and the famous San Diego Zoo. Even although you never get into a building the park is just an attractive place.

Answer 5

Bachelors In Psychology Salary

Answer 6

Use psychology combined with logic to determine your answer.

Remember most psych majors that work in their major have PhDs or Masters degrees minimally.

If you want a job now, focus on the other skills that people want or demand in the work place. Think of what matters to you. Think what are you good at. Sell yourself.

Afterall, they don't pay people to sit and watch people. Or do they? Consider market research jobs? Consider sales? These things are compatible for psychology majors. If this doesn't sound great to you, consider what job you want and what the people that would hire you would desire.

That is using your psychology degree. Good luck.

Answer 7

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
just graduated with a BA in psychology. why cant i find a job?
i've been looking high and low for work. no one seems willing to hire me. what am i doing wrong!? is there somewhere i'm not looking? is there some untapped potential i'm missing?

Answer 8

A piece of paper only shows you can complete something. You do not have real world working experience. You have to start at the bottom like everyone else. The paper opens more choices later in your career than sooner. If you went for a pHD you may get a higher level first job. Take a social work or people related job and work up.

Answer 9

Because tons of people have BA's. What do you want to work in? What about getyour master's and then teach? You might be overqualified for alot of jobs yet underqualified for some. Keep on looking don't give up!

Answer 10

What leads you to ask this question?
Do you have self doubt? Does that show on interviews?
Do you have a passion for what you do or was it a carreer choice based on salary?
Do you have people skills? (that may sound like a daft question)
Do you have a FEAR of SUCCESS?
Do you feel unsure of yourself?
Do you have unresolved issues that undermine your best efforts?
Experience counts of alot, do some volenteer work, or work experience. This will go in your favour. (different line of work but my husband got a one month contract with a company on temp for a fill in for someone on leave. Eleven years later...he is STILL THERE, on permantent staff ofcourse. Incidentally, he has no DEGREE in what he does while every one he works with DOES. go figure.) Sometimes it is the foot in the door thing.

Just a few thoughts that jumped into my head.
What rings bells for YOU?

Answer 11

Maybe your applying at the wrong time? I live in San Diego and it is really hard to find jobs with or without a degree of some sort. Maybe you need to move out of the state you live in...