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What jobs would be available to me if I had an undergraduate degree in Psychology?

Just wondering since I'm considering working in the NHS in some capacity.Not as a psychologist though.I want to help people and earn a nice amount of money :smile:
generic graduate schemes would be open to you (although you wouldn't be a candidate for the more well paid/competitive ones as they will prefer STEM grads)

in the psychology field there is a lot you can go into but most graduate level positions require further training/qualification, as examples - teaching, counselling, clinical psych, educational psych, research, occupational psych, occupational therapy, art/drama/music/play therapy is also a possibility although more difficult as they prefer an undergrad degree in their subject rather than psychology

without further training within the field you're looking at jobs like HCA, support worker, teaching assistant, recovery worker... and eventually things like assistant psychologist posts and IAPT posts

you can get a reasonably well paying job in psychology but it generally takes a lot of work and commitment while in poorly paying jobs/further training to get there

you should have a think about what roles you would actually be interested in doing and what the routes into them would be as I'm not sure what you're actually aiming for if you want to work in the NHS helping people but not be a clinical psychologist, obviously not everyone working in the mental health service is a clinical psych, others will be counsellors, CBT therapists, IAPT workers - but I don't know why you'd want to do those and be opposed to the idea of clin psych!
Reply 2
Original post by doodle_333
generic graduate schemes would be open to you (although you wouldn't be a candidate for the more well paid/competitive ones as they will prefer STEM grads)

in the psychology field there is a lot you can go into but most graduate level positions require further training/qualification, as examples - teaching, counselling, clinical psych, educational psych, research, occupational psych, occupational therapy, art/drama/music/play therapy is also a possibility although more difficult as they prefer an undergrad degree in their subject rather than psychology

without further training within the field you're looking at jobs like HCA, support worker, teaching assistant, recovery worker... and eventually things like assistant psychologist posts and IAPT posts

you can get a reasonably well paying job in psychology but it generally takes a lot of work and commitment while in poorly paying jobs/further training to get there

you should have a think about what roles you would actually be interested in doing and what the routes into them would be as I'm not sure what you're actually aiming for if you want to work in the NHS helping people but not be a clinical psychologist, obviously not everyone working in the mental health service is a clinical psych, others will be counsellors, CBT therapists, IAPT workers - but I don't know why you'd want to do those and be opposed to the idea of clin psych!


less that im opposed to being a clinical psychologist but more that its so competitve i cant see myself getting in and getting a job..i wouldnt mind being a sports psychologist for a professional football team
Original post by scrawlx101
less that im opposed to being a clinical psychologist but more that its so competitve i cant see myself getting in and getting a job..i wouldnt mind being a sports psychologist for a professional football team


well then there's a potential job!

it is very competitive but at this point you can hardly know what sort of a candidate you could be, it will be several years til you can apply anyway! but it is a long hard road so you do need to be committed to the idea to put up with the difficulties which come beforehand, so if you aren't then it's probably not worth wasting time on
Reply 4
Original post by doodle_333
generic graduate schemes would be open to you (although you wouldn't be a candidate for the more well paid/competitive ones as they will prefer STEM grads)

in the psychology field there is a lot you can go into but most graduate level positions require further training/qualification, as examples - teaching, counselling, clinical psych, educational psych, research, occupational psych, occupational therapy, art/drama/music/play therapy is also a possibility although more difficult as they prefer an undergrad degree in their subject rather than psychology

without further training within the field you're looking at jobs like HCA, support worker, teaching assistant, recovery worker... and eventually things like assistant psychologist posts and IAPT posts

you can get a reasonably well paying job in psychology but it generally takes a lot of work and commitment while in poorly paying jobs/further training to get there

you should have a think about what roles you would actually be interested in doing and what the routes into them would be as I'm not sure what you're actually aiming for if you want to work in the NHS helping people but not be a clinical psychologist, obviously not everyone working in the mental health service is a clinical psych, others will be counsellors, CBT therapists, IAPT workers - but I don't know why you'd want to do those and be opposed to the idea of clin psych!


Thanks for your post! I am going to start my undergrad Psych degree this September, I didn't know about all these jobs I could apply for just without further training. (I don't want to do a masters)
Original post by AzimH
Thanks for your post! I am going to start my undergrad Psych degree this September, I didn't know about all these jobs I could apply for just without further training. (I don't want to do a masters)


my understanding is that a masters is only necessary for psychology if you do badly academically and want to progress to doctorate level (i.e. for clinical psych etc)

bear in mind that aside from graduate schemes a lot of psychology related jobs that you can gain without further training are not well paid, e.g. I have held 3 posts since graduating, all part time, one voluntary, both others paid around £11,000 a year (and I graduated with a 1st from a decent uni and with work experience)... assistant psych and IAPT workers are both paid better (and there are other jobs with assorted titles that are alright too) but require significant experience to get - and generally there is little opportunity to progress without further training
Reply 6
Original post by doodle_333
my understanding is that a masters is only necessary for psychology if you do badly academically and want to progress to doctorate level (i.e. for clinical psych etc)

bear in mind that aside from graduate schemes a lot of psychology related jobs that you can gain without further training are not well paid, e.g. I have held 3 posts since graduating, all part time, one voluntary, both others paid around £11,000 a year (and I graduated with a 1st from a decent uni and with work experience)... assistant psych and IAPT workers are both paid better (and there are other jobs with assorted titles that are alright too) but require significant experience to get - and generally there is little opportunity to progress without further training


Thanks for letting me know. I'm starting to regret my course choice :s
Original post by AzimH
Thanks for letting me know. I'm starting to regret my course choice :s


pursuing a straight up career in psychology is hard but there are other jobs you can use psychology for e.g. market research, recruitment, management... and to be honest it's not all bad, if you want to head for a career in psychology it's worth sticking it out, I don't regret my degree choice at all and have enjoyed the jobs I've done - it's just best to go in with your eyes open as it's worth considering what you want to aim for and getting some relevant experience while you're at uni to put you ahead when you graduate
Reply 8
Original post by doodle_333
pursuing a straight up career in psychology is hard but there are other jobs you can use psychology for e.g. market research, recruitment, management... and to be honest it's not all bad, if you want to head for a career in psychology it's worth sticking it out, I don't regret my degree choice at all and have enjoyed the jobs I've done - it's just best to go in with your eyes open as it's worth considering what you want to aim for and getting some relevant experience while you're at uni to put you ahead when you graduate


Oh okay, Again, thanks for the information :smile:
Human computer interaction and user experience design are also relevant fields to psychology

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