If you find workplace behavior fascinating, perhaps a career as an industrial-organizational psychologist could be the perfect goal for you. Industrial-organizational psychologists study workplace behavior, often with a goal of helping businesses, organizations and various employers to increase their productivity.

1. A Career as an Industrial-Organizational Psychologist
If you find workplace behavior fascinating, perhaps a career as an industrial-organizational
psychologist could be the perfect goal for you. Industrial-organizational psychologists study
workplace behavior, often with a goal of helping businesses, organizations and various employers
to increase their productivity. They may also help employers with product testing and selecting
the best applicants for specific jobs. There are many different jobs within this field, though, so
there’s no telling where you’ll end up or exactly what tasks you’ll be responsible for until you get
our career underway.
While worker productivity is often a primary concern for industrial-organizational psychologists,
these psychology professionals also often find themselves working in human resource
departments, organizing employee trainings or performing assessments of current and/or
prospective employees. There are many experienced industrial-organizational psychologists who
work as consultants for different organizations, while others work full time for one specific
employer.
Those fresh out of grad school may be limited in their options and will make somewhere around
the median salary of $38,750 with a master’s degree or $55,000 with a PhD. The median annual
salary for all industrial-organizational psychologists is around $80,000, however, because there
are experienced university professor positions and private-sector jobs that pay as much as
$70,000 to $100,000 per year, or more.
If you want to pursue a career in industrial-organizational psychology, you will need to start with a
bachelor’s degree in psychology. It is preferable to select an undergraduate program that
specializes in industrial-organizational psychology, after which you may even find entry-level jobs
in human resources departments. If you want more challenging and better-paying options,
however, you will need to pursue a master’s degree or PhD, which will take an additional two to
five years, depending on the program you choose and how much time you have to dedicate to
your studies. When you have a graduate degree, you will be able to seek a variety of job options
in the private sector and in government offices, as well as consulting opportunities.
It’s an excellent time to get into the field of industrial-organizational psychology, according to the
United States Department of Labor. These psychology professionals are expected to be in
demand for years to come, as more businesses and organizations look for ways to retain skilled
employees, increase overall productivity and maintain a diverse and nondiscriminatory workplace
for all. There are even industrial-organizational psychologists who help businesses plan their
marketing and advertising campaigns.