Why Choose Psychology and What Can You Get Out of It?
Psychology is a subject that involves studying the way peoples brains work and how they behave.
It is a subject that is sometimes offered at GCSE or A-Level, but for most degree courses, it is not a pre-requisite requirement to have studied this at A-Level or GCSE, but be sure to check the course requirements before applying.
To succeed in a psychology degree, you’ll need to be able to not only understand how the brain works and how we behave but also know about the physical make-up of the brain and also have knowledge of other biological processes.
Hence, most psychology degrees are BSc, but there are a fair few BA degrees out there.
Where can Psychology take you?
Due to the skills that you will acquire while taking a psychology degree, you will open up your job prospects for employers who are looking for specific skills within in a candidate. Many people will take up jobs directly relating to the psychology degree such as criminal or educational psychologists, who try to understand why criminals or children make certain decisions.
However, other popular jobs after graduation include retail managers, careers officers or psychotherapists. The key skills that psychology graduates have is that they can understand why people make decisions, which is a skill that business owners will look for in staff.
Occupational Psychologists
An occupational psychologist will aim to try to make employees in an organisation the most productive that they can be and will also help them to increase their job satisfaction. They are a sort of life coach to help those who may have become disillusioned or discontent with work to find a second wind.
They can either work as an employer of an organisation or as part of a consultancy firm which will mean that you get experience with a variety of clients and in different working environments.
Salaries start at £15000 and can rise to in excess of £80000 for the most senior of psychologists.
Psychotherapist
Psychotherapists are there to offer treatment and advice to those with mental disorders or insecurities. Most of their patients will be teens or adolescents and they will observe them in a variety of locations, at school, with friends and at home in order to build up an accurate picture of this child’s life.
Many psychotherapists work alone, but often they work in groups to provide the most balanced approach to the treatment of a child’s problems. If you join the NHS then you will earn in the region of £24000 up to £47000 for the most senior therapists.
Remember that psychology students have one of the widest bases of transferable skills available and hence they are very attractive to employers who may need to understand why their business is succeeding or failing and how to improve their rate of growth.