Unlocking the Secrets of the Brain
by BJ Fairfax
bj.fairfax@careerschooldirectory.com
Career School Directory Columnist
If you find yourself fascinated with the inner workings of the human mind--from what makes a good marriage tick to the mental strategy involved in a boxing ring, and everything in between--you may want to consider career education in psychology.
Getting a job in the field of psychology requires fairly intense career training, typically resulting in a master's degree or doctorate in psychology. Read on to find out what this type of career education entails.
Getting a Psychology Degree
A doctoral degree is the standard for those who seek long-lasting careers in psychology, but master's degrees will do the trick for careers like school counseling, social work, and so on. Getting a PhD typically requires five to seven years of graduate career training; a master's degree usually takes two.
There are many options for the student who seeks career training in this field, including
online psychology degree programs. Once you have earned your bachelor's degree--preferably in psychology or a relevant area of study, such as social sciences or statistics--you can begin applying for your advanced career training.
Besides classes in human behavior, statistics, mathematics, biology, and more, your psychology career training will likely include the completion of an internship, which allows you to rack up clinical experience under the supervision of mentors.
Once you have earned your psychology degree and met your hands-on experience requirements, you will be ready for the next step. For many social services careers, your psych degree is all you need, but if you want to practice as a psychologist, you'll need to sit for a licensing exam. All states require potential psychologists to pass a standardized exam in order to be licensed to practice.
Working in Psychology
After all that hard work, you may be wondering what the payoff is like. For one, you will devote your entire career to studying the fascinating mystery of human mentality. You have a chance to get to know a diverse range of people rather intimately, and your job is to help them improve the way they live.
But that doesn't put food on the table. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, job opportunities for psychologists are expected to grow faster than the national average. In May 2004, the bureau reported the median annual earnings for psychologists at around $54,950, with highest 10 percent earning more than $92,250.
Source
About the Author
BJ Fairfax holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She writes for a variety of print and online publications.
Posted on April 4, 2007 at 5:03 PM
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