There are large-scale changes happening in the world that affect all of us in the jobs that are available to us, and what we do. This is especially true for psychologists, because two of those fundamental shifts apply directly to psychology: one is a shift to the services industry, and the other is the reliance on knowledge, what people generally refer to as the knowledge economy. (You sometimes will see advertisements for example for jobs related to knowledge management, a job category unheard of until recently). A consequence of these shifts, and other I have mentioned, is that students find it difficult to identify and understand what the career opportunities available to them are in this regard. And not just students – all of us find it difficult! If you look at the job advertisements in the newspapers, it certainly does not seem as if there is much for the psychologically-trained graduate to go for.

 

But it is all in the way you look. You have to look first at the job title, normally a pretty good indication whether it is something for you. Then of course you look at the job requirements and tasks that you will have to perform – and here is where the surprises lie for you. Hopefully I have convinced you the kinds of skills now required by jobs advertised in South Africa (and elsewhere of course) are exactly the skills that a degree in psychology provides you with. These are skill-sets and expertise that are highly valued by employers in many spheres of working life.

 

There certainly is a trend toward more diverse careers, also and perhaps especially so involving psychology. In short, “a range of rewarding and exciting new career opportunities for those with bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate degrees in psychology await you” (Donaldson & Berger, 2006, p. 17) Indeed, these authors say that “opportunities for students entering the field of psychology have never been greater than today” (p. 6).

REFERENCES

I have referred in the text to the websites and publications I found useful in drawing up this document. Here I list them some of them againagain, plus a few extra. Obviously, there is a huge amount of information available nowadays, and I suggest you do your own search through that landscape.

 

            Donaldson, S.I., Berger, D.E., and Pezdek, K. (Eds.). (2006). Applied psychology: New frontiers and rewarding careers. Mahweh, NJ: Erlbaum Associates. You can access the two chapters I referred to in the text on the web:

http://www.cgu.edu/include/Rise_Applied_Psych_Chap1.pdf (Donaldson and Berger)

http://www.cgu.edu/include/Evaluation_Careers.pdf (Donaldson and Christie)

  1.       Hayes, N. (1996). What makes a psychology graduate distinctive? European Psychologist, 1 (2), 130 -134.
  2.             Kuther, T., and Morgan, R. (2012). Careers in psychology: Opportunities in a changing world. Independence, KY: Cengage.
  3.            Richter, L.M., Griesel, R.D., Durrheim, K., Wilson, M., Surendorff, N., and Asafo-Agyei, L. (1998). Employment opportunities for psychology graduates in South Africa: A contemporary analysis. South African Journal of Psychology, 28, 1-7.
  4.      Websites: 


http://www.unisa.ac.za/contents/faculties/service_dept/docs/Psy@Unisa2013.pdf. (UNISA’s helpful document on study and career advice)

http://www.childpsych.co.za/ (on educational psychology)

http://www.gostudy.mobi/careers/View.aspx?oid=673 (on industrial psychology)

http://ncap.careerhelp.org.za/occupations (search for specific job titles on a website run by the Department of Higher Education and Training)

http://www.guidinglight.co.za/?s=psychology&Go.x=14&Go.y=8 (descriptions by three psychologically trained people of the work they do)

http://www.hpcsa.co.za/PBPsychology (the Professional Board for Psychology in South Africa)