Organizational psychology sounds like an offshoot of human resources, but it’s actually a much more wide-ranging subject. The field combines the needs of organizations with the needs of individuals who are in those organizations, and there’s no shortage of jobs for organizational psychologists these days, which means you might need to go back to school and get your degree in organizational psychology if you want a chance at landing one.
What is Organizational Psychology, and Why Do You Need It?
Organizational psychology is a field that studies the way people interact in workplaces and organizations, with the goal being to make organizations more effective. This is usually taught as a post-graduate degree, and you can study for an Organizational Psychology degree online or on campus.
Sometimes that might mean making an office environment more welcoming, or it might involve helping employees work better as a team, or it could be bigger-picture thinking like understanding if an organization’s goals also match up with its employees’ goals.
How Will This Degree Help You in Today’s World?
In today’s world, people have more access to information than ever before. This is good in a lot of ways, but it also has the potential to overwhelm people. Just because something exists doesn’t mean it will apply to your life or be useful for you. It’s hard to sift through the vast amount of information out there and find what works for you.
This is where an organizational psychology degree comes into practice, allowing you to work through the data an organization has and use applied psychology principles in order to make sense of and use the data effectively.
The Benefits of Pursuing a Psychology Degree
Getting an organizational psychology degree can help you along your career path, including:
- You’ll Get To Know Your Field: By knowing the field inside and out, you’ll have a more direct understanding of why the problems you encounter at work are the way they are.
- You’ll Learn How To Fix Problems: You’ll also have a better grasp on how to fix those problems and work in a way that will help both you and your organization benefit from your efforts.
- You’ll Be A More Appealing Candidate: Organizations are always looking for ways to improve their productivity, and if you understand your field well enough, you’ll be a much better candidate to help them do that.
Where You Can Find Opportunities To Put Your Degree to Use
Advertising And Marketing Agencies: Organizational psychology is all about understanding human behavior so that ads, marketing materials, and other promotional content can be more effective.
Human Resources Departments: Sometimes when an organization isn’t running smoothly, it can be tricky to find the right person to fix the problem.
Counseling Agencies: Organizational psychologists can be valuable assets to help people work better together.
Consulting Firms: After gaining the skills to understand what needs to be done in an organization, you can use those skills as a consultant with companies to help them problem solve and improve their productivity.
Startups and Small Businesses: If you’re looking for a startup or an entrepreneurial venture, organizational psychology is a good niche because it deals with issues like scarcity of resources, managing priorities, and how people feel about their work environment.
