Alright, let’s talk about this. After I finished my BA in Psychology, I remember feeling a bit lost, honestly. Everyone asks, “So, you gonna be a therapist?” and usually, the answer right after a BA is “Well, not without a lot more school.” So, the big question hit me hard: what job can I actually get right now?
First thing I did was just plain old searching. I hit the job boards, typed in “psychology bachelor,” and saw what popped up. A lot of it felt… unrelated? Or it wanted master’s degrees. It was kind of discouraging at first.
My First Steps & What I Found
I started thinking about the skills I actually learned, not just the degree title. Psychology teaches you a lot about people, how they think, why they do things. It also involves research, writing, and paying attention to details. So, I broadened my search terms.
Here’s kinda what I looked into initially, based on advice and what seemed logical:
- Human Services type roles: Stuff like being an assistant in a group home, maybe working with community programs. The pay wasn’t always great, but it felt like a direct way to use the degree. I applied to a few of these.
- Research Assistant: Universities or sometimes private companies need people to help with studies. Collecting data, maybe some basic analysis. This felt closer to the academic side of my degree. Sent out some feelers here too.
- HR (Human Resources): This came up a lot. Companies figured psych grads understand people, which could be good for recruiting, employee relations, maybe training. I remember thinking, “Okay, this makes sense,” and tweaked my resume to highlight communication and understanding people skills.
What Actually Happened (My Experience)
The reality check came pretty quick. Competition was stiff, especially for anything directly labeled “psychology.” The human services jobs were often demanding with lower starting pay. Research assistant gigs were hard to come by without connections or specific lab experience.
So, where did I actually land? My first real job out of college wasn’t glamorous, and it wasn’t called a psychology job. I ended up in a sort of client support role for a mid-sized company. It wasn’t what I dreamed of, but here’s the kicker: the psych degree was surprisingly useful.
Why it helped:
- Dealing with unhappy clients? Understanding empathy and active listening (stuff drilled into us in psych class) was huge.
- Working with different team members? Knowing a bit about group dynamics and personality differences helped navigate office politics.
- Training new hires later on? My background gave me ideas on how people learn best.
From there, I actually managed to move sideways into an HR-related training role within the same company. They saw I was good with people and explaining things. That felt much closer to applying my degree directly. I saw other psych grads I knew follow similar paths – starting somewhere maybe unrelated on the surface, but using those core psych skills to move into roles like:
- HR Assistants / Recruiters: Seriously, tons of psych grads end up here.
- Training Specialists: Designing and delivering training programs.
- Market Research Assistants: Analyzing consumer behavior definitely has psych roots.
- Case Workers / Social Work Assistants: Some did land these, often needing extra certifications but the BA was the foundation.
- Probation Officer Assistants: Requires more specific training/tests, but the psych background is relevant for understanding behavior.
- Substance Abuse support roles: Often needs certification, but the BA is a starting point for entry-level support positions.
Bottom Line From My Journey
So, yeah. Getting that first job with just the BA took some creative thinking and maybe starting somewhere that didn’t scream “psychology.” But the skills? They are definitely transferable. You learn how to understand people, how to research, how to communicate. Don’t just look for jobs with “psychology” in the title. Think about jobs where understanding people is key. HR, sales, marketing, customer service, non-profit work, training… lots of doors can open up if you know how to sell the skills you gained, not just the degree name. It’s about applying what you learned in practical ways, even if the job title isn’t what you initially expected.
