So you have actually given thought about choosing psychology as a career, and now you want to know whether psychology is the right career for you, how long will it take to become a psychologist, salaries, and expected career growth. In this blog, we will explore all the aforementioned questions. Psychologists examine how people think, communicate, behave, and interact with each other or with their environments. Psychology is a very popular major, in fact, on college campuses throughout the world, psychology frequently ranks in the top five most popular majors, and on many campuses, it is the single most popular major. All of these high numbers might suggest to you that psychologists are at an all-time high, but the reality is that only a few of the people who graduate in psychology will opt for higher studies and pursue a career in psychology. Now, if you want to pursue a degree, and it does not matter to you what subject you select, choosing psychology is still beneficial as it is a very fascinating and interesting field.

Is Psychology right for you?

• Are you a good listener?
• Are you comfortable working with people all day?
• Do you find satisfaction when you help people?
• Do you have a keen mind for research?
• Are you a patient person?
• Are you a good communicator?
• Are you curious enough to know what makes human beings tick?

Ask yourself the above questions, and if you find yourself agreeing with most of them, psychology will work alright for you.

Psychologists are innovators. They constantly research and bring out insights that broadens ones perspective about the human mind. And don’t worry if you have an insatiable and curious mind, as there is always new materials being published and the learning never stops.

The typical image of psychologists that most often comes up in our mind is that of a “shrink” who will give counseling and therapy as needed. This is a wrong generalization, as the field of psychology is multivariate and encompasses almost all spheres of human life. The point is, psychology is not just clinical or counseling work, you could always get into research or any other sub-fields within psychology and excel at it.

Below are some important points that you may consider before choosing psychology as a career.

• Salary

Do not come into psychology looking for money. As with any other field, money comes as you work and gain expertise. If your primary concern is financial, you would be better off pursuing any other field. Now, it is not to be understood that psychologists don’t make any money, you can still have a nice middle class income and there are many other factors like specialty and experience that can affect your pay grade. The lowest end will be ₹29,5862 to anything above monthly.

• Job Outlook

There is a huge demand for psychologists all around the world and even more in sectors like education, health and the business world. Psychology is a good career option and one that cannot be replaced with Artificial Intelligence. Overall employment of psychologists is projected to grow 8 percent from 2020 to 2030, about as fast as the average for all occupations3 .

• Stress

Deadlines, irregular hours and clients who are facing some major crisis in their life are all sources of stress for a psychologist. Not to mention the draining nature of the job, especially if you are in clinical or counseling work. It might be a good idea for you to up your coping and stress management skills. The positive side is that you will find yourself becoming emotionally stronger and naturally dealing with the stressors that the job throws at you.

• Time

When I say time here, what I mean is the duration it takes you to become a psychologist. Our studies can be compared to that of the medical students. It takes three years of undergraduate and two years of postgraduate studies to be even called as a psychologist. However, it does not end there, depending on the specialty you decide to pursue, it may take several additional years. For example, an M.Phil will require two years to complete and pursuing a Phd will take anywhere from two years to five years to complete. That’s almost a decade worth of studies. And even if your formal education is finished, you still have to keep yourself updated on the current trends and researches within the field. Some of your friends who may have gone to other fields will have graduated, found a job and settled down while you are still studying. If you are not willing to study that hard and spare some years of your life, psychology may not be the right choice for you.

• Passion

You really need to have passion, especially for a field like psychology, which is people-oriented. At the end of the day, few professions on this earth can enable you to help other human beings and feel genuinely satisfied for the work that we do.

About the Author

Mohammed Poonthottathil

Msc. Applied Psychology

Pondicherry University

References

1. Clay RA. Trends report: Psychology is more popular than ever. Monitor on Psychology. 2017;48(10):44.

2. https://www.glassdoor.co.in/Salaries/india-psychologist-salarySRCH_IL.0,5_IN115_KO6,18.htm

3.https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/ psychologists.htm#:~:text=in%20May%202021.-,Job%20Outlook,on %20average%2C%20over%20the%20decade