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Career Exploration

Industrial-Organizational Psychologists

Also called: I-O Psychologist (Industrial-Organizational Psychologist), Organizational Consultant, Organizational Psychologist, Research Scientist

What they do:

Apply principles of psychology to human resources, administration, management, sales, and marketing problems. Activities may include policy planning; employee testing and selection, training, and development; and organizational development and analysis. May work with management to organize the work setting to improve worker productivity.

On the job, you would:
  • Provide advice on best practices and implementation for selection.
  • Develop and implement employee selection or placement programs.
  • Analyze data, using statistical methods and applications, to evaluate the outcomes and effectiveness of workplace programs.
On the job, you'll need:

Business

  • human resources (HR)
  • management

Math and Science

  • psychology
  • arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics

Education and Training

  • teaching and course design

Arts and Humanities

  • English language

Basic Skills

  • listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
  • reading work related information

People and Technology Systems

  • thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
  • measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it

Problem Solving

  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

Verbal

  • communicate by speaking
  • read and understand what is written

Ideas and Logic

  • make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
  • use rules to solve problems

Math

  • choose the right type of math to solve a problem
  • add, subtract, multiply, or divide

Investigative

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.

  • Analytical Thinking
  • Integrity
  • Initiative
  • Dependability
  • Achievement/Effort
  • Attention to Detail

Analytical or scientific software

  • IBM SPSS Statistics
  • SAS

Computer based training software

  • Learning management system LMS
  • Padlet

Spreadsheet software

  • Google Sheets
  • Microsoft Excel

Video courtesy of CareerOneStop.

Job Outlook

The job outlook for this position is Bright.

New job opportunities are very likely in the future. This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Median Annual Salary: $139,280

Education

Master's degree or doctoral degree is usually needed.