I will add though that the only way to improve the lives of those tens of thousands of employees at Walmart would be to work at Walmart and try to change things from the inside. There are many I/O’s trying to do just that – but it is a battle to convince upper management that such moves would ultimately be in the best interests of the company without obvious ROI. If you work in a company where employees are already happy and productive, what’s the point of your job?

As long as the department is APA-accredited (I/O is not accredited specifically), the program is probably fine. I don’t think there’s any harm applying to such a place in addition to anywhere else you apply – once you know everywhere you are accepted, you can choose the best option among that set.

And again, the absolute best thing you can do is track down some recent graduates of the program and see what kinds of jobs they have. First-hand information is better than anything else.

I am really appreciate such an insightful thread and responses to questions in the field.

There are some doctoral programs out there particularly, Louisiana Tech that are more focused on applied rather than research. From what I gather on the website, the program is a fairly new program about 4-5 years old. But the school has a well established Master’s program, I think the only one in the state. Although it is a small department it appears to be a program run by all I/O psychologist.

It is a school that I am considering but I have my concerns because the program is new, and the school does not offer a tuition waver. Do you have any information on a program such as this one, and in your opinion would it be a good choice to submit an application to? I am considering their Masters program as well, I really don’t understand the difference in a Master’s program and a Phd program that is geared toward applied.

Your comments would be appreciated.
Thanks.

Business psychology is mostly the same thing – there isn’t a field called “business psychology” per se, but I/O might be considered under that heading, along with Career Counseling and a couple of related fields. So I would say “business psychology” is a label that includes several distinct fields, including I/O Psychology, but does not represent a distinct field itself. The exception to this is “work psychology” or “work and organizational psychology” which are common European terms for I/O.

And I absolutely find the work I do rewarding – few social sciences have such broad practical impact on people’s lives. Time spent at work makes up about half of most people’s waking lives before retirement. What better place is there to help massive numbers of people? Better training helps people do their jobs better (more satisfying to them, more value to the organization), better selection creates a more pleasant workplace (better coworker relations, less process loss within the organization), better leadership is more inspiring, better teamwork, etc., etc. These are all processes that I/O psychologists can influence for the better through both research and practice.

Second, your goals are extremely specific. Often, this means that you will be more difficult to employ, or that you will need to have extremely strong ability to explain how your developed skills will apply in the context you are seeking. I doubt there many jobs for “I/O Psychologist” in maritime management. However, there are likely to be many jobs that an I/O could fill within that field – e.g. training supervisor – but it would be up to you to figure out which jobs those were through your pre-existing network.

Third, “a focus on employee and career management” is a little vague. Employee management – i.e. making managerial and supervisory processes more effective – is a part of I/O. But career management is not at all. That more often falls under either Human Resources or Counseling with a workplace emphasis (not part of Psychology). I’d suggest thinking about what you see yourself doing on a day-to-day basis and let that drive your career choice (“I want to use psychology” is not enough by itself).

In terms of general recommendations, I’d suggest researching I/O Master’s and Ph.D. programs to identify some with connections to the industry that you are already in – then contact I/O area directors to explain your situation and ask for advice. If such programs don’t exist, then it will be all the more difficult later to find employment – but this would be a reality you should face head-on. If you want to be a private consultant, leveraging your industry network as clients, I’d also suggest pursuing a Ph.D.

Thank you for your very insightful posts, I have long had questions specific to IO psychology and appreciate your time.

My situation feels similar to Lucas’s, who is in the armed services and seeking higher education that will, hopefully, somehow dovetail academic achievement with practical real life experience to afford some level of market sustainability.

I am a full time commercial fisherman in Alaska currently getting my BS with a focus on Psychology from an accredited online university, GPA 4.0, and I plan on pursuing my Masters in Liberal Arts with a major in General (possibly Clinical) Psychology with the Harvard Extension School (my attempt to move closer to brick and mortar; as I will stop fishing for my educational interests the close of this year).

I would like to apply my professional maritime credentials (I am licensed by the US Coast Guard as a captain as well as an engineer), combine them with psychology, and work privately as a consultant while researching psychology as it pertains to the maritime industry, working with companies with a focus on employee and career management. This has led to an interest in I/O psychology which I hope is not misplaced or unfounded.

I feel this is a bit of a gray area to be asking advice about. On one hand I have professional contacts already, which is good, and I am not seeking an academic career, which might afford some flexibility. On the other hand, I do not know of much precedent of psychology specifically within the maritime industry and would appreciate your advice and insights as to how I might proceed, as I feel this would be an exciting applied field in which I am currently versed, though if it does lack a certain precedent this might place greater emphasis on holding a terminal research oriented degree.

Best,

William

I don’t think there are many jobs with the title “I/O” other than professor. Most I/Os go into either specialist positions within HR (e.g. assessment specialist, training designer, executive positions) or into a consultancy.

A Master’s degree as a terminal degree in I/O has not been around very long, and a lot of I/O Master’s programs are springing up. I honestly don’t know if there are jobs to support these students. The traditional degree is the Ph.D. But like I’ve mentioned before, most jobs in I/O, Master’s or PhD, come about through the connections your degree-granting institution has with industry – for example, most (but not all) ODU grads going into practice go to one of a relatively small group of consultancies, but given that, our placement rate for graduates is 100%.

Just about the worst thing you could do would be to attend a relatively unknown I/O Master’s program – especially an online program – without a job lined up already. It would be exceptionally difficult to land a position with that sort of education and without industry connections.