Industrial Organizational Psychology Jobs & Degrees You Need

Industrial-organizational psychology jobs require professionals with diverse skill sets as well as the knowledge to address the challenges of today’s workplace. In short, these professionals study human behavior in workplace settings. Then they find solutions to problems that impact an organization’s effectiveness or productivity while improving the work environment for employees. All in all, industrial organizational psychology careers are a good choice. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the average annual salary for these professionals to be around $139,280, with the lowest percentage earning about $72,490 per year and the highest-paid professional making more than $210,030 per year.

This article delves into IO psychology jobs as well as offers insight into their description, outlook, salary, educational requirements, and much more. Let’s get started!

Article Navigation:  What Is Industrial Organizational Psychology? | Education | Entry-level Jobs | Jobs with a Master’s | Careers With A Doctoral Degree | Job Description | Career Overview | License or Certification | Professional Organizations | Conclusion

What Is Industrial Organizational Psychology?

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), industrial organizational psychology studies and improves human behaviors within organizations, teams, and workplaces. For instance, it addresses issues of selection and placement, organizational development, and consumer behavior. Additionally, this field encompasses recruitment, training and development, workplace motivation, as well as performance measurement.

Industrial-organizational psychologists are not clinicians. Therefore, they do not work directly with people to solve social problems or mental health complications. Instead, IO psychology jobs are chiefly business oriented. Their responsibilities include developing sustainable practices to improve the workplace. They also work to enhance profitability and productivity.

IO Psychology vs. Human Resources

Jobs in industrial organizational psychology focus on keeping employers and employees happy and making the workplace an effective environment. In other words, it can be construed as a human resources career. However, IO psychologists specifically determine the benefits that can increase the efficiency and productivity of employees by studying their behavior. In contrast, human resources involves devising, implementing, and providing these benefits and packages to team members. To summarize, industrial-organizational psychology is the brainstorming phase of increasing satisfaction and productivity, and human resource falls into the practical application category.

The 3 Fields of Industrial/Organizational Psychology

1. Industrial Psychology

   Industrial psychology defines job requirements and evaluates if workers meet those requirements. It is also the study and process of assessing, training and responding to employee evaluations after the hiring process. Industrial psychology also considers legality issues concerning hiring discrimination, primarily due to its interest in candidate characteristics.

2. Organizational Psychology

   Organizational psychology is a discipline that studies how the relationships between employees affect those particular employees and their performance in a business. For example, learning motivation, worker satisfaction, and commitment. Organizational psychology is also the study of corporate culture, leadership, and how managerial and leadership styles impact individual behavior. Due to its interest in work relationships and well-being, organizational psychology also considers sensitive subjects such as workplace violence and harassment.

3. Human Factors Psychology

   Human factors psychology is the study of how workers interact with particular work tools. Additionally, it focuses on how to design and maintain those tools to improve safety, productivity, and health. For example, it examines the fit of a chair, a computer, or a desk to see if that fit is helping or hindering an employee’s health or productivity.

Industrial Psychology Education

What Degree Is Required to Become an Industrial Psychologist?

Industrial psychology requires a bachelor's degree. However, most entry-level industrial organizational psychology jobs require that degree to be in general psychology, no I/O psychology. Bachelor’s programs provide the basic understanding of psychology and its principles.

Those who are interested in high level I/O psychology careers go on to earn a master's degree. In short, a master’s is the primary educational requirement to enter the industrial-organizational psychology industry. Of course, some students opt for a joint bachelor’s and master’s degree, taking accelerated, specialized courses in HR, industrial, and organizational specialties.

There are two types of doctoral degrees in industrial organizational psychology, PhD and PsyD. Most psychology students typically undertake a Doctor of Philosophy PhD, as it focuses on completing a dissertation and culminating research. Many graduate programs also offer a Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) for those pursuing work in a specialized and more focused setting. This degree program focuses primarily on applied clinical practice. Regardless of the type of doctoral degree you pursue, it will open up career opportunities to you.

Is a Master’s in IO Psychology Worth It?

Regardless of the industry or job title, most jobs in industrial psychology require a master's degree in industrial organizational psychology. However, you must also have considerable experience in a relevant field to advance to a managerial or senior position or work as a consultant. Additionally, teaching at a university or research-oriented jobs may require a doctorate (Ph.D.).

The choice between a master’s and a doctorate depends upon the type of job you want. Typically, professionals with a master’s degree are more suited for hands-on work, such as collaborating with employers and employees to solve real-life problems. In contrast, jobs with a PhD. in industrial organizational psychology may focus more on statistics and data analysis.

Entry-level Industrial Organizational Jobs

Bachelor’s Degree

Most industrial organizational psychology entry-level jobs require at least an undergraduate degree. An industrial-organizational bachelor’s degree requires 120 credits and takes about four years of full-time study. However, some programs also offer accelerated options to help complete a bachelor’s degree in as few as three and a half years.

Dual degree options in organizational psychology enable you to pursue graduate coursework while completing a bachelor’s degree, helping you save time and money. Although there are bachelor’s degrees in industrial psychology, some students enter the industry with pure psychology degrees. However, both fields offer the fundamental knowledge and skills that can help in an IO career, including:

• Cognitive psychology
• Personality theory
• Research methods for behavioral sciences
• Child development
• Team member assessment
• Organizational behavior

Human Resource Specialist

Average Annual Salary: $62,290 per year or $29.95 per hour
Required Education: Bachelor’s
Projected Growth: 8% (Faster than the average across all occupations)
Number of Jobs, 2021: 782,800
Employment Change, 2021-2031: 58,800

Typical Duties and Responsibilities:

• Organize the hiring of employees
• Train new hires
• Offer information about employee benefits in a particular organization
• Make hiring recommendations
• Manage documentations
• Draft new policies as per requirements
• Decide about sensitive cases, such as resolving employee conflict

Training and Development

Average Annual Salary: $120,130 per year or $57.76 per hour
Required Education: Bachelor’s
Projected Growth: 7% (As fast as the average across all occupations)
Number of Jobs, 2021: 38,100
Employment Change, 2021-2031: 2,900

Typical Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provide training and educational resources to employees
• Supervise employee training
• Observe employee behavior and activities to recommend training programs best suited for them
• Devise and manage training programs
• Deliver training materials
• Offer guidance to trainers in an organization

Market Researcher

Average Annual Salary: $63,920 per year or $30.73 per hour
Required Education: Bachelor’s
Projected Growth: 19% (Much faster than the average across all occupations)
Number of Jobs, 2021: 792,500
Employment Change, 2021-2031: 150,300

Typical Duties and Responsibilities:

• Collect and analyze data in an industry or market
• Apply marketing skills to evaluate data
• Suggest possible actions that a company can take
• Propose policies and facilitating their development
• Apply knowledge of behavioral theories (in the case of IO psychologists) to perform daily research and marketing tasks

Research Analyst

Average Annual Salary: $82,360 per year or $39.59 per hour
Required Education: Bachelor’s
Projected Growth: 23% (Much faster than the average across all occupations)
Number of Jobs, 2021: 104,200
Employment Change, 2021-2031: 24,200

Typical Duties and Responsibilities:

• Read and interpret data from market research
• Determine the accuracy of collected data
• Identify domains for the opportunity and defining trends
• Use mathematical operations, probability, and statistics to devise solutions for an organization

Employee Relations Manager

Average Annual Salary: $126,230 per year or $60.69 per hour
Required Education: Bachelor’s
Projected Growth: 7% (As fast as the average across all occupations)
Number of Jobs, 2021: 174,200
Employment Change, 2021-2031: 12,600

Typical Duties and Responsibilities:

• Observe and advise companies about the relationship between their managers and teams
• Offer suggestions for improving employee relationships
• Provide resources and training on collaboration
• Conduct assessments to determine patterns in employee behavior
• Advise companies on how to solve employee issues

Instructional Designer

Average Annual Salary: $77,030 per year or $37.03 per hour
Required Education: Bachelor’s
Projected Growth: 3% (Slower than the average across all occupations)
Number of Jobs, 2021: 29,300
Employment Change, 2021-2031: 900

Typical Duties and Responsibilities:

• Design courses and learning resources for employees
• Manage assessment content, training materials, and employee surveys
• Create materials by using industry-wide training pedagogy
• Develop industry-specific training materials

Jobs With An Online Master’s Degree in I/O Psychology

Students with graduate industrial organizational psychology degrees can consult with different organizations on a case-by-case basis. Additionally, they can work independently as a team. They can find employment equally in the non-profit or for-profit sectors. Regardless, all mid- to high-level industrial organizational psychology jobs require analytical, observational, communication, as well as problem-solving skills.

Following are some jobs directly related to an industrial organizational psychology degree.

Master in Industrial Organizational Psychology

The best industrial-organizational psychology jobs generally require a master’s degree as the minimum educational requirement. A master’s degree in industrial organizational psychology requires students to complete about 36 graduate-level credits. It requires two years of full-time study, but part-time students need more time: generally about three years. Some master’s programs follow a cohort program format, meaning that students simultaneously take one to two classes as a part of a group. However, other master’s programs are self-paced and allow students the flexibility to tailor their program according to their needs.

Research programs can also include quantitative and qualitative methods to prepare students for a capstone project or a thesis. Industrial-organizational master’s degrees generally include coursework in the following subjects:

• Personnel psychology
• Ethics of industrial organizational psychology
• Organizational behavior
• Leadership

Typical courses in a master’s program may include:

• Psychology of Organizational Behavior
• Consulting for Organizational Change
• Personnel Psychology in the Workplace
• Industrial-Organizational Testing and Measurement
• Quantitative Reasoning and Analysis

Human Resource Manager

Average Annual Salary: $126,230 per year or $60.69 per hour
Required Education: Master’s
Projected Growth: 7% (As fast as the average across all occupations)
Number of Jobs, 2021: 174,200
Employment Change, 2021-2031: 12,600

Typical duties and responsibilities:

• Direct and manage the Human Resource department
• Delegate particular duties to HR specialists
• Oversee payroll oversight, benefits management, conflict resolution, and training leadership
• Support both the HR department and the company’s general staff

Technology Consultant

Average Annual Salary: $92,940
Required Education: Master’s
Projected Growth: 1.4% (Slower than the average across all occupations)
Number of Jobs, 2021: 531,850

Typical duties and responsibilities:

• Test processes or systems for efficiency or usability
• Examine social systems within an organization
• Evaluate team member interactions
• Use collected information to diagnose common issues in the workplace
• Work to find solutions for the diagnosed issues

Management Analyst

Average Annual Salary: $93,000 per year or $44.71 per hour
Required Education: Master’s
Projected Growth: 11% (As fast as the average across all occupations)
Number of Jobs, 2021: 950,600
Employment Change, 2021-2031: 108,400

Typical duties and responsibilities:

• Observe teams and conducting assessments
• Offer reports concerning the efficacy of an organization’s managerial staff
• Design new procedures and protocols for managers
• Ensure efficient operations between teams and managers
• Suggest processes that can help better manager-employee and manager relationship

Careers With An Online Industrial-Organizational Doctoral Degree

A doctorate in industrial organizational psychology offers considerable insight into quantitative research design and techniques, such as strategies to solve complicated administrative issues. Students have to complete IO psychology internships as well as perform dissertation research to gain professional experience. Doctorate programs take four to five years but may require more time, depending on the program format.

Typical Courses of a doctorate in IO psychology may include:

• Jobs analysis and performance appraisal
• Psychometrics
• Organizational consulting

Engineering Psychologist

Average Annual Salary: $81,040 per year or $38.96 per hour
Required Education: Doctorate
Projected Growth: 6% (As fast as the average across all occupations)
Number of Jobs, 2021: 181,600
Employment Change, 2021-2031: 11,300

Typical Duties and Responsibilities:

• Focus on the physical aspects of the work environment
• Study how employees and team members interact with technology
• Evaluate the safety of the workplace
• Identify potential areas where employee safety may be at risk
• Make recommendations on how to reorganize the workplace and make it a safer and better environment for employees and employers
• Supervise various trials to report on user experience for particular products
• Collect and interpreting data on user experience trials
• Make recommendations on how the company can improve a particular product to enhance customer experience

Research Psychologist

Average Annual Salary: $113,320
Required Education: Doctorate
Projected Growth: 6.4% (As fast as the average across all occupations)
Employment Change, 2021-2031: 610

Typical Duties and Responsibilities:

• Conduct research in various settings, such as governmental agencies, colleges and universities, large business corporations or enterprises, and non-profit organizations
• Study individual or collective workers’ behaviors
• Evaluate groups within an organization or business
• Identify workplace problems and mitigating them through research-based techniques

Professor

Average Annual Salary: $79,640 per year
Required Education: Doctorate
Projected Growth: 12% (As fast as the average across all occupations)
Number of Jobs, 2021: 1,324,000
Employment Change, 2021-2031: 159,400

Typical Duties and Responsibilities:

• Teach at the college or post-secondary education levels
• Manage classrooms
• Design lessons and coursework
• Devise assignments and grading them
• Deliver lectures or teach workshops on particular subjects to wider audiences

Industrial Organizational Psychology Job Description

In general, an industrial psychologist is a professional who applies psychological theories and principles to a workplace. These professionals are well-versed in IO psychology. Because of this, they focus on improving workplace productivity and flow. For instance, they observe and evaluate corporate climate by studying the following:

• Team member productivity
• Behavior
• Attitudes
• Training
• Management
• Leadership

Additionally, this career also entails collaboration with corporate leadership to monitor and evaluate workplace behavior, devise company strategies, develop policies, and direct training sessions.

Responsibilities

Above all, an industrial psychologist must apply psychological principles to studying individual behavior in an organizational climate. Because of this, they evaluate social situations, managerial styles, company expectations, and corporate structure. Depending upon their research findings, they devise ways to improve the overall health of a company’s team members and enhance individual job performance. Consequently, these benefits translate to a more efficient and stable organization.

Also, as stated earlier, responsibilities include collaboration with the HR department to observe employees and their work environment to determine best practices for workplace processes. In summary, IO psychologists can make a company a better place to work in by evaluating and improving employee satisfaction, motivation, and performance.

Industrial-organizational psychology jobs may include the following responsibilities:

• Apply psychological research in the workplace
• Enhance the organizational structure of an organization
• Play a consultative role in an organization
• Offer ergonomic consultation to improve comfort and maximize performance levels
• Evaluate employee job performance
• Research consumer behavior
• Collaborate with the Human Resources department
• Improve business efficiency
• Improve the quality of work life for employers and employees
• Help hire employees qualified for a particular position
• Motivate and train the labor force
• Assist with corporate transitions, including staff realignment and mergers

Industrial Organizational Psychology Salary

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual industrial organizational psychologist salary was about $139,280 in May 2022. Although they may start at $72,490 annually, they can go up from there. Salary depends on factors such as education, experience, location, job type, and industry. IO psychologist salaries also vary between external consultants and internal team members or management, and individual contributors.

Where Does an Industrial Psychologist Work?

Industrial psychologists can find employment positions in various workplace settings. These include healthcare facilities, manufacturing industries, labor unions, as well as commercial enterprises. Meanwhile, they may work as facilitators, trainers, as well as coaches. They may also work directly for a company’s human resources department. Additionally, they may work with specific organizations to assist with solutions to particular problems.

Careers in Industrial-Organizational Psychology Overview

While it many be true that very few IO careers use the same job title, there are a number of common job titles, skills, and qualities of an IO psychology career. However, when you earn a degree and specialize in your field, you start understanding industrial psychologist job titles. In any case, you need to hold board certification and licensure to use the word “psychologist” in your title because it is more applicable to clinical positions.

Some standard industrial organizational psychology job titles are as follows:

• Executive Coach
• Human Resource Manager
• Workforce Analyst
• Staffing And Recruiting Manager
• Market Analyst Or Researcher
• Behavioral Analyst
• Team Development Trainer Or Manager
• Organizational Effectiveness Consultant
• Project Manager

Benefits of a Career in Industrial-Organizational Psychology

In short, IO psychology careers are dynamic and offer diverse opportunities. The following are a few reasons to consider a career in industrial organizational psychology:

• You Get To Help People

  As an industrial-organizational psychologist, you are responsible for making a workplace as safe, comfortable, as well as productive. For example, you can build inclusive work environments, help team members do their jobs, resolve workplace conflicts, and negotiate conditions and salaries.

• Personally & Professionally Rewarding Careers

  This career is both personally and professionally rewarding. Firstly, you may get to perform data analysis and research. Additionally, you devise and deliver educational programs and employee training schedules. Another element of these careers is improving corporate safety and efficiency while focusing on diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Finally, you develop better retention and hiring policies. However, these are just a few of the benefits of working in an industrial-organizational career.

• Employment in Most Industries

  The Industrial-organizational psychology job outlook is great because there are positions available in many industries. For instance, all companies, irrespective of their size, have an Human Resource department. Elementary and high schools also hire I/O psychologists, as do colleges and universities. State and national government agencies also hire these professionals. Additionally, you’ll be able to find a career in marketing and advertising firms. On one hand, manufacturing companies hire I/O professionals, and on the other hand so do labor unions. Finally, hospitals and other healthcare facilities also hire those with I/O degrees.

Personal & Professional Qualities

Although you may have the necessary skills for a glittering industrial organizational psychology career, some personality traits can help you better adapt to this career choice. Although this is not an exhaustive list, it can offer you a general understanding of useful personal traits while pursuing an IO psychology career. These include the following:

• Have an interest in human behavior, especially in a team and organizational settings
• Be able to work and collaborate with people closely
• Have an analytical mindset
• Be trustworthy and conscientious
• Be willing to solve and confront complicated problems
• Feel comfortable in applying scientific methodologies

Skills of Industrial-Organizational Psychologists

Industrial-organizational psychology has gained momentum because of its increasing relevance in societal dealings and interactions. What’s more, IO psychologists study how we function in the workplace. Thus industrial psychology education fosters a crucial set of skills in them, some of which are as follows:

• Emotional Intelligence
• Critical Thinking
• Data Analysis
• Adaptability
• Technological Skills

Do You Need A License or Certification in I/O Psychology?

Although, industrial-organizational psychologist licensure requirements vary between states most states require licensure for an individual to use the title “psychologist.” But, the Society of Industrial Organizational Psychologists exempts industrial-organizational psychologists from holding licenses. However, some states only require IO psychologists to earn a license if they undertake particular responsibilities. Therefore, checking in with your state’s requirements for which jobs would require licensure is essential.

Generally, bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in industrial psychology do not prepare students for licensure because these research-based programs do not necessitate clinical work. Therefore, industrial organizational psychology internships are the most suitable option for attaining practical experience.

Professional Organizations

• Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology

  The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology welcomes members from all professional groups, students, professors, as well as working professionals. It also publishes academic and professional resources and releases press releases concerning government policies and current events in the field.

  There are membership levels, but all offer unrequited access to specialized continuing education modules in talent acquisition, data collection and interpretation, and training and assessment. The society’s website also hosts a members’ forum for discussion in different case studies and methods, along with a job board, making it a crucial resource for IO psychologists.

• Emotional Intelligence Consortium

  The Emotional Intelligence Consortium is a highly selective professional group for those studying emotional intelligence within the workplace. The organization offers access to numerous assessments as well as guidelines. Although membership is limited to professionals with comprehensive research in the field, resources are available for everyone. The organization also offers in-person training sessions and events.

• Human Factors and Ergonomics Society

  The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society is an industrial organizational psychology association that offers memberships to professionals, as well as students. In short, the society specializes in learning how to provide the best working experience for employees. Given that, they make sure employers understand that happy employees translate to increased productivity. Some common topics of discussion in articles and conventions of this society include reduction in physical strain, biomechanics of the human body, as well as safety concerns for employees.

• American Psychological Association

  Lastly, the American Psychological Association offers resources for professionals in industrial organizational psychology jobs. This organization also has mentors and career-advancing counselors to help individuals start their careers. For this purpose, grants are available for research, education, as well as training in the use of digital communication to help practitioners hold teleconferencing sessions with clients.

Earn Your Degree Online

Industrial-organizational psychology careers are consequently booming with the increased demand for workplace management. In other words, your career choice has serious growth potential!

Now that you have all the information about industrial organizational psychologist jobs, you can kickstart your career with an online industrial organizational psychology degree. Without delay, head to GetEducated.com to find online degrees from accredited universities in IO psychology today!

Sources: 

• https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes193032.htm
• https://www.apa.org/ed/graduate/specialize/industrial
• https://www.siop.org/Membership/Licensure-Policy-by-State#
• https://www.siop.org/
• https://www.apa.org/