Since 2000 I’ve taught behavioural psychology to over 7000 students in the Department of Psychology at the University of Alberta. A not infrequent question that I hear from students is, “So, can I actually get a job learning this stuff?” That’s actually a really good question. The short answer is, “Yes.” Not satisfied with that? Ok, read on for the longer answer.
A focus in behavioural psychology does provide you with employable skills. Bear in mind that if you’ve got your heart set on working as a clinical behaviour analyst, for example, you’re going to require additional graduate work in a clinical program. Likewise, you’re not going to be able to step into a top-level position in any field, be it education, business, therapeutic, or governmental with only an undergraduate degree. Some positions will simply require graduate work or further specialized training. Of course, even during an undergraduate degree you can enhance your marketability by taking opportunities to get “real-world” experience either through volunteering, securing summer jobs, and/or enrolling in an industrial internship program (http://www.psych.ualberta.ca/undergraduate/ipp/index.php). That being said, the knowledge and skills gained from behavioural psychology coursework itself is directly applicable to a wide range of jobs.
Keep in mind that very few job postings will specifically advertise themselves as requiring behavioural psychology. That doesn’t mean that your behavioural psychology knowledge doesn’t have something to offer the job. Quite the contrary. What you have to do is promote your abilities to the prospective employer; you can, and should, highlight the skill set you have acquired through behavioural psychology and be prepared to offer examples of what you can bring to the position. In short, “sell your sizzle.”
First off, behavioural psychology is the scientific study of behaviour. Many people overlook the advantages that having a foundational understanding of scientific methodology can bring to a job. Training in the sciences teaches you how to systematically pose and test problems, and critically evaluate results. Whether the job is in education or web-based marketing, knowing how to formulate a hypothesis and critically test it is beneficial.
Additionally, you will (or should!) have had the opportunity to gain valuable skills in communicating and expressing ideas in both written and spoken format during your undergraduate degree. A 2005 study in the Journal of Employment Counseling (http://www.allbusiness.com/sector-56-administrative-support/administrative/1189004-1.html) found that university graduates were generally lacking in oral and written communication skills, requiring improvement in areas such as vocabulary use and self-expression. More recently, the Job Outlook 2010 survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (http://www.usaeducationguides.com/news/article/survey-shows-u-s-employers-value-good-communication-622) determined that United States employers “…put communication skills at the very top of their list…” when hiring. If you’ve been avoiding classes that require research papers and/or oral presentations, you’re only hurting your future employment chances. Actively seek out courses that have communication components in the curriculum and utilize them to hone your skills. Practically no “real-world” jobs hire or promote workers based on their ability to successfully take multiple-choice exams.
Let’s look more specifically at what behavioural psychology itself has to offer. The field of behavioural psychology is foundational to many of the other fields of psychology, be it developmental, social, abnormal, industria, or cultural psychology. Pretty much everything that people do, either as individuals or in groups, from birth to death, in private or public, are behaviours. Anything that a person does that can be directly measured is a behaviour. Behaviours are facts. Facts are solid, measurable, quantifiable entities. Whether it is a baby speaking her first word, a student receiving 87% on an exam, your mom quitting smoking, or a company opening a new store in your neighbourhood, these are all behavioural facts. Leaving aside quibbles about the initial definition of a specific behaviour (for example, is 50% or 65% considered a “pass” on an exam?), once a definition is set and the behaviour observed no one can rationally argue about the occurrence or non-occurrence of the facts. Behaviours are what is done. Training in behavioural psychology prepares you to identify behaviours of interest in your area of employment, produce precise behavioural definitions (necessary for precision in subsequent data collection), devise methodologies to gather behavioural data, and then analyze and report on the behavioural activity.
“Ok,” you say, “so I’ve collected and reported that I have a bunch of behavioural facts? So what?” Well, behavioural data is absolutely necessary for anyone interested in analyzing any form of human activity, whether in the field of education, business, or government. Without specific behavioural measures, an analyst has nothing to work with. And without being able to analyze for results, trends, effects, and the like, it’s hard to make predictions about future courses of action, regardless of what sort of organization we’re dealing with.
Look at it this way: Much of what any organization wants to know about human behaviour isn’t so much what people did (although that is important), but why they did it. Using behaviours (i.e., facts), your training in behavioural psychology will let you make inferences about people’s internal conditions, including emotional states, decision processes, drives, desires, and motivations for making choices. For a behavioural psychologist, the actual data collection is only the means to the ends of understanding the underlying, and by necessity inferential, systems that influence people’s behaviour. Companies, political parties, and charity organizations, for example, are all very interested in having someone on staff who can help them get a better handle on how to achieve their ultimate objectives.
It is important to remember that behavioural psychology works under the assumption that all behaviour is caused by specific events, and that causes always precede their effects. As such, once a cause-effect relationship is identified, studied, and interpreted it can be used to predict people’s future behaviour. Even more valuable, once the cause-effect relationships of behaviour are understood, behavioural psychologists can use them to attempt to influence, adjust, and modify behaviour via learning.
Learning is a change in behaviour due to experience. While there are a number of innate behavioural predispositions in humans, such as reflexive responses to specific stimuli, most of what you’ve probably been exposed to in the field of behavioural psychology has been devoted to gaining an understanding of the different types of learning seen in people. This is actually good in terms of employability because it is through the mechanisms of learning that behaviours can be altered. Depending on the career you end up in, this may mean shifting the behaviour of consumers, for example, or even changing the behaviour of the organization you’re working for itself, perhaps to increase workplace efficiency.
A sub-discipline of clinical psychology, called behaviour modification therapy (BMT), utilizes an understanding of learning systems to assist people with psychological behavioural difficulties. One of the interesting aspects of BMT is that, unlike many other areas of therapy, it does not generally necessitate gaining a deep understanding of a patient’s life history, family relationships, underlying cognitive state, or the like. Rather, the focus is on eliminating (or at least reducing or changing) the detrimental behaviour itself. As such, the focus of the therapy is actually at the behavioural level itself, and success or failure is directly measured by the (factual) measurement of behavioural change not the inferred modification of internal (therefore non-observable) mental states.
I know, you’re probably thinking at this point, “But wait, didn’t you say that I’d need to go to graduate school to work as a therapist?” Right. I did say that, and you would. However, that’s not my point here. These same principles of behaviour modification used in therapy (e.g., focus on changing the behaviour itself, using measurable behaviours as opposed to inferred internal constructs, etc.) are directly applicable in many non-therapeutic jobs. For example, advertisements often make use of classical (or “Pavlovian”) conditioning, generally to associate a brand with visual and/or auditory stimuli that produce positive emotional responses. If executed properly, subsequent exposure to the brand will produce a conditional (i.e., learned) response of the positive emotional state, increasing the probability of a consumer purchasing the product. These same techniques are also used successfully in the promotion of, for example, political candidates (e.g., making candidate Smith seem feel trustworthy than candidate Jones), or public service announcements (e.g., reducing greenhouse emissions by portraying car pooling in a positive light). Similarly, operant conditioning techniques are commonly applied in education, business, and government; through the use of reinforcers and punishers, behaviours can be modified. While employers may not be fully aware of the advantages someone with a background in behavioural psychology can bring to behaviour adjustment, you are… and you should make sure your potential employer learns this too.
A variety of websites will offer advice about career options for people with a psychology degree (e.g., http://psychology.about.com/od/careersinpsychology/a/careersbach.htm). Although I’ve mentioned some broad employment “catch-basins” (e.g., education, business, government) I’ve intentionally avoided giving specific occupational titles (e.g., career counselor, sales representative). Psychology is (depending who you talk to) the study of human behaviour, brain, and/or mind. Behavioural psychology focuses right in on the behaviour aspect. Any job you ever apply for is going to involve humans to a greater or lesser degree. Therefore, while some jobs will undoubtedly fit better with your skills, knowledge, and inclinations than others, knowledge of behavioural psychology can be applied to some extent to practically any employment position.
To recap, after completing an undergraduate degree with a focus in behavioural psychology you should have:
1. The ability to communicate verbally and in writing.
2. A solid grasp of the scientific method, including hypothesis formation, data collection methodologies, and critical analytic skills.
3. The capability to identify employment-relevant behaviours and make inferential interpretations about underlying psychological principles based upon them.
4. A good understanding of the different types of learning systems seen in humans and be able to apply learning theory to behaviour modification (at least in principle).
These are all valuable and marketable skills that have application to a wide range of career opportunities. It is a competitive job market out there. When seeking employment actively promote your skills and knowledge to a prospective employer; make sure that he or she is aware of what you can bring to the organization. Sell your sizzle!
Having read through all this, what do you think? Perhaps you’ve some suggestions on particular career opportunities that are especially well suited to a background in behavioural psychology. If so, please share your ideas by posting a comment.
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