Left Skew

Don't panic! (easier said than done). We are still in "peak-season" for interviews, and it will continue until roughly the 3rd week in February.

Based on my subjective experience, most of my interviews (8) were more about my questions to them and less about their questions to me. I don't recall ever being asked an achievement-related question (e.g., define an eigen value?), so most of the questions don't have right answers- remember that. I don't know if anyone else can echo this, but make sure you prepare very good questions. Here are some examples: For current students: What would you improve about your program? What class was a waste of time? What are 3 things your adviser can do better? If you had to punish someone deeply, what professor would you handcuff them to? How much time have you spend off-campus with those in your cohort? How much of your weekend is spent doing work? My favorite: If all of the faculty participated in the Amazing Race with a clone of a generic student, who would you put your money on? Who would drop out? For faculty: What are three adjectives your students would use to describe you? What is a unique skill you offer that the other faculty do not? If you could add a course from the core-curriculum, which would you pick? In your opinion what proportion of a PhD student's time should be spent in the following areas: Assistantship, Coursework, Research, Personal Life? From your perspective what is the biggest social challenge? emotional challenge? and financial challenge? a student faces in grad school. What was something critical that you learned from YOUR advisor? In an ideal world, how would your time be portioned between teaching, research, and your personal life?

You'd think a field that prides itself on developing effective selection systems would practice what they preach. One thing I learned from the process: a lot of programs aren't the most organized. Only one program I visited asked for feedback regarding the process- it's sad in a way.

It's pretty early (e.g., at George Mason we are still on winter break). Definitely the calm before the storm...Here is a post I created last year: *** I've scraped the results survey with R and attached some longitudinal data for I/O decisions. See the title of each page for the type of decision. I've attached it. As you can tell the sample size isn't so strong...so take it for what it's worth. Takeaways: Jan 15th - Feb 15th seems like peak time for interviews February is ride or die: 23rd - 28th prime for interviews but rejection is also high in Feb Notice that the Accepted numbers are higher than the others, this may be due to self-selection Wait-list....who knows *** This is data from "I/O Psychology" results postings between 2006 and 2017. Not the highest of integrity I will say, but it gives more information than mere intuition. My guess is that you will know a lot more in the next 3 weeks...best of luck to everyone! Grad Cafe Decisions IO.pdf

Yes, I wouldn't make any inferences based in the GPA and GRE scores. If you notice the black bars (standard errors) overlap on all of them. Good catch. What should make everyone feel better is the fact that perfect scores aren't as common in this data.

Here you all are: Data on decisions This was a project I did last year. It doesn't include results as of this year but the sample is quite high (~35000). Keep in mind it's based on the results survey, so there may be over or under reporting (i.e., people may be more likely to report interviews than waitlists, or acceptances more than rejections) and some other biases.

Of course, Lebreton. The student that accepted was very prevalent here last year. Super nice. You should reach out.

I'm actually an applicant from last year. I wanted to drop-in and give everyone a frame-of-reference. First, good luck to everyone! This was one of the most humbling experiences of my life- but it will be worth it. A note about my application: I had some pretty good credentials, however, research experience is critical (arguably the most important). I didn't have that at the time of my application. Here are my final application results: School Program Title Interview Decision George Mason University PhD of Psychology: Industrial/Organizationa Concentration Yes Accepted - Attending George Washington University PhD of Industrial/Organizational Psychology Yes Accepted James Madison University PhD of Assessment and Measurement Yes Accepted NC State PhD of Industrial/Organizational Psychology No Rejected Old Dominion University PhD of Industrial/Organizational Psychology Yes Withdrew Application Penn State PhD of Industrial/Organizational Psychology No Rejected UNC Charlotte PhD of Organizational Science Yes Accepted UNC Greensboro PhD of Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation (ERM) Yes Accepted University of Maryland PhD of Social, Decision and Organizational Science (SDOS) Yes Waitlisted - Rejected University of Maryland PhD of Measurement, Statistics and Evaluation (EDMS) Yes Accepted Here is a summary of my credentials at time of application (last year): Research Interests: Item Response Theory, Statistical Modeling, Job Analysis, Multidimensional Constructs, Assessment and Measurement Bias. Degrees: BA in Psychology, MS in I/O Psychology Test Scores and GPA: GRE Q: 160 (72nd) V: 162 (91st) AWA: 4.0 (60th) GPA Undergrad GPA: 3.97 Undergrad Major GPA: 4.0 Grad GPA: 4.0 Research Experience: 2 poster presentations 3 Professional Board Presentations Research Methods & Statistics TA 1 year 100+ hours applied research (MS was heavily applied) No thesis No peer-reviewed publications Professional Experience: 2+ years Psychometric Data Analyst (current) 1 year Teaching Fellow 1 year Teaching Assistant 1.5 years Research Developer Summer HR internship Worried About: Lack of thesis and publications, mediocre GRE Quant, all of you awesome people _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Here is also a thread that was created a while back to (hopefully) make your lives a lot easier. Data for 2019 Applicants If anyone has any questions or thoughts about their application (or mine)- please reach out to me: My Email All the best,

Hello Elmo, Position wise: there are a lot leadership develop shops that do leadership training and coaching. Look up the position "executive coach" on Indeed. Look at DDI for some opportunities. Best,

@londonbnd, I did surprisingly well applying to I/O programs last year. Please see the link below for some good info: Information Also feel free to reach out so I can give you more personalized advice. You can be the best candidate on paper but may not get an offer- don't let it get to you. Oftentimes, the candidates that get accepted are those that are the luckiest. Not to take anything away from them, they work hard to put themselves in that position. There are a lot of random effects involved. Focus on your GRE for now Resources Here. You have a strong GPA and strong credentials given your experience. Develop relationships, email the professors you want to apply to, be aggressive; your social influence will be just as influential as your application. Though keep in mind you will be competing with masters' students, students with 1st author in a high-caliber journal, or applicants that have 3+ years experience in large consulting firms. The fact you joined this forum and requested information means you're off to a great start. Best of luck

Hi Spyester, I've been working in the I/O field for about 3 years and will be returning to academia to finish my doctorate (I have my M.S.). If I had to give you a general taxonomy of where I/Os end up it tends to be an intersection between people and work. Specifically: Internal consulting- I would say this is the most common area, not positive though. Many HR departments will hire IOs the develop and improve processes related to: hiring, benefits, performance management, compensation, training, hr analytics, etc. External consulting- your tasks are similar to the ones above, however, you work for a consultation firm that advises public agencies and large private organizations. Academia- pretty self explanatory, you should have your PhD Lesser know areas- Psychometrics, data science, and testing in general (I work in this realm) Message me if you have anymore questions. Best

As others stated, I feel it depends on your dynamic and personalities. I've already Skyped with my advisor numerous times to discuss research ideas, he has given me readings, and wants me to submit to a conference in August. I have a dull office job, and have a routine that allots me the convenience of being able to work on things. He will be a new faculty member and is chomping at the bit to get his name out there. Some advisors are really adamant about constant performance, whereas others are more relaxed (sometimes too relaxed). Regardless, your advisor chose you for a reason, you are not working "for" them but working "with" them. I was really motivated to reach out because I've been in the work-world and am afraid that I'll fall behind the others. I'm also terrible at time-management. He is a newer faculty that is highly motivated to publish, but he also understands if I have too much on my plate (I think hahah). That is our dynamic. I doubt your advisor will get upset that you are opening the lines of communication. "Torple was too conscientious and reached out to me in May, what kind of graduate student tries to get a head-start?!" You don't want to regret staying silent, especially if you feel you're the type of person that wants to start early and you have the means to do so. If they say, "hold your horses" hold them. In hindsight, the 500 pages you have to read in the first two weeks, stained with tears and wine, will be a lot easier to cope with- because at least you asked.

All, It's that time of year again. Apparently time flies when you're filled with anxiety. I was an applicant in 2018, and I had quite a fruitful experience during the application process (a lot of it due to this website). However, that is not why I'm here. I'm here to provide you with information that, hopefully, will make your journey a little easier than mine. Here are some posts that may help: The things I wish I knew before applying Data on application trends Thoughts about interviews What do I look for in a program? Please feel free to reach out. A vast majority of you are clinical students, whereas I'm in Industrial/Organizational but I'm more than willing to give a general impression of the process. All the best, -Left Skew

Hey AppliedCogPsych, You may have the credentials to apply to a single school and get accepted into that school (LA Tech) but I would definitely look more into where you can find a professor that fits your goals. I feel like you may be interested in Quantitative Psych and Measurement as well. I've attached a list of programs that may align with what you want to do. If you have the resources, apply to more than 1 program. 1) I can't speak to this directly, you may want to reach out to a student with similar interests currently in the program. 2) I/Os tend to have few true quant professors in the departments, so keep this in mind when looking for research support. Big areas in the field: Psychometrics, automation, statistical computing/programming, gamification. Coming from cog/neuro I feel you will have a novel perspective. A lot of companies are creating assessments, simulations, and games to hire people, but have they validated the cognition used in their assessments? I/Os love to measure cognitive constructs but may struggle with their behavioral manifestations (e.g., Employee Engagement- just because I say I'm engaged doesn't mean I'm showing up to work early every day). 3) You have your M.S. in Cog/Neuro so you will already be unique. If you can get some I/O related research on your CV you'll be set. Send emails to professors asking if they need help coding or running participants, this will help you. I'm also a big proponent of gaining a working-knowledge of R. You can go to SIOP or regional conferences to get your name out there. 4) I took some time off and am currently working. I got my MS in I/O and now I'm going back for my doctorate (starting in the Fall). Thus, I can't speak to a doctoral level position but I consider my current role similar in terms of what I do, maybe not so similar in terms of pay. There is actually an I/O PhD that has the same job title as I do, and I'm the most tenured in a department of solely PhDs. Pay is only the real difference and maybe professional growth. However, I work in psychometrics for a medium-sized credentialing company. So I/Os can get in so many areas: Testing, HR, even Data Science, it's all how you market yourself. Let me know if you have any more questions. IOStatsMeasProgramList.csv

Hi Bassach, I hope you're doing well. I'd love to answer your questions (given this is just my experience), but know this may be highly contingent on where you want to work and what type of program you went to (highly applied MS or a theoretical MA etc). Note im also biased as many are when speaking about their career fields. What was your experience looking for jobs after completing the I/O Psych Masters? Is the degree recognized across the nation, are the positions highly competitive, etc.? I had a fruitful experience. I had 3 job offers a month after my graduation. Of the 12 students in my cohort 100% of them were employed within 3 months of graduation in relevant positions. 50% had job offers prior to graduation. The degree is gaining popularity by the day. However, it's in a bimodal place: areas like Washington DC the types of jobs are very eclectic, whereas a place like Columbus Ohio tend to be in the human resources capacity. Every company has an HR department and IOs do well in those jobs just know you may start (salary-wise) a little lower. What are some suggestions you would offer in terms of what skills companies are looking for in an entry-level position? From my perspective, coding, programming, and statistics are what will allow you to outshine others. Coding and programming specifically are not things that are easily developed in academia, so treat this as a hobby. In the workplace you will be doing things over and over so automating your work will help you tremendously. At school your tasks may be very novel and dynamic so writing an R script to clean data and run an analysis isn't as fruitful if you only run that analysis once. Also the ability to present your knowledge to nonexperts. You are trained to be a science-practitioner so don't lose the science side of yourself, but don't be so research oriented that others consider you too impractical and thus ignore you. From your experience, what are some mistakes you made while looking for jobs, that you think could have been avoided? If you only takeaway one thing from this post it should be this: social capital is the name of the game. I spent countless hours uploading my resumes to application portals and writing cover letters. Stop wasting your time doing the formal application stuff. Put your resources into contacting people. Look up alumni from your program, go to networking events, look for emails of employees in the HR department, do the Assessment Center at SIOP. Don't be ashamed to send people emails, many people want to help you. Your journey will be far more fruitful if you leverage people. What was your opening salary for an entry-level I/O Psych position? Also very dependent on where you go. You may end up getting 55k in the Midwest whereas in DC you can start right under 70k. It's been 3 years (so I don't know how inflation has influenced this) but I started at 67k base. I'm at 79k now, keep in mind I'm going on 2.5 years at my job and I was promoted. Most of those in my cohort are around 80k after 3 years. What skills are highly sought after in an employee with an I/O degree? This is related to the second point but statistical programming. You can start to cultivate this on the job. I don't know what you're doing right now but you should try to take up R as a hobby, if you can't no worries. I know it sounds nerdy but if you can start to get familiar with the lexicon of terms and start to build a basic knowledge this will allow you to automate your work. One huge benefit you provide is that you have a theoretical background in statistics whereas a comp sci person may not. Once you get comfortable, you can then leverage that skill set to make yourself more marketable. For example, one of my good friends that graduated with me learned R. Then, he realized how underpayed he was working in HR given his skillset so he moved to sales analytics. Mind you he has an IO degree but that move got him a pretty raise. Any regrets? Yeah: not learning about IO sooner. Best