Industrial Organizational Psychology

[Meen521]

Hey all! I'm currently a senior at UCLA, and I'm going to earn my B.A. in psychology this spring 2014. I have been strongly considering going into IO. I want to get some sort of internship or job this summer/year just to get a good feel of the career, and figure out if it's something I really would want to pursue.

I was hoping I could get some help with the following questions:

What are the best schools for IO Masters? What is the difference between a Masters degree and a Ph.D. in IO? and difference between an M.S. or M.A. in IO?

 

What kind of internships would you recommend? I applied for a human resources internship, would that be a good way to get experience with this field? 

 

Would it be hard to find a job?

Thanks in advance!

[BeingThere]

Hey all! I'm currently a senior at UCLA, and I'm going to earn my B.A. in psychology this spring 2014. I have been strongly considering going into IO. I want to get some sort of internship or job this summer/year just to get a good feel of the career, and figure out if it's something I really would want to pursue.

I was hoping I could get some help with the following questions:

What are the best schools for IO Masters? What is the difference between a Masters degree and a Ph.D. in IO? and difference between an M.S. or M.A. in IO?

 

What kind of internships would you recommend? I applied for a human resources internship, would that be a good way to get experience with this field? 

 

Would it be hard to find a job?

Thanks in advance!

Hi Meen,

 

Some differences between a PhD and a master's in I/O:

1) A PhD is a research degree and a master's is usually thought of as an applied degree.

2) A PhD program is usually more difficult to get into in that applicants need to have very good GRE scores and GPAs and some research experience in psychology,

3) Often people with PhD's in I/O go into teaching/research at the university level.  PhDs may also work in applied settings in large businesses or in consulting firms, and often their position is a research position within an applied setting.  With a master's you would more likely go into applied work in a consulting firm or an HR department.

 

I do not know if there is any difference between an MS and an MA.  And this brings me to my next point:  go here --> www.siop.org.  Here you will find information about the field, job prospects, information about graduate programs and interesting articles on various aspects of I/O.  I/O is not necessarily HR, although it is strongly related.  I/O can be thought of as the science behind HR.  But it is so much more than that.  I/O psychologists study all topics related to work, including at the organizational level beyond the purview of HR.

 

If you want to get into a PhD program an internship in HR may be helpful but it seems that PhD programs are more interested in applicants' research experience.  Hopefully, you have done some research in your undergrad career, either assisting in a lab or conducting independent projects.  I don't know of any internship you can get as an undergrad that will show you what it would be like to work as an I/O psychologist.  I know some consulting firms (e.g. HumRRO) do have internship positions but students already in a master's or PhD program will get those.  You may be able to find an internship that is tangentially related, as HR is.  Others on this forum may have more info on that.  Also you can probably find more info about this on the SIOP website.

 

If you are more interested in the HR aspects of I/O, you should also check out SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management.)  Their website is probably .org, but I'm not sure.

 

I have read that the job market for I/O is projected to have faster than average growth through 2022.

 

Best wishes to you!  I/O is a great field - at least I'm excited about it.  I am definitely more into the research and the psychology aspects of it than the applied/HR aspects of the field (so I'm going to pursue a PhD.)  But one of the great things about the field is its broad scope.

Edited February 10, 2014 by Bren2014

[tanneraustin]

Hey all! I'm currently a senior at UCLA, and I'm going to earn my B.A. in psychology this spring 2014. I have been strongly considering going into IO. I want to get some sort of internship or job this summer/year just to get a good feel of the career, and figure out if it's something I really would want to pursue.

I was hoping I could get some help with the following questions:

What are the best schools for IO Masters? What is the difference between a Masters degree and a Ph.D. in IO? and difference between an M.S. or M.A. in IO?

 

What kind of internships would you recommend? I applied for a human resources internship, would that be a good way to get experience with this field? 

 

Would it be hard to find a job?

Thanks in advance!

I second most everything Bren wrote. Regarding jobs, I've been told from multiple sources that the job market is amazing in I/O. It is ranked as the number 1 fastest growing job area right now, and the unemployment rate is virtually zero. However, as Bren wrote, PhD programs are research intensive, meaning applied experience like internships is not particularly valuable for getting accepted. Some programs offer opportunities for applied experience during your 4-6 year track for the degree, but you will have a lower chance of being accepted if you do not have some research experience prior to applying. However, Master's degrees tend to be more on the applied side. Job opportunities are still plentiful with a Master's, but you may be stifled by or hit a ceiling in organizations because of people who have PhDs who have higher status simply because of their higher degree. 

Edited March 4, 2014 by tanneraustin

[roebuck1]

I would just add that if you do decide you would like to get a Ph.D. that an internship CAN help - just make sure it's the right kind. Though internship opportunities like these are few and far between for someone coming out of undergrad, they are out there if you look (I'm in one right now). You want to find a place, typically a consulting firm, that is actually putting out research that wouldn't mind you assisting. Best case scenario, they like you enough to let you help and you get your name on a publication. Worst case scenario, you'd probably at least get to help with data construction or literature review and you can add that to your resume/CV. Basically, Ph.D. programs just want to see you heavily involved in research. If you get an HR internship you most likely would not be afforded those opportunities. Your best bet would be to look on SIOP's website for internships (http://www.siop.org/IOInternships/TOC.aspx) or on LinkedIn. If you're planning on waiting a year to apply, my best advice would be to seek out a research lab or two that you could join at UCLA or at a school close to it (San Diego State might be the closest program with an I/O department). It doesn't have to be an I/O lab, but I'd at least try to find something remotely similar, like a social psychology lab. Let me know if you have any further questions.

[Munashi]

Also, for your application process, etc - definitely check out this I/O blog, "NeoAcademic".

 

http://neoacademic.com/io-grad-school-series/#.Uxo3wPmFVyU

 

His general posts are interesting too, but his series on I/O grad school was immensely helpful to me.  Especially given how few I/O-specific resources are out there, I highly recommend you read through his articles.  I believe this guy is an assistant professor at Old Dominion.

 

EDIT: I just wanted to add, one of the articles in the series is specifically about gaining relevant research experience, etc.  I wish I had found this site earlier in my life!

Edited March 7, 2014 by Munashi

[Meen521]

Thanks all so much for your replies!! Very helpful!