Salaries and Your Psych Degree Tips
Read these 8 Salaries and Your Psych Degree Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Psychology Degree tips and hundreds of other topics.
Getting The Best Psychology Salaries
According to PayScale.com, the best psychology salaries can be found in child and adult psychiatry. As of 2010, the psychology salaries for adult psychiatrists averaged at $153,049. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who has the ability to counsel and prescribe medication for a wide range of psychological conditions, which accounts for the significantly higher psychology salaries. The average psychology salaries for physicians / child psychiatrists came to $160,819. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found the highest wages occur in physician offices, substance abuse hospitals, medical hospitals, nursing care facilities, outpatient care facilities and government organizations.
On the other end of the spectrum, lower psychology salaries were found in Christian counselor psychologists and psychotherapists, which paid an average of $45,752 and $49,117, respectively. A psychologist may possess a Ph.D. and be called doctor but is not a medical doctor in the sense that he or she can prescribe medicine. Instead, this psychologist profession focuses on counseling only. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that more than a third of those employed in the psychologist profession serve as self-employed private practitioners. This is a growing field, with the best opportunities for those with master’s degrees or doctorates and concentrations in health study.
Psychologist's Salary Tip
When you're just starting out within the psychology industry or if you're still going to school for it, you'll grab an understanding that a psychologist's salary usually depends upon certain standards. Some standards usually involve the type of location a person may be in. A person within a big city would definitely make more, usually three times more, than a person living in a small community. Another factor that would come to play would be how experienced you actually may be. Education is important too as you spend years in school mastering the field. What most people don't think about is how there are other subfields within the psychology field and that some of the fields may pay more than others.
Believe it or not, having great connections could help you advance too. You may know a person or two who has been to school or at least considered a psychology major. They could definitely give you the proper information in obtaining a successful career so therefore you could get paid better. The great thing about becoming a psychologist is that there is great demand for it and any psychologists salary on the lower scale averages out to be $50,000 - $60,000 per year nationwide.
How to Reseach a Psychologist Pay Scale
Before diving into full time studies, research the field of study. Why spend a lot of money and time working in a field that isn’t going to make you happy or that doesn’t pay what you thought it would. Most people tend to think on the higher scale of pay when imagining what their chosen field can offer.
Let’s say you want to become a psychologist. You might think that a psychologist pay scale is way up there. One way to find out what a psychologist pay scale actually looks like is to visit your local employment center and talk to a career counselor. You can even search labor market information online to find out what the trends are in psychology careers. What are the job prospects? What is the starting salary?
Another option is to contact various psychologists and ask them about salary. Don’t ask them to divulge actual numbers, but find out what it was like starting out and how long they had to work before their salary increased. You’ll likely find a big difference in what a private practice psychologist makes and the psychologist pay scale of someone working within a government agency.
The important thing is to have a good understanding of the pay scale before investing all of your time and money in that field.
What Psychology Income to Expect For Counselors
Have you ever wondered how much a psychology income could be? One of the most popular careers in psychology is that of counselor. Most states require a master’s degree as a prerequisite to a counseling career. Here is a look at various branches of this exciting field of employment.
A counselors salary is $30,000 a year in general starting out. As with any job, there may be a first year or two of making less depending on the area you live in. All figures have been rounded off and are approximate of course.
Salary counselor behavioral disorder $40,000 - $60,000
Salary clinical therapist $40,000 - $60,000
Salary counselor marriage and family $45,000 - $70,000
Salary counselor mental health $30,000 - $60,000
Salary counselor rehabilitation $30000 - $50,000.
Salary counselor substance abuse $25,000 - $55,000
Salary counselor school $40,000 - $70,000, school counselors often supplement their income by finding summer employment during the schools summer vacation.
Salary counselor vocational $61,000
Counselors in private practice earned more than most benefiting from a psychology income.
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Psychologist Income Depending on Location
Psychologist income may vary slightly depending on location. Websites such as Salary.com ask for zip code information when performing average salary analysis for a specific reason. The zip code is an important part of the equation because salaries for a profession can vary from one location to another. In general larger cities will likely have higher average salaries than smaller cities in a more rural area.
When seeking out psychologist income information, individuals should pay particular attention to the location. This is relevant because the average salary can vary slightly in some situations and more drastically in another. Checking on the average salary in a large metropolitan area when you reside and work in a smaller rural area may be useful if the individual intends to relocate but otherwise may be somewhat discouraging.
Related Tip: When considering average salaries for a psychologist, some may notice higher averages in some states than in others. However, for most psychologists this type of information is generally not useful because licensing requirements typically only license a psychologist to practice in the state in which the license was issued. Therefore, psychologists who are considering moving to another state may be interested in learning about potential psychologist income in the new state but they should be more concerned about learning how to obtain a license to practice psychology in the other state.
Psychologist Average Salary Survey
There is no simple answer which clearly explains a psychologist average salary. This is because there are too many other complex factors which contribute to this answer. Some of these factors may include both location as well as the specialized field of study of the psychologist. In general salaries of the majority of professions tend to be higher in large cities than they are in smaller rural areas and this is also usually true of the psychology profession. This is largely because employers compensate for the higher cost of living by rewarding the employees with larger salaries in the larger cities. Some statistics place the average salary for a psychologist at approximately $66,000 but care should be taken to compare this data with information which is specific for the location in which the psychologist wishes to practice.
The other factor which makes it so difficult to pinpoint an exact average salary for psychologists is the vast majority of career options available to psychologists. Some psychologists may have a private practice while others may be employed but schools or businesses. Still others may operate within the criminal justice system or in the area of laboratory research. Average salaries vary among these different aspects of psychology.
Related Tip: When considering the psychologist average salary, it is important to note that location and field of specialization are critical. Average salaries can vary widely from state to state and even from city to city within a particular state. Graduates who expect to practice in a particular area would be better off searching for salary information in their particular area as opposed to nationwide. This is important because salaries may be higher in other states but licensing requirements typically limit the psychologist to practicing in a particular state.
Putting Your Psychology Degree to Use
Graduates who obtain a psychology degree have a wide variety of options available to them in term of career choices. While working as a clinical psychologist or a counseling psychologist will generally require the acquisition of a doctoral degree such as a PhD, there are a variety of career options available to graduate who only obtain an undergraduate psychology degree.
Graduates with a bachelors degree in psychology can put their education to use in a number of different careers. This generally includes a variety of career which require successful professionals to be savvy about interpersonal skills. Many undergraduate psychology graduates find rewarding careers in fields such as business, personnel, marketing and criminal justice.
Obtaining graduate degrees, especially doctoral degrees, provide graduates with the most flexibility in selecting a career path. These graduates may choose careers in teaching, research, clinical psychology, counseling psychology, forensic psychology, health psychology, industrial and organization psychology and sports psychology.
Related Tip: A psychology degree of any magnitude can help a graduate to realize a dream of working in a field of psychology. However, more advanced degrees provide a greater variety of options to graduates. Therefore, students should be sure to verify the options which will be available to them before making education decision. Students with aspirations to become a practicing psychologist should plan on obtaining a PhD. However, they may first obtain an undergraduate degree and work in a peripheral field while pursuing a PhD in the evenings.
Researching Salaries for Psychologists
Salaries for psychologists will vary slightly based on a number of different factors. However, those who are interested in learning more about the average salaries may find useful information on a number of different Internet websites. Salary.com is one such website which provides this type of information. On this website, users can enter a title and a zip code and receive average salary information. Salary.com is just one website offering this type of information but savvy Internet users can find a wealth of information online pertaining to average salaries.
Students who are still pursing a degree in psychology can also turn to the career placement office in their school to find some information on salaries for psychologists. Many of these offices will maintain up to date information on salary ranges for use by the students. Students may also learn more about entry level salaries in the psychology profession through job postings in the office. This information can give the student an excellent idea of the salary ranges they can expect to encounter when entering the workforce.
Related Tip: Researching salaries for psychologists can be useful for a number of different reasons. However, the primary reason most people seek out this type of information is for use during negotiations for a new position. Individuals can learn more about salary averages to determine how well they are currently being compensated with respect to these averages. Those who feel as though they are being underpaid may wish to seek out other employment opportunities which will be more financially beneficial.
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