Jadie
What does a day-to-day routine as a organizational and industrial psychologist consist of?
I am interested in majoring in organizational and industrial psychology, but there isn't much information about it on the internet. I would like to more in-depth detail about this career option before I go forth with it in college. #psychology #organization #industrial
3 answers
Scott Turner
Scott’s Answer
Good Morning Jadie!
I/O Psychology is a pretty diverse field of study. I have a Ph.D. in the field and I have been employed by large companies, as a consultant, and as a full time researcher. Furthermore, I've worked in a bunch of different industries: Healthcare, advertising, military staffing, selection, and public opinion polling.
It's a great degree with a lot of opportunities. Many people end up working for consulting firms while others work in a particular organization. I have friends that work for Lowes, the Federal Government, universities, and some are even in the military. As you can see the day to day activities would end up having a lot of variability. However, here is a list of common activities that cut across many of the jobs.
Writing reports/creating briefings
Data analysis
Interaction with coworkers to determine the best course of action
Providing feedback and receiving feedback from a team
Interacting with clients or stakeholders in the same or different organizations
Presenting and speaking in front of groups
There is a professional organization that's devoted to this field and it's called the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. They have a set of resources dedicated to students. Here's a good link that might help answer your question from a different perspective.
http://www.siop.org/psychatwork.aspx
Good Luck!
Thank you very much for all the information. I now feel better prepared to make a decision, and this is truly something that interests me now. Thank you again, I greatly appreciate it.
Jadie
oh thank you
Mariangeliz
Lirio Delgado
Lirio’s Answer
You might start your day reviewing data from recent surveys or assessments you conducted to understand employee satisfaction or organizational effectiveness. Then, you could spend time meeting with clients or teams to discuss findings and recommend strategies for improving workplace culture or productivity.
You may also conduct training sessions or workshops on topics like leadership development, conflict resolution, or team dynamics. If you’re involved in research, you could spend part of your day designing experiments or analyzing data related to workplace behavior and performance.
Networking and collaboration with other professionals is common, so you might have meetings with HR teams or executives to align psychological principles with business goals. Keeping up with the latest research in psychology and business is essential, so you may dedicate time to reading or attending workshops and conferences.
Overall, the role combines psychology with practical application in the workplace, focusing on enhancing employee well-being and organizational performance.
Andi Kofsky
Andi’s Answer
Some of the activities I typically complete include: surveying end-users to understand their needs/experiences with different tools, interviewing different stakeholders throughout an organization to help understand vision for a project and break down silos, research on best practices for different industries attempting to overhaul their technology, learning & development creation for my clients, communications management for clients.
I like that I get to change teams and work with each new customer I work with. Typically I'll work with a customer for 6-12 months and then once tasks are complete I move on to the next one. I tell people that I have multiple jobs within my job since each project brings a new 'boss', new peers, and new challenges to overcome.
This is just one option for an IO psychologist but I really enjoy it!