8 Career Options For Enthusiasts Of Business And Psychology

The world of business is buzzing with the importance of psychology for workplace wellness and profitability. The recent recession, Covid-19 crises, and the emergence of a volatile and uncertain world has brought psychology into mainstream business.

Are you interested in both commerce and psychology? Are you trying to merge your diverse interests in business and psychology for a career? This article highlights some of the ways in which you can pursue new and emerging careers that require a strong foundation in both psychology and business.

Consumer Psychologist

A consumer psychologist focuses on understanding the factors that influence “buying behaviour” in their target consumers. How do emotions influence buying behaviour, what are the factors that serve as cues to help a consumer choose? A consumer psychologist needs to understand the needs of the business, target audience, product highlights, competition, marketing strategy etc. and contribute meaningfully at different stages to increase profitability and revenue. A large part of the role of a consumer psychologist is to research and understand their target audience needs, desires, pressures, and motives. The more they understand the consumer, the more refined and specific the features of the product and the marketing strategy.

Avenues | A consumer psychologist may work for an advertising agency, a product line like automobiles, fast moving consumer goods, a financial services organisation, a university, or research organisation etc. In the last few years, many large corporations have understood the need for good consumer psychologists to increase their market share and profitability.

Educational Requirements | To pursue a career in consumer psychology, you need to pursue an undergraduate degree in Psychology/Applied Psychology or a dual degree in Psychology and Business. A postgraduate degree in Consumer/Social Psychology will also be helpful. You could also intern in advertising agencies and pursue courses in Consumer Behaviour and Psychology. An interest in micro- buying behaviours, motivational theory, quantitative and qualitative research skills is needed to pursue this career fruitfully.

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Organisational Psychologist

The role of organisational psychologists has gained precedence in the last few years. The importance of good leadership, teamwork, motivation, change management and other people- related factors has been acknowledged and there is a greater receptivity to psychologists in corporates. As an organisational psychologist, you will focus on understanding and bridging the gap between the people and business needs of an organisation. You may be part of the human resources, learning and development, or diversity and inclusion teams in the organisation.

Job Roles | As a human resources professional, you will be involved in various human resource roles like recruiting manpower, competency mapping, assessment centres, organisational surveys, culture development, performance management, onboarding new employees etc.

Educational Requirements | To pursue a career as an organisational psychologist, you need to specialise in organisational behaviour in your post graduate education. Alternatively, you could pursue an undergraduate degree in Applied Psychology, complete projects in the corporate sector, and pursue an MBA or a postgraduate diploma in human resources.

The Role Of Organisational Psychologists Has Gained Precedence In The Last Few Years

Behavioural Economist

Behavioural Economics is the integrated study of psychology and economics. A relatively new area of study, it focuses on how people take decisions in everyday life, how they choose a specific course of action over others etc. Behavioural economists will be in demand as researchers, academicians, or business consultants. As this branch of study helps explain why humans do not always make rational or logical decisions and choices, it also leads into careers in policy development and research. This area is relatively new in India, so the courses available in this area are selected and few.

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Management Consultant

Many of the big five consultants employ psychologists with organisational, business, and IT skills to join their workforce. Freshers with a postgraduate degree and above usually join as associate consultants and work on projects that focus on business process reengineering, change management, job evaluation, designing systems and policies etc. To join as a management consultant, you could also pursue an MBA after your undergraduate degree in Psychology. Some students of psychology who are IT-savvy may also join the HR-IT solutions team to understand the interface between humans and technology and how this user interface can be made more user- friendly. If you are good with research and documentation, you could also become a research analyst who supports the consulting team with industry specific data and statistical research.

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Coach And Trainer

There is a growing and thriving coaching industry that utilises principles of psychology to help improve sales, profitability, leadership, goal setting, motivation etc. Psychology specialists who like to train, engage in public speaking, will find a good fit in training and coaching organisations. There are also many entrepreneurial coaches and trainers who establish themselves as experts in their chosen field after some years of credible experience. There are also international coaching federations or councils that provide continuous learning and certifications for coaches and trainers.

Avenues | There are many broad areas of coaching that are popular in the industry today like sales coaching, performance coaching, emotional intelligence coaching, etc. Similarly, there are training firms and consulting organisations that specialise in specific areas like leadership, motivation, sales training etc.

Educational Requirements | A good understanding of psychology and a keen interest in the corporate and business houses will be mandatory to succeed in this area.

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Wellness Apps

The last few years have seen the emergence of many wellness and mental health apps like Headspace, Cultfit, Mindshift, etc. Each of these apps provides a good business model for helping psychology and mental health tips reach students, teenagers, professionals, etc. As a psychologist, you may choose to design your own app along with a team of IT professionals. Your business focus may help you design the user interface, market the app, reach more customers, get visibility, engagement etc. You may also choose to become an aggregator of many mental health professionals, provide value-added services to clients, and hire psychologists to serve them over your application or website. This would require you to have keen quality control on the counselling sessions and also strong business and marketing skills to make a good outreach to potential clients.

The Last Few Years Have Seen The Emergence Of Many Wellness And Mental Health Apps

Wellness Consultant

If you are a counselling psychologist who has a good understanding of corporate pressures, you may join as a wellness consultant in an organisation. This is a role for clinical and counselling psychologists who want to work in the business world. Your understanding of corporate or business pressures and realities will be honed by your readings in business studies and entrepreneurship in your high school. You would also need to talk and engage with many professionals in the business to get a good contextual understanding of how you can help them.

A longer but more effective way to become a good wellness consultant in the corporate is to have dual specialisations in Counselling and Organizational Psychology. Further, it will benefit you to intern in both mental health centres as well as organisations to understand the nuances of mental health challenges in organisations.

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Career Counsellor Or Career Coach

Given the hundreds of career options available in the industry today, students are extremely confused about which streams or careers to opt for. You may make it your vocation to guide students like you. While there is freedom to choose, there is also an increase in the levels of confusion because students don’t know how to choose. To further add chaos, there are many educational consultants and admissions counsellors who are focussed on marketing and selling specific courses and universities. If you are a keen psychologist who can strike a chord with parents and students, and have some experience in the industry, this is a good choice for you. You could bring your understanding of commerce, business, and psychology to help your clients choose careers wisely based on their strengths and talents. If you are a fresher, you may be offered roles to write SOPs or follow admission-related administrative tasks.

The time is ripe for lucrative, and business-focussed psychology careers. Pursue a degree and stream of your choice and craft your career in business and psychology.

Srividya, PhD, Organizational Psychology is a Career and Life coach who works with teens, adults and returning professionals to help them find joy and alignment in their careers and life. After working for over two decades, she founded LifeVidya in 2019 and has worked with hundreds of students, professionals, and women.