I-O Psychology Is One of the Best Jobs

U.S. News and World Report says I-O psychology is one of the best jobs in the U.S. economy. In the most recent rankings, I-O was 1st in science jobs, 13th in STEM jobs and 13th in highest-paying jobs. This is not the first time I-O has been ranking among the best jobs. U.S. News has its criteria, but there are even more reasons that make I-O a great career.

U.S. News Criteria

U.S. News lists five criteria they use to determine the best jobs.

Salary: Current wages and the size of raises over past five years.
Job Market: Unemployment rates and training provided by the employer.
Future Growth: How many new jobs are expected in the next 10 years.
Safety: Exposure to hazardous conditions and likelihood of being injured.
Work Life Balance: How many weekly hours people are required to work, and flexibility in work pace and location.

U.S. News List Is Incomplete

These five qualities are important in choosing a career, and they can help narrow the list of possibles. But there are important features of an I-O career that go beyond U.S. News criteria.

You need to enjoy what you are doing. It can be tough going to work each day when you are bored or find what you do to be objectionable. I-O psychology is one of the best jobs, but only if you enjoy what I-Os do. Some people get locked into jobs by “golden handcuffs”. They hate the job but are dependent on the salary that they can’t make elsewhere. They are trapped by good wages and/or benefits.
The work is meaningful to you. When I taught undergraduate I-O, I did an exercise in class where students would write the three main things they wanted from a career. The most mentioned was making a difference in people’s lives. We all may choose different ways to make our mark, but I-O is a career that allows you to help others and the broader society.
There is flexibility in what you can do. An I-O degree is extremely flexible. You can be a professor or a practitioner. Unlike many disciplines, with an I-O degree you can teach in a variety of departments–psychology, business management, medical school, and public health. You can work as a practitioner for a corporation, consulting firm, nonprofit organization, government (federal, state, or local) or the military. You can start your own private practice. You can take on a management role in a company. Many I-Os are managers of human resource departments, for example.
I-Os work in a professional environment. Whether they work as professors or practitioners, I-Os work in an office environment where peers are professionals from a variety of disciplines. This provides opportunities to meet interesting people with different points of view, and for learning how problems are addressed by other disciplines. How I think about a problem as a psychologist is different from how it is seen, for example, by people who have backgrounds in accounting, information technology, law, or medicine.