How To Get a Job as a Consumer Psychologist

Here is a simple how to guide to getting a job as a Consumer Psychologist - if that is you want one.

Personal Acumen

When I was at school I saw a counsellor (Kim Soia - thanks for the excellent advice by the way) to see what I should do with my life. I told him I was interested in brands, money and people. He said straight away I should become a consumer psychologist. If you're curious about these things it's pretty much all you need.

Education

To call yourself a psychologist you have to be registered as a psychologist. This involves either a 3 year under grad degree through either science or arts. However, study hard as you'll have to then qualify for a forth year post-grad year. Once you have the four year degree you can either get registered through professional supervision (i.e. get a government job that includes two years supervision), or do a further 2 years Masters or Doctorate degree. I did both. When doing the final two year degree you can chose what area to do your masters in. To get into Consumer Psychology I would recommend either do your masters (or Doctorate) in Consumer psych (not available in Australia), Clinical Psychology, or Organisational Psychology.

Employment

Market research is the safest way to start as a consumer psychologist. In Australia contact the AMSRS for a list of market research companies. The other way to become a consumer psychologist is to become a strategic planner in an advertising agency, contact The Communications Council for a list of agencies. The final way is to become an academic and start your own consultancy. See Michael Edwardson about this one.

However, even if you achieve all this you may not find yourself doing the job of a consumer psychologist, or working with that title. There are many different ways a consumer psychologist can operate, and many varied jobs they can have.

Some Tips

• Again study hard in your undergraduate - what they don't tell you is that those grades count to see if you qualify for a forth year of study - without it you're screwed.
• Do your thesis in something popular with human interest. Make some noise about it. I did mine in 'Identifying the underlying constructs of cool people'. It was not only interesting, but great fun.
• Get a specialism that makes sense, and gives something to the world of consumer psychology
• Stay on top of research, and back up opinion with said research. This will differentiate you massively in industries that are completely made up.
• Try and maintain a link to an academic institution for as long as possible. They are invaluable for resources, and access to research.
• Avoid the trap of getting into organisational psychology - its very different to consumer psychology (although obviously a worthy career in its own right.