Psychology is a science of studying the human mind and how humans behave. It has to do with analysing human behaviour for research purposes or to administer treatments. It also involves studying the human mental characteristics and attitudes of specific people or groups.
Getting a job is what everyone looks forward to after getting a university degree or finishing their programme in any higher institution. Psychology is undoubtedly one of the courses you study and get places to work at due to its versatility and high demand.
From companies to healthcare, business organisations, government institutions, and public centres, psychologists can work almost anywhere. If you're looking forward to starting a psychology career in Nigeria, this Superprof article will guide you on important things to know.
In this article, we'll see different psychology specialisations, job positions, salary ranges, and possible places psychology graduates can work in Nigeria.
Here's a complete guide to studying psychology in Nigeria.
What are the Psychology Specialisations?
Like any other profession, psychology is divided into different specialisations. If you're an aspiring psychologist or studying the course already, knowing different areas of psychology can help you with what to build your career on.
Psychologists are not limited as their services are needed in almost every company. We'll be looking at different fields of psychology.
Clinical and Medical Psychology
Clinical psychology, also known as medical psychology, involves providing mental healthcare to people. It involves evaluating people's mental health and emotional disorders to give them the proper practice to adopt.
Medical psychologists apply psychological concepts and techniques to improve their patient's mental and physical health.
The role of a clinical or medical psychologist includes:
- Observing patients' mental, social, or emotional behaviour
- Giving personality tests
- Diagnosing disorders by identifying psychological and behavioural disorders
- Develop, design, and administer programs for treatments
If you're interested in working along the medical line, you can consider working in correctional facilities, rehabilitation centres, hospitals, mental health facilities, communities, and public centres.
Organisation and Business Psychology
This is a psychology specialisation that involves studying the science of human behaviours in the workplace. Business psychology combines business practices with studying human behaviour to improve business productivity and efficiency.
Organisation psychology can be applied in business organisations and industries for employee testing, workplace diversity, employee motivation, and more.
It can also be used in product design to understand people's reactions to new products or services. Also, this area of psychology is used for research to identify solutions to problems in the workplace, thus improving workplace performance.
Counselling Psychology
This field of psychology aims at helping humans with ways to overcome mental health disorders and improve their way of living.
Being a counselling psychologist involves using safe programmes and practices to improve people's well-being, resolve arguments, relieve anxiety, and improve their ability to be better people and function well in daily activities and society.
Counselling psychologists can work almost everywhere. They can work in schools, private or government institutions, communities, and public centres to prevent and resolve crises.
Environmental Psychology
This involves analysing the interrelationship between environments and human behaviour. This means examining how the environment of a person can affect their attitude. Environment psychology involves improving human interaction with the natural world.
Psychologists in this specialisation can work in non-profit organisations, government agencies, and businesses.
Educational Psychology
This is for you if you love to work in the education sector. You can work as a lecturer or a researcher. Educational psychology involves studying how people learn and the variations in the way different people learn.
It also includes observing how the learning environment or other factors affects people's learning ability.
They are concerned with the learning and development of people at different stages. They also use their psychological techniques to help people who find it difficult to learn and assimilate.
Aside from this, education psychologists also study teaching methods and processes. They provide teaching strategies that can help people learn better.
Forensic Psychology
When it comes to issues relating to law and legal matters, forensic psychology is usually applied to find answers to issues related to crime and legal offences.
Psychologists in this field usually work on investigations, assessments, consultation, research, development, and implementation of treatment programs. Forensic psychologists often work with judges, attorneys, lawyers, and other legal authorities.
Developmental Psychology
This specialisation deals with human development and focuses on how people grow, develop, change, and adapt to life stages, situations, and their environment.
Psychologists in this field design programs and encourage practices that aid development and can help people become a better version of themselves.
Read about getting a Psychology degree/diploma in Nigeria.
Roles You Can Sign Up for as a Psychology Graduate in Nigeria
Now that you know the different psychology specialisations and you're sure of where to start your career, it's also essential that you know the roles you can apply for in the field.
As a psychologist, you can work with private organisations or government institutions.
Whether medical, legal, business, or education, there are different roles available and here are some of them:
- Human resources management
- International relation
- Mental health support team
- Lecturer or assistant lecturer
- Clinical Psychotherapist
- Business management and development
- Social behaviour changes communication manager
- Clinical research assistant
- Counsellor
- Special education teacher
- HR assistant or officer
- Intelligence officer
- Development Manager
- User experience research
- People operations
- Consultant
- Social worker
- Holistic therapist, etc.
Where to get Psychology Graduate Jobs in Nigeria
To get a job as a psychologist in Nigeria, you must have experience in the field. First of all, you must start by getting a university degree. If you have your university degree already, you might want to search for a psychology internship to get some working experience while building your career.
You might also be interested in getting your Master's or Doctorate for more experience and job security. If you're a psychology student or seeking a job position in the field, it's important that you refresh your knowledge of the field and be on track with the current trend in the field.
To achieve this, you can hire a private tutor ready to teach you and share their experience with you. With Superprof, you can get an experienced tutor to help you with your psychology course and career development.
You can learn on Superprof based on your time and schedule with as low as 1,500 to 5,000 NGN per hour. Also, you get a first free lesson!
Getting psychology jobs in Nigeria can be in two ways:
Physical Job Search
Wherever your location, be it Lagos state, Ibadan, Abuja or any Nigerian state, you can always find a job within the state you reside.
You can search for job vacancies around you by visiting private and government organisations that need your services. This is a very stressful way of job search, and it's less common these days. This leads us to the other type of job search.
Using Online Resources
This is a very common way of looking for jobs these days, thanks to technology. You can get information on job recruitment and vacancies with your phone and a good internet connection.
You can follow business organisations and government agencies on social media platforms to get information on their latest recruitment or vacancies.
Another way to search for jobs online is by using job-hunting websites. With these websites, you can know when recruitment is on or when there are job vacancies, irrespective of your location or state.
The primary job hunting sites commonly used in Nigeria are:
- Indeed
With these sites, you'll be able to get yourself a befitting position in the psychology field.
These are the materials needed for learning Psychology.
How Much Does a Psychology Graduate Earn in Nigeria?
As a psychology student or aspiring psychologist, it's only normal that you're interested in how much you can earn by working as a psychology graduate after your university programme.
The salary for psychology graduate jobs varies with specialisation as different specialisation involves different things.
Salary also differs with locations. For instance, if you want to work in places like Lagos state, Abuja, or Port Harcourt, you're likely to be paid more as a psychology graduate.
Your years of working experience and whether you want to work with a private or public organisation matter greatly regarding how much you can earn.
In light of experience, a graduate with a Master's or Doctorate tends to earn more than someone with a bachelor's degree. In Nigeria, a psychologist with at least 5 years of experience earns a minimum of 200,000 NGN and a maximum of 500,000 NGN per month.
A medical or health psychologist earns an average of 500,000 NGN per month, while a business psychologist earns about 300,000 NGN. Also, counsellors earn an average of 370,000 NGN per month, a minimum of 140,000 NGN and a maximum of 600,000 NGN per month.
A psychology lecturer or assistant lecturer earns a minimum of NGN 150,000 monthly.
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