Industrial-Organizational Psychologists
Apply principles of psychology to human resources, administration, management, sales, and marketing problems. Activities may include policy planning; employee testing and selection, training, and development; and organizational development and analysis. May work with management to organize the work setting to improve worker productivity.
Also Known As:
Consulting Psychologist
I-O Practitioner (Industrial-Organizational Practitioner)
I-O Psychologist (Industrial-Organizational Psychologist)
Industrial Psychologist
Management Consultant
Organizational Consultant
Organizational Development Specialist (OD Specialist)
Organizational Psychologist
Personnel Research Psychologist
Research Scientist
Wages
Annual wages for Industrial-Organizational Psychologists in United States
Job Outlook
Bright
New job opportunities are very likely in the future
United States
2034 Projected Employment
5,900
6% Change From 2024
Explore Industrial-Organizational Psychologists video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Identify training and development needs.
- Write articles, white papers, or reports to share research findings and educate others.
- Advise management concerning personnel, managerial, and marketing policies and practices and their potential effects on organizational effectiveness and efficiency.
- Observe and interview workers to obtain information about the physical, mental, and educational requirements of jobs, as well as information about aspects such as job satisfaction.
- Facilitate organizational development and change.
- Write reports on research findings and implications to contribute to general knowledge or to suggest potential changes in organizational functioning.
- Facilitate organizational development and change.
- Develop new business by contacting potential clients, making sales presentations, and writing proposals.
- Develop interview techniques, rating scales, and psychological tests used to assess skills, abilities, and interests for the purpose of employee selection, placement, or promotion.
- Formulate and implement training programs, applying principles of learning and individual differences.
- Counsel workers about job and career-related issues.
- Analyze data, using statistical methods and applications, to evaluate the outcomes and effectiveness of workplace programs.
- Study organizational effectiveness, productivity, and efficiency, including the nature of workplace supervision and leadership.
- Participate in mediation and dispute resolution.
- Provide advice on best practices and implementation for selection.
- Identify training and development needs.
- Assess employee performance.
- Provide expert testimony in employment lawsuits.
- Study consumers' reactions to new products and package designs, and to advertising efforts, using surveys and tests.
- Conduct research studies of physical work environments, organizational structures, communication systems, group interactions, morale, or motivation to assess organizational functioning.
- Develop and implement employee selection or placement programs.
- Assess employee performance.
- Analyze job requirements and content to establish criteria for classification, selection, training, and other related personnel functions.
- Conduct individual assessments, including interpreting measures and providing feedback for selection, placement, or promotion.
- Coach senior executives and managers on leadership and performance.
- Review research literature to remain current on psychological science issues.
- Train clients to administer human resources functions, including testing, selection, and performance management.
- Conduct presentations on research findings for clients or at research meetings.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")