Life, Physical, and Social Science · Holland code IEC

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 called: I-O Psychologist (Industrial-Organizational Psychologist), Organizational Consultant, Organizational Psychologist, Research Scientist, Consulting Psychologist, I-O Practitioner (Industrial-Organizational Practitioner), Industrial Psychologist, Management Consultant.

O*NET 19-3032.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $193,950; Middle half earn $107,310 to $222,280. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Master's Degree; 58% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 5 of 5; Extensive preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Provide advice on best practices and implementation for selection.
Develop and implement employee selection or placement programs.
Analyze data, using statistical methods and applications, to evaluate the outcomes and effectiveness of workplace programs.
Develop interview techniques, rating scales, and psychological tests used to assess skills, abilities, and interests for the purpose of employee selection, placement, or promotion.
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.
Analyze job requirements and content to establish criteria for classification, selection, training, and other related personnel functions.
Advise management concerning personnel, managerial, and marketing policies and practices and their potential effects on organizational effectiveness and efficiency.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Reading Comprehension4.4 / 5
Active Listening4.4 / 5
Writing4.3 / 5
Speaking4.1 / 5
Critical Thinking4.1 / 5
Active Learning3.9 / 5

Knowledge areas

Personnel and Human Resources4.9 / 5
Psychology4.8 / 5
Education and Training4.5 / 5
Administration and Management4.0 / 5
Mathematics4.0 / 5
English Language3.8 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic1
Investigative72
Artistic36
Social50
Enterprising62
Conventional55

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

occupational analyst · DE Arbeitsanalytiker/Arbeitsanalytikerin · FR analyste professionnel
psychologist · DE Psychologe/Psychologin · FR psychologue

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Clinical psychologists (2225)23,900 employed
Other psychologists (2226)39,000 employed
Human resources and industrial relations officers (3571)196,000 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.40. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (19-3032).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test