An official State of Ohio site. Here’s how you know
Live Chat
Contact

Welcome,
New User

User: New User

Date: 06/15/2026

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.

View All

    Work Activities

    Work Activities

    • Formulate and implement training programs, applying principles of learning and individual differences.
    • Write articles, white papers, or reports to share research findings and educate others.
    • Develop interview techniques, rating scales, and psychological tests used to assess skills, abilities, and interests for the purpose of employee selection, placement, or promotion.
    • Facilitate organizational development and change.
    • Counsel workers about job and career-related issues.
    • Facilitate organizational development and change.
    • Identify training and development needs.
    • Develop new business by contacting potential clients, making sales presentations, and writing proposals.
    • 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.
    • Write reports on research findings and implications to contribute to general knowledge or to suggest potential changes in organizational functioning.
    • Analyze data, using statistical methods and applications, to evaluate the outcomes and effectiveness of workplace programs.
    • Assess employee performance.
    • Provide expert testimony in employment lawsuits.
    • Develop and implement employee selection or placement programs.
    • Study organizational effectiveness, productivity, and efficiency, including the nature of workplace supervision and leadership.
    • Conduct research studies of physical work environments, organizational structures, communication systems, group interactions, morale, or motivation to assess organizational functioning.
    • Provide advice on best practices and implementation for selection.
    • Identify training and development needs.
    • Participate in mediation and dispute resolution.
    • Study consumers' reactions to new products and package designs, and to advertising efforts, using surveys and tests.
    • Assess employee performance.
    • Conduct individual assessments, including interpreting measures and providing feedback for selection, placement, or promotion.
    • Train clients to administer human resources functions, including testing, selection, and performance management.
    • Conduct presentations on research findings for clients or at research meetings.
    • Analyze job requirements and content to establish criteria for classification, selection, training, and other related personnel functions.
    • Review research literature to remain current on psychological science issues.
    • Coach senior executives and managers on leadership and performance.

    Skills

    • Active Listening

      Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    • 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.

    • Operations Monitoring

      Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    • Equipment Selection

      Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    • 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.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Learning Strategies

      Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

    • Monitoring

      Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

    • Coordination

      Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

    • Critical Thinking

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

    • Instructing

      Teaching people how to do something.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • 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.

    • Systems Evaluation

      Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    5
    Workplace Documents
    5
    Graphic Literacy
    5

    Abilities

    • Rate Control

      Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Wrist-Finger Speed

      Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    • 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.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Auditory Attention

      Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Gross Body Coordination

      Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    • Control Precision

      Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

    • Multilimb Coordination

      Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    • Depth Perception

      Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    • Visualization

      Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

    • Perceptual Speed

      Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Response Orientation

      Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

    • Reaction Time

      Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    • Inductive Reasoning

      Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

    • 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 Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Extent Flexibility

      Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Time Sharing

      Doing two or more things at the same time.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    Knowledge

    • 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.

    • Food Production

      Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

    • Design

      Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • Fine Arts

      Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • History and Archeology

      Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    • Computers and Electronics

      Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    • 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.

    • Mechanical

      Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

    • 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.

    • Biology

      Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    • Transportation

      Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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.

    • Law and Government

      Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    Career Video

    Video not available
    Additional videos and more information available on CareerOneStop

    Pay

    • US Annual Salary 109840/yr
    • US Typical Salary
    • US Hourly Wage 52.81/hr
    • US Typical Hourly Wage

    Ohio Employment Trends

    • Currently Employed 210
    • Yearly Projected Openings 10

    Typical Education

    Personality

    Investigative: People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.They do well at jobs that need:
    • Initiative
    • Self-Confidence
    • Innovation
    • Adaptability
    • Achievement Orientation
    • Cooperation

    Tools

    • Desktop computers
    • High capacity removable media drives
    • Liquid crystal display projector
    • Notebook computers
    • Personal computers
    • Scanners

    Technology

    • Analytical or scientific software
    • Computer based training software
    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Document management software
    • Electronic mail software
    • Enterprise resource planning ERP software
    • Human resources software
    • Internet browser software
    • Office suite software
    • Presentation software
    • Process mapping and design software
    • Project management software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Web platform development software
    • Word processing software

    Budget Calculator

    Answer a few questions to determine your target salary. Use this target salary to help choose the right occupation for you.

    Lifestyle Calculator

    Answer a few questions to determine your target salary. Use this target salary to help choose the right occupation for you.

    Workforce Supply Tool

    Workforce Supply Tool

    The Workforce Supply Tool provides statistics for the occupations in highest demand throughout Ohio.

    You can view statewide statistics as well as more region specific information.

    Visit Site
    Powered By: