Where can a degree in psychology honours take you?

Psychology is a fast-growing discipline that helps to shape our understanding of how people think, feel and interact with other humans, animals and artificial entities in our ever-changing world.

Our Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) offers a unique opportunity to explore your research potential and deep dive on a topic of interest, while preparing you for a varied and exciting career.

We caught up with three psychology honours graduates working across a variety of industries and sectors, to find out how the degree has benefited their careers.

Donna Daly

Human Factor Advisor, Sydney Trains

Donna enrolled in the Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) after exiting a career as a professional musician.

“I was seeking a career that could provide me with stability, secure income, the opportunity to grow and to continuously learn, and above all, one that would fulfil me personally,” says Donna.

“Making a career change at 25, I was acutely aware of the opportunities available in the corporate world for someone with a degree in psychology.

“Beyond the standard HR or clinical psychology careers, I was seeing more roles advertised in organisational psychology, sports psychology, human wellbeing and business.

“I knew that possessing a deeper understanding of people would serve me well in whatever profession I chose to pursue.”

The degree equipped Donna with critical thinking skills and the ability to collect, analyse and interpret empirical information and evidence. These skills are vital to her role as Human Factor Advisor for Sydney Trains.

“In a dynamic operating environment like the railway, we are heavily involved in improving system performance for existing and operational systems by identifying, preventing and mitigating human performance issues,” explains Donna.

“To achieve this, we engage with all stakeholders including engineers, system users, management and systems designers, to gather requirements during system design phases, to identify Human Factors issues throughout the entire systems engineering lifecycle and importantly, to collect data for our analyses.

“Our discipline is an empirically-based one that employs the scientific method.

“Through my work, I am able to apply the skills I honed over four years studying statistics, cognitive psychology, perception and human behaviour. These skills have enabled me to deliver systems and assets that are reliable and safe for our workforce and customers. That is something I am incredibly proud of.”

Andrew Comensoli

Chief of Staff and Head of Strategy and Business, Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore

Andrew has built a career in financial services, working as a management consultant before moving into internal advisory and operations roles in banking.

He heads the Strategy and Business Management team, which is part of the Digital Channels and Data Analytics unit within Standard Chartered - Corporate and Institutional Bank, responsible for supporting strategy and planning, business operations management, and execution of strategic initiatives across the digital banking portfolio.

“I have found that human behaviour is fundamental to almost every aspect of business – from influencing customer behaviours, to driving high performing teams, managing organisational change and making effective management decisions,” explains Andrew.

“One of the many benefits of taking honours in psychology, is being able to understand these dynamics and how to achieve the outcomes you want.

“The practical training I received in research methods, statistics, and data analytics as part of the Bachelor of Psychology Honours program, has a been a real asset in roles where structured problem solving and data-driven decision making are highly valued and increasingly important.”

Andrew’s greatest career highlights include moving to Singapore for business and having the opportunity to work on challenging projects in emerging markets across Asia and the Middle East.

Holly Cameron

Senior Business Analyst, Cubane Consulting

Holly moved straight into a Business Analyst role at Cubane Consulting, a benchmarking and consulting company that specialises in higher education, after graduating in 2018.

She helps clients make informed strategic decisions by providing analysis of the efficiency and efficacy of their business operations.

“While my role may seem quite far removed from what you would expect to do after completing Honours in Psychology, the statistical analysis and critical thinking skills I developed during my studies, and the ability to clearly community complex ideas are as essential for a senior business analyst,” says Holly.

“Having a strong understanding of how and why people think and act in certain ways provides a valuable insight in any job and has been particularly useful in projects focusing on staff satisfaction and experience within an organisation.”

One of the most rewarding aspects of Holly’s work has been supporting universities to adapt their strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Seeing and understanding the immediate challenges facing our clients really added a sense of urgency and meaningfulness to the work we were doing, and I’m glad I was able to help them through a really difficult period of uncertainty," says Holly.

Find out more about our Bachelor of Psychology (Honours).