05 steps to start working in Behavioral Science (from my experience)

Behavioral Science has become a very interesting and discussed topic among roles from different sectors. The interest in the discipline is growing very rapidly worldwide. However, there is not necessarily a standardized journey to start working in Behavioral Science and it is possible to learn and apply it even from backgrounds that are not directly related to it.

If you are just starting to get to know this discipline or have doubts about what the next steps are, keep reading because I am going to share my personal experience learning and working in Behavioral Science during the last 5 years.

In particular, I will explain to you the 05 steps that I have taken on my way to becoming a Behavioral Science Consultant:

1. Learn 2. Connect 3. Teach 4. Apply 5. Share

Let's follow follow this structure to talk about the route I took to get here.

Feel free to write to me by mail or on LinkedIn if you have any questions or need advice.

1. Learn

Discovering my interest in Behavioral Science

As in any sector, learning is the first step we have to take. When I started university, I still did not know about Behavioral Science and I did not think that I would be so passionate about it to make it my job.

My first academic interests were languages and cultures. I started studying Business Communication in Italy (my country of origin). In these years, I had the opportunity to learn more about marketing and economic theories, which I now complement with my knowledge of psychology and Behavioral Economics. In addition, I learned English, German and Spanish (now my everyday language) and I was able to travel to various countries and learn about different ways of living.

Some people ask me: how did you get to Behavioral Science? Well, it was totally random. One day I was in an English class at the university. The lecturer was giving us some tips for an exam. “In order to pass the exam, I recommend reading two chapters of this book”. I would never have thought that he would advise us to read "Thinking, fast and slow" by D. Kahneman. After several years getting to know new cultures and people, trying to find a connection among economics, marketing, and consumer behavior, I came across a book that unified everything into a single discipline: Behavioral Science.

From that moment on, I knew I wanted to follow this route. I didn't want to limit myself to influencing consumers' buying decisions, I wanted to understand why people (including me) make certain decisions or perform certain behaviors. I started looking for more content, listening to Ted Talks, reading articles and books until the day I graduated and decided to take up a master's degree in Behavioral Science.

Searching and finding the perfect master's degree

For various reasons, finding a master's degree in Behavioral Science was a great challenge for me. I had to take a gap year in order to find the one that best suited my needs.

In my decision process, I had to consider three things:

1. A master's degree in Behavioral Science did not yet exist in Italy. The only option was to study abroad, which was not a problem for me since traveling and adapting to new cultures is one of the things I like the most. So, I started to look at websites that show the rankings of the best universities to study psychology and Behavioral Science in Europe and to search the official sites. One thing that turned out to be both positive and negative at this stage was that there weren't that many master's degrees yet (less choice overload), the majority being in the UK. This made it easy to process the information and compare not only what they offered, but also the requirements. This brings me to the second point to consider.

2. Several universities in the UK had a strong background in economics as a requirement. Clearly, my degree in Business Communication did not fall into this category, so I spent my gap year studying courses in statistics, micro- and macro-economics. I was very determined to pursue this career and finally, I found my best academic partner: the University of Stirling (Scotland). From day one, lecturers and staff members were willing to help me adapt into the course and also to study more if I lacked some knowledge. It is important to keep in mind that Behavioral Science can be approached from different backgrounds, considering the multidisciplinary nature of the discipline. So don't panic if you feel like you miss some knowledge.

3. Although there is a lot of content to learn about the discipline independently (books, podcasts, articles, etc.), studying a master's degree provides you with the knowledge to apply Behavioral Science rigorously, not only in the academic field, but also in business. Clearly, depending on your goal or the role you want to achieve, you can assess whether or not it is worth starting this experience. I collaborate with several consultants who do not necessarily have a master's degree, but their knowledge that comes from experience and constant self-study is equally recognized.

Finishing the master's degree, the most awaited moment arrived. I had to choose between two options:

• Continue learning with a PhD (click here if you are considering it)

• Start working and apply the knowledge acquired

Since I had no experience in the professional world yet, I knew my interest was to find a role in Behavioral Science. The next step became very important to get to work in consulting.

2. Connect

Meeting professionals around the world

A few months before graduating, I started thinking about what industry I wanted to work in. Actually, I didn't love the idea of applying for any position, but I wanted to apply Behavioral Science in the real world.

The power of social media helped me a lot, particularly LinkedIn. This platform gave me the opportunity to meet some of the members of the Behavioral Science community around the world. I went online and talked to people like Aline Holzwarth, Richard Bordenave, Massimo Ingegno. They (like me) knew that there were a few opportunities to find a job as a consultant in Behavioral Science and, above all, there were still very few companies that needed these types of roles.

Knowing that there were not many Behavioral Science consultant agencies, I searched for this type of work all over the world, finding company like the Busara Center for Behavioral Economics in Africa, 1001 stories in India, until I reached Heurística in Peru. After a few interviews, I was already on the plane to move to Lima and start applying Behavioral Science in Latin America.

3. Teach

Learning more and more

One advice that sticks in my head (and I think the person who told me this has no idea of the impact it had on my career) is: “You should start teaching if you have the opportunity. It's a good way to learn". That is totally true as I have had the opportunity to experience since 2020.

Thanks to Jose Arellano, I had the opportunity to teach a Behavioral Economics course at the University of Sciences and Art of Latin America (Peru). The need to explain complicated concepts to undergraduate students made me understand the importance of applying the principle “Make it easy” of the EAST model (Service, O., et al., 2014) to my way of communicating.

This does not only apply to teaching, but also to presentations at events, whether online or face-to-face. If you want to improve your public speaking skills, taking the challenge of doing webinars or videos will help you a lot.

In a short time, I learned that teaching is a great passion that I have and that I wanted to continue doing it. I discovered that some Business Schools still do not have Behavioral Economics courses. So, I got in touch with a French university to teach a 6-week course to students of a master's degree in marketing. The fundamental thing is that you have to be proactive in finding your opportunities, recognizing your value and the importance of your knowledge.

Now, I continue to participate in webinars and participate in events to share my knowledge and train new generations of experts in Behavioral Science.

4. Apply

Helping people make better decisions

Starting a career in the private sector as a consultant was an important change. During my master's degree I learned everything I needed to continue learning, but in my day-to-day work as a Behavioral Researcher I had to adapt my knowledge to the needs of clients.

I had to develop several skills, especially in relation to two things:

1. Communicate to and persuade customers

2. Have good people skills and empathy

This was the first thing I learned.

Being a fairly new discipline, it is possible to learn something new every day. Being able to share this knowledge with amazing colleagues makes consulting work more interesting and innovative. I am sure that all the companies that have a Nudge Unit carry this spirit of collaboration and constant growth in their teams.

The part that motivates me the most is the possibility of designing and experimenting with solutions that can help people make better decisions. Sharing this type of mindset with clients is one of the goals of consulting companies to continue applying Behavioral Science in an ethical manner.

5. Share

Creating content in other languages

This is a very important part for me. During my master's degree it happened a few times to have difficulty learning Behavioral Science concepts in another language. All the existing material is mainly in English and for foreigners this can be a challenge.

I started creating content about Behavioral Science in Spanish to facilitate my students in Peru. In recent years, I have met many other people who are doing the same amazing work of sharing content in Spanish, for example Carlos Hoyos with his own YouTube channel “Behavioral Pills”.

It is also true that there is a lack of Behavioral Science content in other languages, too. In a webinar organized by the University of Bath in which I participated, a student from Thailand told me that there was no content in his language and that he wanted to start creating it. However, he was afraid to do it. Clearly, my experience taught me that you have to risk it. The creation of my blog was not (and still is not) easy. But this is not a reason not to do it. So I tried to encourage him to realize this dream, because in the future there will be people who will benefit from his work of translation and dissemination of the principles of Behavioral Science in another language.

Conclusion

Defining your own path

Going through these 05 steps led me to write this article and share my experience with you. Although each of us takes different routes, I hope that knowing how other people have achieved their goals can help you move forward with motivation and determination.

You may not go through all the steps. In some cases, you don't necessarily have to study a course or master's degree to apply the discipline, but Learning is a fundamental part of your growth. You don't always need to Connect with professionals, but it's something I suggest so you can understand where you want to go. Surely you don't have to Teach to have solid knowledge, but Applying this knowledge will allow you to help many people make better decisions. Even if Sharing knowledge is not your passion, supporting the people who do it and sharing their content is of equal importance.

Thank you very much for reaching the end of this article. I leave you the link to extra resources in Spanish to learn about the experience of other professionals who can help you better understand the path you want to take in Behavioral Science.

If you found the article relevant for you, don't forget to like it or share it 😊

Silvia Cottone

Behavioral Science Consultant & Worldwide Speaker