Guidance Counselor Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a guidance counselor. Feel free to use our job description template to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a guidance counselor.
Who is a Guidance Counselor?
A guidance counselor is a person who provides counseling services to students. They work with teachers, administrators, and parents to ensure students receive the necessary resources to achieve success. They also train other staff members and administer statewide standardized tests. Most guidance counselors work full-time hours and on weekends. These professionals are usually based in an office setting. They have to be ethical and honest when working with students, and they must report any suspected cases of abuse or neglect.
A guidance counselor typically holds a Master’s degree from an accredited university or college and has completed an approved educator preparation program. They must also have passed the School Counselor Exam and have two years of classroom experience. In addition, they should have good communication skills and be sensitive to students’ situations. Furthermore, they should be passionate about helping students achieve their goals. Finally, they should be able to provide students with the necessary tools to make informed decisions and develop the necessary skills to succeed.
A guidance counselor’s job description includes the specific training that they receive. For example, a guidance counselor should be certified by the state board of education. They should also be licensed by the state. However, there are many ways to become a guidance counselor. Most of these professionals are employed by private schools, public universities, and academic institutions. Generally, they work in a department of Health and Counselling Services. Applicants should be well-qualified to work in any of these fields.
Most guidance counselors work in an office. They need a private space to meet with students, but they may also visit a classroom. This is because they are trained to observe and assess students in a variety of settings. Some school counselors do not work during the summer months, while others do not work at all. But it is important to note that a guidance counselor’s role is a very important role within a school.
A guidance counselor’s main work is usually in the office, though they may sometimes venture outside the office to observe students in class. The school’s counselor may report certain behaviors to him. He may also make independent observations and assess counseling needs.
Guidance Counselor Job Description
Below are the guidance counselor job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a guidance counselor job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The job and duties of a guidance counselor include the following:
- Developing and implementing a comprehensive educational and counseling plan with modern teaching and mentoring methods
- Encouraging equal opportunity practices and encouraging student association
- Paying attention to cultural or social differences in dealing with students
- Leading individual or group counseling sessions to help students with problems or concerns
- Assessing student attributes (KSAOs) and helping them realize their strengths
- Assessing student progress and reinforcing the sense of accomplishment
- Identifying behavior problems or at-risk students and acting appropriately
- Cooperating with parents and teachers, as well as other stakeholders
- Completing assessments and tests, analyzing results, and providing feedback
- Studying and updating student records
- Preparing and submitting progress reviews
- Developing and implementing a comprehensive educational and counseling plan
- Encouraging equal opportunity practices and encouraging student association
- Paying attention to cultural or social differences in dealing with students
- Helping students establish their class schedules each school year.
- Assisting students to chart their educational or vocational path after high school.
- Helping students complete college applications.
- Organizing college visits and fairs for students and parents.
- Advising students and parents on college selection and entry requirements.
- Providing character education or other educational programs related to orientation.
- Helping the student body deal with school-wide tragedies, such as deaths or acts of violence.
- Providing students with counseling support for personal problems on a limited basis.
- Informing authorities of dangerous situations for students as required by law.
- Ensuring that students meet the requirements to graduate.
- Assisting and sometimes leading the delivery of standardized tests to students.
- Guiding the development and implement a competitive school board program that focuses on students and promotes their success
- Responding to the individual differences of students
- Ensuring equal opportunities and a rigorous curriculum for all students
- Providing direct support services through structured agreements
- Evaluating strengths and advocating for students
- Providing responsive group or individual services
- Collaborating and consulting with parents, teachers, community organizations, and other stakeholders
- Performing assessments, interpreting tests, and studying student records
- Collecting and analyzing data to measure results
Qualifications
A guidance counselor’s education and training are critical to the field. In most cases, a bachelor’s degree in counseling is required. Higher degrees, such as a doctorate in psychology or social services, are preferred. A guidance counselor must also have several years of experience in counseling. General social work experience is sufficient if a candidate does not have specific training in academic counseling. Mid-level positions typically require three years of experience and pay at least average salaries.
The qualifications of a guidance counselor are summarized below:
- Demonstrated work experience in the field of school counseling
- Integrity and professionalism
- Oratory skills
- Ability to effectively meet the needs of a diverse group of students
- Working knowledge of various consulting models, practices, and resources
- Engaging communication and interpersonal skills
- Ability to collect and analyze data
- Computer knowledge
- Common sense and emotional intelligence
- Master in School Guidance
- Bachelor of Psychology, Social Work or Counseling
- Excellent communication skills
- Ability to empathize with customers
- Ability to leverage internal and external resources as part of a client’s treatment plan
- Willingness to work on-call
- Experience writing evaluations and reports to monitor client progress
Essential Skills
- Be endowed with deep human and relational qualities
Working in middle and high schools, conducting an individual interview to guide a student towards his post-baccalaureate studies, or even guiding a person to succeed in a reorientation or professional integration, are public service missions that require great human qualities.
By “human qualities” we mean all the skills aimed at knowing how to communicate with any type of person to meet their needs.
It is a question of evaluating for which profession a particular pupil or student is made.
To do this, we place at the forefront of the skills to be acquired for this job, openness and a particularly developed sense of listening.
Like a private teacher giving lessons at home, the counselor must be able to listen to the requests of his pupil and put himself within reach, at the level of his interlocutor.
In the field of professional development, candidates for a job interview are expected to be able to demonstrate listening skills, critical thinking, adaptability, and a sense of analysis.
In the school environment, these skills will be used by the psychological guidance counselor as it is important that the latter can establish a climate of trust between the student and himself. The guidance counselor must give children and adolescents confidence to help them make the right choices, to make the optimal decisions that correspond to their personality.
Some students are suffering from academic difficulties or are dropping out of school. Guidance counseling, therefore, aims to prevent them from failing at school and dropping out of school. It is, therefore, necessary to be able to refer students in difficulty to show them in which sectors of activity – and the resulting training – they could evolve in the future.
In addition, he must be able to adapt his “expertise” according to the age of the pupils to whom he is addressing, helping them to build themselves up to an age when one does not necessarily think about his future adult life. and the decisive choices that will have to be made.
- Know how the education system works
It is obvious that a school guidance counselor must have in-depth knowledge of the education system, and beyond, a whole set of knowledge and general culture related to the educational and professional career of the students:
A good guidance counselor must therefore master all the training courses and existing school courses.
He can provide his student (s) with detailed brochures on secondary and university training, to widen the range of choices in post-bac orientation.
By the way, it may be a good idea, to get ideas, to take an orientation test online before even taking the individual interview sessions.
Listening skills and knowing how to communicate to heterogeneous audiences is unfortunately not enough, because advising them implies knowing what are the professional outlets at the end of each of the streams to which the student can claim.
Therefore, he will be based on the student’s educational background, build with the latter, and orientation project corresponding to his personality and his academic results during his schooling.
How to Become a Guidance Counselor
The requirements for becoming a guidance counselor may vary depending on the person’s life and work status. In the United States, each state has different regulations that must be studied separately and states that plan to move from one state to another in the future may need to meet other requirements. However, it is still possible to make some rough statements about the type of education needed for a person who wants to become a high school counselor.
First, most people should have expectations of working in a master’s degree program before they can be certified in their state. The choice of bachelor’s degree program may vary. Some people recommend obtaining a four-year degree in education, psychology, social work, or sociology. Any of these degrees can help convert those who want to become guidance counselors into master-level jobs with ease. Psychological or social work may be the best option, but the most practical advice is to look at the master’s program in school counseling and determine the minimum requirements to join it. Choose the undergraduate major that is most likely to be favored when applying for graduate school.
Many names can provide a master’s program for guidance counselors or school counselors. These services include student services, school counseling, student development, and student personnel services. In some states, a degree in psychology or child psychology is acceptable. Or, some guidance counselors may have a doctorate in education, but the degree is a doctorate, which takes longer to obtain, and may require a master’s degree in one of the above fields.
In principle, the main content one should look for in majors and courses is that it focuses on how tutoring works in a school environment. Although students may want to be high school tutors, they usually still need to learn about tutoring at all levels.
Another important issue in choosing a school at the master’s level is the issue of national requirements. Usually, letting their master’s or doctorate enter the state where they plan to work to provide people with better services. This is one of the ways to determine that the school will best support the requirements for obtaining graduate training, licenses, and/or certificates. On the other hand, sometimes programs elsewhere are too tempting. In this case, please discuss the school with the state licensing agency to understand what may need to be added to the plan to make it complete. People can always seek permission in several states.
Usually, some supervision must be done after completing a master’s degree and before obtaining a certificate. This may vary. It is suggested to obtain a degree in “counseling/treatment”, which usually requires approximately 3000 hours of supervised practice before obtaining a permit. In most cases, those who want to become guidance counselors do not need to meet this requirement and can work without this requirement because the fields of therapy and high school counseling are different in direction.
Where to Work
- Elementary School
- High School
- Universities
- Polytechnics
- Other educational institutions
Guidance Counselor Salary Scale
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the average Guidance Counselor salary ranges from $42,810 to $68,350 per year. Experience plays a major role in the calculation of this salary. Those with Master’s degrees and doctorates in Guidance and Counseling earn more than their counterparts. In addition, those with a Master’s degree earn an average annual income of $53,950.
Large metropolitan areas tend to pay relatively low salaries for guidance counselors, other areas offer higher wages. The Orlando area and Gainesville area both have higher annual pay than the state average. Moreover, all schools may employ psychologists as counselors, who earn a higher salary than standard counselors.
The average annual salary of a school counselor in the U.S. is $55,970. It varies depending on the region, employer, and type of job. A guidance counselor working in an educational institution can earn up to $33,330 to $68,770 per annum. The highest-paid percentile is $70,930. The job outlook is excellent for this profession.