How to Become a School Counselor
School counselors work in public and private institutions within the education system and are responsible for supporting students’ social and academic development. When you learn how to become a school counselor, you’ll be in demand, since data projects a growth rate of 10% within the next decade.
In this article, we show you how to become a guidance counselor – or school counselor as they are now more commonly known. We cover what to study, what skills to work on, the elements of a typical day on the job, and how to start your career.
What Is a School Counselor and What Is a Guidance Counselor?
School counselors are certified professionals who help young and teenage students navigate their academic, social, and personal lives. They work with students to promote their overall well-being and address their concerns.
Guidance counselors used to have a marginal and reactive role and their service was offered mostly based on their personal observations. Nowadays, school counselors are proactive figures involved in all school processes. Their work is data-driven, using students’ behavioral data, achievements, and attendances to provide holistic support to students. This is why the term “guidance counselor” no longer depicts an accurate picture of this profession anymore.
What Does a School Counselor Do?
School counselors support students every day in a range of ways. Here are some typical responsibilities:
- Helping students understand and manage academic and personal issues inside and outside school.
- Identifying students’ skills and interests via personality and aptitude tests.
- Suggesting best practices to develop skills, and support learning overall.
- Analyzing students’ academic performance, attendance, and other records.
- Preparing activities and presentations for students and teachers about the prevention and management of issues such as bullying, peer pressure, drug use and more.
- Collaborating with teachers, administrative staff, and parents to ensure students are fully supported to succeed.
- Providing guidance on further education routes based on students’ interests.
How to Become a School Counselor
It’s now time to find out in detail how to become a school counselor and what options you have if you started out in another career. School counselors are in demand, so it’s a great profession both for those that are just entering the job market and those that have been in the education system for a while and want a career change.
What Degree Do You Need to Be a School Counsellor?
The basic elementary and high school counselor requirements are a bachelor’s and a master’s degree. Your bachelor’s degree could be in any subject, although liberal arts are preferred, such as:
- education
- psychology
- social work
- business
This subject flexibility is why this career is accessible to people looking to change fields as well. Your master’s, on the other hand, must be in a subject like school counseling, education, or psychology, which is why professionals already in the education sector hold an advantage.
Other important guidance counselor requirements include:
- Acquiring supervised experience in the field, such as an internship.
- Obtaining a license or certification - whichever your state employs.
- Providing a clean criminal background check.
In some states, you might even be asked to have some classroom teaching experience. We suggest checking your state’s exact school counselor requirements on the American School Counselor Association website, which also provides helpful information and optional certifications to stay relevant in the field.
On top of your education, to become a successful school counselor you’ll need to work on certain skills such as interpersonal throughout your career, like:
- communication
- organization
- problem-solving
- leadership
How Long Does It Take to Become a School Counselor?
Your bachelor’s degree will take four to five years. After that, it’s estimated that candidates take two to three years from starting their master’s till the beginning of their jobs. So, you’re looking at around six to eight years to reach your goal.
How Much Do School Counselors Make?
Part of learning how to become a school counselor is knowing what your school counselor salary could be. Based on Monster’s data, the average guidance counselor salary sits at $43,637 per year. Keep in mind, however, that various factors such as your education, experience, the school grades you counsel, and location can greatly impact your earnings in this role.
For instance, an elementary school counselor salary tends to be higher than that for those working in junior colleges and universities. Moreover, we can see that the mean school counselor salary is the highest in the following states:
- California: $81,590
- New Jersey: $76,040
- Massachusetts: $75,660
- Washington: $75,160
- Maryland: $72,730
More specifically, the following are the top-paying metropolitan areas for school counselors:
Wondering how these compare to your area? Head to Monster's Salary Calculator, and enter “school counselor” along with your city. Our free tool will help you understand which locations have the highest demand for your profession, what next steps you could take in your career, as well as discover wages for similar positions.
How to Find School Counselor Jobs
An important and often overlooked part of how to become a school counselor is learning how to market your professional profile appropriately. It all starts with writing a powerful resume. Luckily, grabbing recruiters’ attention is not that much more difficult than keeping a students’, if you know the right tricks.
Remember that most headhunters and schools rely on applicant tracking system technologies to do the initial candidate screening. This means that your resume should be easy to read and scan through both by a person with little time and a robot.
To help with that, you could use a template like our school counselor resume example. Make sure to also use good spacing, bullet points, bold text, keywords taken from the job ad itself, and proofread carefully.
Finally, include important additional details about your application and explain why you’re the right fit for that specific institution, by writing a compelling cover letter. Use storytelling to catch the recruiter’s attention and appear more personable than you can with just your resume.
Where Does a School Counselor Work?
When exploring how to become a school counselor, it’s important to understand the environments school counselors might work in. These professionals operate in the education system, both private and public. Based on the data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, we know that the highest levels of employment for school counselors are:
- elementary schools
- middle schools
- high schools
- colleges
- universities
So, it is more likely you’ll work with kids or teenagers than young adults.
Before launching yourself into this profession, you might also want to know if this is an in-demand career in your area or if you’ll have to move to follow your dreams. The following are the states with the highest employment level for school counselors:
As far as U.S. metro areas go, those that provide the highest number of opportunities for guidance counselors are:
- New York City, NY
- Chicago, IL
- Los Angeles, CA
- Dallas, TX
- District of Columbia
Let Monster Guide You to Find Your Next Job Opportunity
Did our guide about how to become a school counselor give you that extra knowledge and motivation to embark on this career? Start pursuing your dream job today by setting up your free Monster account. Upload your resume and activate the customized alerts for school counselor roles. We’ll email you all the latest openings, so you’ll never miss an opportunity to find the perfect match. Plus, your profile will be visible to our partner recruiters and companies looking for new hires.