Last Updated: June 26th, 2022 by
Young children spend most of their day at school, learning academic and social skills to grow. That daily process can be overwhelming, which is why there are school counselors to help them cope and thrive in elementary, middle, and high school.
In this detailed guide, you’ll discover how to become a school counselor. Then, you’ll learn about the process you’ll go through and the rewards you can enjoy when following this career path.
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Job Description
As a school counselor, your first responsibility is to understand the academic and social challenges students face in your school.
Doing so will allow you to design effective counseling programs to guide students towards coping and thriving as they continue their learning.
You will also advise school administrators (who set policies) and teachers (who run classes). Your advice will help them understand the challenges students face to make the necessary adjustments.
Lastly, you will also communicate with students’ families and guardians to understand what students are going through. That way, family members can provide the necessary support outside of school hours.
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What Does an Average Day for a School Counselor Look Like?
Here’s what an average day on the job will look like for you as a school counselor:
Speak with Students
First and foremost, your responsibility is to interact with the students in your school. Doing so will help students feel comfortable and trust you. That’s especially true when they need your help or just need an attentive ear.
You can speak with students formally by setting appointments. That way, students can visit your office during their free periods and talk to you in a private setting.
However, you’ll also speak with students informally throughout the day. Quite often, all a student needs is a quick chat with you to help them deal with an immediate issue or challenge.
Work with Administrators and Teachers
In a school, students’ experiences are affected by both teachers and administrators. Teachers interact with students during classes, while administrators set the policies that influence their overall school experience.
Because of that, you will also have meetings with administrators and teachers to discuss students’ experiences.
Doing that will allow administrators and teachers to become more aware of their students’ problems. Then, all three of you can work together to improve conditions in the school for the students’ benefit.
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Meet with Parents or Guardians
In some cases, you’ll have to meet with parents or guardians to discuss the student’s matters. You can do so by devoting a part of your day to meeting with parents at a time that’s convenient to them.
That’s because a student’s development doesn’t just happen while at school. It also takes place when students go home to their families.
By involving parents and guardians, all of the adults in a student’s life can work together to help them cope and thrive in their academic and social experiences.
Analyze School Data
Quite often, students having a difficult time in school will go unnoticed. As a result, not many will speak up and ask for help directly.
That’s why you must spend part of your day analyzing school data and looking for signs of a struggling student.
Some of the signs you’ll look for include:
- Too many missed school days
- Grades that keep falling
- Other disciplinary issues on record
By analyzing that data, you’ll be able to proactively seek out students who might be having a tough time but are too afraid to ask for help.
Advise Teachers and Students
Another proactive step you can take in your average workday is advising teachers and students. Again, you can do so formally at a scheduled gathering or informally with quick chats around the school.
The goal here is to provide advice that helps teachers and students alike. For example, you can help teachers identify students struggling in their classes.
Process for Becoming a School Counselor
The process you’ll go through to become a school counselor is pretty straightforward. There aren’t many alternate choices you’ll have to make along the way.
At the end of the process, you’ll find that you’ve gone through many of the same experiences as other school counselors you’ll meet throughout your career.
Here’s what your process will look like when becoming a school counselor.
1. Get a Degree
The first part of learning how to become a school counselor will happen at a college or university. Almost all states and employers will require you to have a Master’s degree to apply for an open position with them.
Typically, you can choose from a degree in counseling or psychology for this part of the process.
However, these days, many top universities and colleges offer degrees in school counseling in particular.
The benefit of pursuing that kind of degree program is that you’ll learn about counseling specifically in the context of schools and school-age children. So, that will give you a head start, especially if you’ve already decided early on to become a school counselor.
You can also pursue courses that will help you when you work in a school during this time. For instance, you can follow courses on:
- Career guidance counseling: To help high school students decide what career they’d like to pursue after graduation.
- Academic guidance counseling: To help students improve their grades and cope with the challenges of learning.
2. Gain Hands-On Counseling Experience
As you continue learning in the classroom, you must also gain hands-on counseling experience.
Your Master’s degree course will likely have a supervised experience aspect in its graduation requirements. During this time, you’ll work alongside qualified counselors in helping patients of all ages.
However, you can also pursue internships and supervised training independently to gain more experience.
Perhaps you can do so during your semester breaks or even after graduation while you wait to enter the workforce.
The hands-on experience you gain during this stage will benefit you in several ways.
Firstly, it helps you show future employers that you’ve taken the initiative to gain experience on your own time.
Secondly, it allows you to adjust quickly to the challenges of your work environment when you start working in a school.
3. Gain Hands-On Teaching Experience
As you learn how to become a school counselor, you can also give yourself another advantage by gaining hands-on teaching experience.
Some employers will require teaching experience and even a teaching license. Whatever the requirements are, almost all employers will appreciate any classroom experience that you have.
Remember: you’re a counselor, first and foremost. However, you’re a counselor who specializes in working in school environments.
So, by spending some time in a teaching role, you’ll learn to see things from the teacher’s perspective. That will help you gain a more thorough understanding of the school kids that you’ll provide counseling to in the future.
4. Get a License, Certification, or Endorsement
Before working as a school counselor, you must have the necessary certifications. Depending on the state you want to work in, that certification could be a license or endorsement instead.
In most cases, certification will require:
- A Master’s degree
- A completed supervised internship
- The passing of a certification test
Also, certification will require you to pass a background check. This should come as no surprise, seeing as how school counselors work with school-age children in particular.
For more detailed information on the certification requirements for your state, check out the American School Counselor Association’s (ASCA) website.
The National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) also offers contact information for state regulating boards. These boards will be your best resource for understanding the certification requirements that apply to you.
5. Pursue Further Training And Educati on
The journey you follow to learn how to become a school counselor shouldn’t end once you get the job. Instead, you should continue to pursue further training and education.
That’s because the academic and social challenges that school-age children go through evolve with the times. Also, the job market that awaits graduating high-schoolers changes rapidly.
That’s why you must keep yourself up to date with those changes.
By doing that, you’ll be able to design much more effective counseling programs and provide better career guidance to set students up for success.
What Characteristics Make a Good School Counselor?
Book smarts are undoubtedly necessary when learning how to become a school counselor. However, you’ll also need a specific set of personality traits, skills, and proficiencies to succeed in the long run.
Here are some of those that you’ll need to have or develop as part of your journey:
Personality and Skills
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) lists analytical skills, communication skills, and interpersonal skills as some of the most essential skills for a school counselor.
Your analytical skills are crucial when helping students understand their problems. Quite often, students won’t describe the obstacles they’re struggling with.
So, your analytical skills will help you dive deeper and understand their issues.
That skill goes hand in hand with your communication skills, particularly your ability to listen and speak. Again, the children you deal with might not perfectly explain the challenges they face.
So, you’ll have to ask the right questions and listen carefully to what they tell you.
Interpersonal skills are also critical for this line of work. For example, when you work in a school, you’ll interact with the same administrators, teachers, and students daily. So, building relationships with all groups helps you develop trust and provide guidance to students.
At the same time, your interpersonal skills will also help you work alongside administrators and teachers to benefit the students.
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Credentials and Proficiencies
The Occupational Information Network (O*Net) states that a school counselor should be proficient in therapy and counseling, psychology, and education and training.
Having credentials and being proficient in therapy and counseling are crucial because that’s the primary service you provide to school students. In addition, proficiencies in these areas will help make students feel safe enough to open up to you about their problems.
Naturally, that goes along well with an understanding of psychology. Students at different stages of schooling (i.e., elementary, middle, high school) will see the world very differently.
As a school counselor, understanding psychology will help you see the world through their eyes and relate to them more effectively.
Lastly, all of your counseling activities will happen in schools. So, you must have proficiency in education and training to understand the environment that you work in.
More importantly, that will help you understand what your students go through every day.
How Does a School Counselor Find Work?
You can find work as a school counselor in different ways. Most of it will depend on what state you’re in. That’s because states coordinate school counselor openings differently.
For example:
- State Level: In some places, the state’s Department of Education coordinates the hiring of school counselors. In Hawaii, for instance, you’ll have to be part of the state’s job pool. So when a school counselor position opens up, the state will recruit from that pool.
- School District Level: Many states coordinate these job openings at a lower level, such as the school district level. So, you can check for counselor job openings and submit an application by referring to your nearby school districts.
- Direct Applications: Some schools will post the school counselor job openings directly. So, you’ll go through the application process by interacting directly with the school you’d like to work for.
No matter where you are in the country, you can quickly find many counselor job openings online these days. So, start your job search by browsing websites for the state Department of Education, local school districts, and individual schools.
That can be the quickest way to identify openings and begin your application process.
What Is the Average Salary of a School Counselor?
School counselors earn an average of $62,320 a year, according to statistics by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). From that number, the BLS highlights the upper and lower averages based on these percentiles:
- Lower 10th percentile: $35,620 a year.
- Highest 90th percentile: $97,910 a year.
Which State Pays Counselors the Most?
The BLS also provides information on where school counselors get paid the highest. According to them, these are the 5 highest-paying states for this line of work:
- California: $81,350 a year.
- New Jersey: $75,030 a year.
- Virginia: $73,590 a year.
- Massachusetts: $72,780 a year.
- Maryland: $72,720 a year.
How Do You Earn More as a School Counselor?
You can increase your earning potential as a school counselor by continually upgrading your skills and knowledge.
For example, you can offer more value as a school counselor by:
- Furthering your studies to the Master’s or Doctorate levels.
- Seeking more training and learning in providing academic, career, and emotional guidance to school students.
- Developing expertise in helping school students with special needs or mental health challenges.
What Is the Job Outlook for a School Counselor?
The job outlook for this line of work is positive. There’s a strong demand for school counselors, and that demand is set to grow for the foreseeable future.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects an 11% growth in this line of work between 2020 and 2030. They describe that growth rate as being ‘faster than average,’ which is excellent news for you and anyone else interested in learning how to become a school counselor.
Where Are School Counselors Needed the Most?
School counselors are needed at all levels of schooling, each with a different set of needs. For example:
- Elementary schools: To work alongside parents, teachers, and administrators to develop young students’ social and academic skills.
- Middle schools: To continue helping students with their social and academic needs while preparing them to transition to the coming academic and social challenges.
- High schools: To help students with academic and personal issues while advising them on college and career plans.
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Professional Associations
Part of your journey of learning how to become a school counselor is doing so through networking. Here are some professional associations where school counselors connect with one another:
American School Counselor Association (ASCA)
Association of Child and Adolescent Counseling (ACAC)
National Education Association (NEA)
State-level school counseling associations like
- Florida School Counselor Association (FSCA)
- California Association of School Counselors (CASC)
- and others
Top Colleges and Universities
When learning how to become a school counselor in college, most people choose to pursue a school counseling degree. However, degrees in psychology and counseling are also acceptable to many employers.
Here are some of the top schools you can sign up for to pursue a school counselor education: