This summer due to personal situations, I had to find and hire two counselors for my high school. And with this article I get to recruit and hopefully find some more educators to pursue this path because this is an area of education my staff got to see just how hard it is to find counselors in this day and age of education.
A note to all considering this path of education: not only is it one of the best times to enter this avenue of education, but it also is one of the highest impact areas of students!
What Requirements Are Needed to Be a Guidance Counselor?
Let’s start with the process of becoming a counselor in the state of Texas and branch out from there, as examples. Texas requires candidates to complete a school counselor preparation program (through classes through a college program), pass the certification exam, having a 48-hour master’s degree in counseling from higher education, and have two years of classroom teaching experience.
In the last few years there have been different accelerated programs that will speed up this process and still meet all the requirements.
In Florida, according to the Florida Department of Education, candidates must have a master’s degree or higher, 600 clock hours of supervised internship serving school students and to have passed the certification. More details can be found at the Florida Department of Education.
In California, a baccalaureate degree or higher from a regionally accredited college or university starts the process. Then one completes a post-baccalaureate degree consisting of a minimum 48 semester units in an approved professional preparation program specializing in school counseling. More on the process in California can be found at the Commission on Teacher Credentialing for California.
What Does a School Guidance Counselor Do?
In the perfect world, school guidance counselors would focus on guiding students toward their goals for school or after high school, help with social-emotional needs of students who are going through rough times in their lives, and lead classroom sessions with students on drugs and other things that they need to be prepared for. All of these items above are what guidance counselors still do and move between on a daily basis.
For many years, the above was the primary focus. In the past few years, the need to be a mental health professional has also evolved to a higher level. That part of the job has always been there, but the number of mental health issues guidance counselors work with daily has exploded. Before you enter this path, know this will be a heavy part of the job in this day and age.
Skills to be a School Guidance Counselor
Analytical Skills
A guidance counselor will often take a pattern of behavior issues and be able to put them together to find a root cause or larger issue that may need to be addressed.
Critical-Thinking
Guidance counselors must act quickly when many issues may be thrown at them either by students, parents or school events.
Problem-Solving
Often counselors will need to find a way to make a set of classes work toward graduation, or find the right person to talk to students, or find the right program for a student to help them get on the right track.
Communication
Kind of goes without saying, but a counselor will be communicating with students, parents, teachers, administration, community members, and their ability to work with all of them and be honest and help them all work together is a key component.
Empathetic Listening
Maybe second to communication, the ability to connect with whoever they are talking to is important to getting to the person whatever help they may need.
Cultural Competency
Especially in your more diverse schools, a counselor will need to have a good feel for the common cultural beliefs that a student may be coming from.
How Much do Guidance Counselors Make?
According to the All Psychology Schools, Washington State is the leader in guidance counseling for medium income of $77,770. Missouri posted the lowest in median salary at $48,700.
On a national scale, the average salary for a school guidance counselor was $60,140.
Why Enter this Educational Pathway?
Those who entered the education field did not do it for money. We did because we care for people, their success, and their wellbeing.
As a school guidance counselor, you will have one of the most impactful positions on helping students. In this role you will truly get to help students in some very difficult situations, be able to help students achieve their dreams of going to college and other post-high school aspirations, and sometimes be able to get students on the right path and at the same time be critical in the operations of a school and its success.
There are fewer guidance counselors in the workforce than there used to be thus if this is a field you are wondering about if you can get your foot in the door…now is the time!
If you want a chance to truly help students and the staff of a school to have a better future…this is the educational pathway for you.
Educators never stop learning; check out our available graduate degree programs to hone your skills and promote lifelong learning and academic excellence.
