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How do I Become a School Guidance Counselor?

Elva K.
Elva K.

School guidance counselors help students identify which career they are interested in pursuing. The work entails testing, analyzing the results of testing, vocational guidance, structuring student experiences to facilitate career discovery, and understanding what interests students and motivates them in a career context. To become a school guidance counselor, you generally will need a college degree, a post-graduate degree, and internship experience.

It is necessary to get a college degree if you want to become a school guidance counselor. Of note, you do have some flexibility in what you major in as an undergraduate. Some people major in education and then pursue a school teaching career before they become a school guidance counselor. This can be done, but it is not a requirement. In most states, it is typically sufficient to pursue an undergraduate degree in any subject and then pursue a graduate degree specializing in guidance counseling.

Guidance counselors focus on helping students prepare for future careers.
Guidance counselors focus on helping students prepare for future careers.

You could apply to a graduate counseling program during the last semester of college. The Master of Science (MS) degree in counseling is generally recommended for anyone who hopes to become a school guidance counselor. If you did not major in education as an undergraduate, typically you will complete MS degree requirements and do a two-semester counseling internship in an elementary or secondary school setting as the final step in the guidance counseling program. By contrast, if you did major in education as an undergraduate and if you became a teacher as a result of that, after working as a teacher for at least one year, in some locales, you would be able to pursue a Master of Science (MS) degree in counseling with a potentially shorter counseling internship than those without an education undergraduate degree.

School guidance counselors can work with students of all ages.
School guidance counselors can work with students of all ages.

The MS degree in counseling will include courses such as intake, interviewing techniques, counseling theory, human development and statistics. These courses typically include a lot of reading but also include role play in classes which reinforce the concepts in counseling textbooks. Also, some counseling programs require a research project that students must do before graduating from the MS degree program.

Once you have completed the MS degree and internship, you are typically then eligible for certification as a school guidance counselor. You could work as an elementary school guidance counselor. Or, you could be a high school guidance counselor.

School guidance counselors can help teens look at different career options following graduation.
School guidance counselors can help teens look at different career options following graduation.

Counselors need to have excellent interpersonal skills, good listening skills, and open-mindedness. Even so, the job can be very stressful at times because of the sheer number of students counselors must work with in schools. In fact, 60 percent of guidance counselors experience burnout and leave the profession within the first two years on the job. Granted, for those who do not leave, guidance counseling often eventually results in a high level of job satisfaction.

School guidance counselors may have experience working with youth through community programs.
School guidance counselors may have experience working with youth through community programs.

After being a guidance counselor, people sometimes transition into other careers. For example, they may choose to go back to school to get a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Counseling so that they can teach college courses or go into private practice as counselors. They may become administrators who run community education programs. By contrast, they may choose to become career counselors in college career services departments. Or, they may choose to apply their well-developed communications skills to a new career in the business world such as the field of human resources recruiting.

Discussion Comments

Ocelot60

Young people who are considering going into the field of high guidance counseling should also think about their future prospects for job placement. This is the type of position that has a lot of applicants applying for a single job, so the competitions is fierce.

Though working as a guidance counselor would be very rewarding, there are not many of these positions available in today's job market. Many schools that use to have several guidance counselors now only have one, and some low income districts have even cut out this position completely to save money.

Heavanet

Before any student makes the decision to become a high school guidance counselor, he or she should think about his or her goals, interests, and talents. For example, a person who does not have a lot of patients or does not like to communicate with others would probably not do very well as a guidance counselor.

On the other hand, those who enjoy helping others and like to talk and work to solve problems would probably do very well in this field.

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    • Guidance counselors focus on helping students prepare for future careers.
      By: Andres Rodriguez
      Guidance counselors focus on helping students prepare for future careers.
    • School guidance counselors can work with students of all ages.
      By: Gorilla
      School guidance counselors can work with students of all ages.
    • School guidance counselors can help teens look at different career options following graduation.
      By: Monkey Business
      School guidance counselors can help teens look at different career options following graduation.
    • School guidance counselors may have experience working with youth through community programs.
      By: cfarmer
      School guidance counselors may have experience working with youth through community programs.