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Is career counseling right for you?
Career counselors are people that guide others to find the right job for themselves. Since you would be guiding others as career counselors, a question arises. Do you even know if a career as a Career Counselor right for you?
What do career counselors do?
To answer the question, whether career counseling is right for you, you need to know what career counselors do.
Career counselors are trained professionals with the job of guiding others to find the right career for themselves. They make assessments based on the client’s education, skills, personality, interests, and previous employments to suggest a few suitable jobs. A client can be anyone; someone beginning their professional career or someone looking to make a change in profession.
Are responsible for having knowledge of
· Skills needed in various fields
· Requirements – Education and previous experience
· Salary
Will assess a client based on interviews and their profile (education, skills, interests, etc.)
Match in terms of job satisfaction and earnings. They would suggest and help find out training and education that the clients desire for the job.
Career Counselor Salary
The 2 main factors of deciding a career that is right for you are its salary and job satisfaction. The average salary of career counselors in the USA is around $41,000 per year. The wages typically start from $35,000 per year at a starting level career. They go as high as $61,000 per year at a top-level career.
Career Counselor Job Satisfaction
Career Explorer rates career counseling as one of the happiest careers and puts them into the top 14% of careers. It has a rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars.
Employment Rating
Career counseling has a C employability rating. This means that it has moderate employment opportunities with the demand only rising due to the expected increase of school enrollments.
How to become a Career Counselor?
So, now you know the duties of a Career Counselor and the perks that come with the job, what’s next? Here’s what you need to become a Career Counselor:
1. Earn a Bachelor’s Degree
To become a Career Counselor, a bachelor’s degree is required in the behavioral, social science, or human services-related field. These form the basis in the student to learn about human behavior and development. It also provides career counseling skills and knowledge on career development.
2. Secure a Master’s Degree
In addition to a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree is also necessary. The master’s degree is in counseling or career services. The papers, projects, and coursework is focused on psychology, counseling skills, and human development.
3. Internships and Supervised Clinical Experiences
To be eligible to appear in a licensing exam, future Career Counselors need to work 3000 hours under supervision.
4. Licensing and Certification
Finally, to become a Career Counselor, you need to pass a counselor exam for graduation or licensing and certification.
There are several examinations for Career Counseling depending on your location. They are approved by National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC). Some typical exams are:
· National Counselor Examination (NCE)
· National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE)
5. Doctorate (optional)
Some counseling roles also require a doctorate degree. These job roles are usually psychologists, counseling researchers, and university professors.
6. Lifelong Learning
To maintain state licensure, professional counselors must obtain continuing education credits. They must also stay up to date with the changing requirements of the job market due to changing times. To name a few, the additional education can be obtained through attending workshops, conferences, presentations, and carrying out professional research.
Conclusion
Career Counseling is a fairly important job as almost every person needs it at some point in their life. The job is satisfying with a reasonable pay range. The demand for Career Counselors in the job market is moderate with the demand only rising in the future. It requires a bachelor’s and master’s degree and a few licensing and certification exams. An interested person can take their education a step further with a doctorate degree. And finally, Career Counseling is a job that requires lifelong learning and staying updated with the job market changes and requirements.
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