How To Become An Adoption Counselor: What It Is and Career Path

What is an adoption counselor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Juleen Buser Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an adoption counselor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $15.0 an hour? That's $31,200 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 32,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to an adoption counselor?

Juleen Buser Ph.D.

Professor and Director, School Counseling and Coaching Programs, Rider University

Counseling Services (school counseling concentration) and an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (we have a CMHC concentration and a Dance Movement Therapy concentration in this program). The general advice I would give to graduates starting positions in the counseling field would be to understand the critical importance of the work of helping professionals. Counselors optimally provide a safe space for clients to discuss their fears, worries, anxieties, joys, traumas, insecurities, accomplishments, etc. This ability to be an empathic, listening, accepting presence will be even more crucial for clients in our current situation.

ScoreAdoption CounselorUS Average

Salary

2.4

Avg. Salary $31,200

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.0

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.62%

Asian 3.74%

Black or African American 10.64%

Hispanic or Latino 14.20%

Unknown 3.76%

White 67.03%

Gender

female 85.59%

male 14.41%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

9.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an adoption counselor

Explore adoption counselor education requirements

Most common adoption counselor degrees

Bachelor's

56.0 %

Associate

16.4 %

High School Diploma

14.0 %

Start to develop specific adoption counselor skills

Skills	Percentages
PET	23.79%
Customer Service	22.22%
Behavior Issues	12.77%
Front Desk	5.28%
Animal Shelter	5.10%

Complete relevant adoption counselor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New adoption counselors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an adoption counselor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real adoption counselor resumes.

Research adoption counselor duties and responsibilities

Take animal photographs and write biographies for website.
Stay abreast of all animals' biographies within the shelter to aid potential adopting families in a successful placement.
Screen and counsele potential adopters for eligibility, preparation and responsibilities of pet ownership.
Evaluate potential pet adoption candidates for safety, human interaction, and overall compatibility with their human counterparts.

Prepare your adoption counselor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your adoption counselor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an adoption counselor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable adoption counselor resume templates

Build a professional adoption counselor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your adoption counselor resume.