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

What is an afterschool counselor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Tommy Casarez Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an afterschool counselor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $11.93 an hour? That's $24,822 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 28,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to an afterschool counselor?

Dr. Tommy Casarez Ph.D.

Dr., Assistant Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology, Vanguard University

Opportunities come in many different shapes and sizes, but they are still out there. Whether you are seeking to land a job in education or the non-profit sector, you will need to familiarize yourself and get used to all things digital, for the sake of communicating effectively. The younger your student or service partner's mindset, the more digitally savvy you will need to be, especially in the classroom and in the non-profit world.

ScoreAfterschool CounselorUS Average

Salary

1.9

Avg. Salary $24,822

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.1

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.67%

Asian 4.94%

Black or African American 13.84%

Hispanic or Latino 14.10%

Unknown 5.56%

White 60.90%

Gender

female 63.00%

male 37.00%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

9.1

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.5

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an afterschool counselor

Explore afterschool counselor education requirements

Most common afterschool counselor degrees

Bachelor's

48.8 %

Associate

21.3 %

High School Diploma

19.8 %

Start to develop specific afterschool counselor skills

Skills	Percentages
Child Care	40.99%
CPR	15.06%
Homework Assignments	14.29%
Direct Supervision	6.33%
After-School Program	3.99%

Complete relevant afterschool counselor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New afterschool 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 afterschool counselor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real afterschool counselor resumes.

Research afterschool counselor duties and responsibilities

Manage a kindergarten class at an afterschool program.
Lead kids through daily activities and encourage their creativity
Train in emergency evacuation procedures and first aid, including CPR and accident documentation.
Tutor to all grades between kindergarten and 5th grade in reading, math, and English.

Prepare your afterschool counselor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your afterschool 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 afterschool 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 afterschool counselor resume templates

Build a professional afterschool 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 afterschool counselor resume.