How To Become a Community Health Counselor
Summary. We reviewed real candidate profiles to learn the best path to become a community health counselor. We'll guide you through the education, experiences, and skills hiring managers look for in a community health counselor.
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Most companies require a community health counselor to have a bachelor's degree degree in a related field, such as psychology or social work.
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It's important to have relevant work experience, with typical job requirements ranging from 2-4 years in related fields.
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Common job titles before becoming a community health counselor include internship, counselor, and case manager.
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Hiring managers expect a community health counselor to have soft skills such as communication skills, emotional skills, and interpersonal skills.
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Once you have all the required skills and experience, it takes an average of 3-6 months of job training to become a community health counselor.
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Getting a certification as a Pastoral Counseling Certification will help you to earn more as a community health counselor.
We found that 60.9% of community health counselors have graduated with a bachelor's degree and 22.9% of people in this position have earned their master's degrees. While most community health counselors have a college degree, you may find it's also true that generally it's possible to be successful in this career with only a high school degree. In fact, our research shows that one out of every nine community health counselors were not college graduates.
The community health counselors who went onto college to earn a more in-depth education generally studied psychology and social work, while a small population of community health counselors studied criminal justice and sociology.
How to become a Community Health Counselor in 5 steps:
- Step 1: Explore community health counselor education
- Step 2: Develop community health counselor skills
- Step 3: Complete relevent training/internship
- Step 4: Research community health counselor duties
- Step 5: Prepare your resume
Key Steps To Become a Community Health Counselor
Explore Community Health Counselor Education
If you're interested in becoming a community health counselor, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 60.9% of community health counselors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 22.9% of community health counselors have master's degrees. Even though most community health counselors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a community health counselor. When we researched the most common majors for a community health counselor, we found that they most commonly have psychology, social work and criminal justice.
Community Health Counselor Major Percentages Psychology 32.70% Social Work 12.10% Criminal Justice 7.90% Sociology 6.70% Other Degrees 40.40% Develop Community Health Counselor Skills
It'll be a good idea to develop community health counselor skills before applying for a job. Here are some skills commonly requested in community health counselor job descriptions:
Skills Percentages Social Work 19.04% Behavioral Health 16.87% Patients 16.55% Crisis Intervention 7.49% Rehabilitation 3.54% Complete Relevent Training/Internship
Community health counselors spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. During this time, new community health counselors learn the skills and techniques required for their specific job and employer. The chart below shows how much time it takes to gain competency as a community health counselor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real community health counselor resumes.
Average Amount Of Time At Training
Research Community Health Counselor Duties
When you decide to become a community health counselor, It's important to know what duties and responsibilities are required for this position. Some common responsibilities are a part of most community health counselor jobs. Here is a list of the main duties that define the role:
- Provide group and individual therapy along with social service coordination for patients in short term stabilization psychiatric unit.
- Train in medication administration, therapeutic holds and CPR.
- Maintain cleanliness of home provide assistance with cleaning rooms and common areas.
- Train in MNT, TCI, first aide and CPR with several other essential trainings.
- Complete insurance verification information for Medicaid participants.
- Maintain caseload paperwork in accordance with Georgia Medicaid requirements.
Prepare Your Resume
Finally, when you already have checked the skills and responsibilities for this role, you can start creating your resume. Everything that goes into creating a perfect resume can take hours, days, or even weeks. No worries, we created a resume builder to make this process as easy as possible with tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and a summary.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Community Health Counselor Resume templates
Build a professional Community Health 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 Community Health Counselor resume.Apply For a Community Health Counselor Job
Community Health Counselor Jobs
