Elementary school counselors are educators uniquely trained in child development, learning strategies, self-management and social skills, who understand and promote success for today's diverse students. They implement a school counseling program to support students through this important developmental period.
The tasks they perform include, but are not limited to, serving all the students at school and facilitating classroom lessons aligned with state standards. Moreover, they are in charge of organizing school-wide service learning projects and special events, consulting with parents and teachers on topics related to guidance, and teaching social skills and coping skills. Educational requirements include at least a bachelor's degree in education or a related field, but a master's degree will be given preference. Moreover, certain states also require licenses.
The average hourly salary for the position is $18.35, which amounts to $38,162 annually. The profession is expected to grow substantially in the near future, resulting in new opportunities emerging all over the United States.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an elementary school counselor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.35 an hour? That's $38,162 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 27,200 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many elementary school counselors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, compassion and interpersonal skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be an elementary school counselor, we found that a lot of resumes listed 9.5% of elementary school counselors included special education, while 7.9% of resumes included lesson plans, and 7.3% of resumes included classroom management. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the elementary school counselor job title. But what industry to start with? Most elementary school counselors actually find jobs in the education and non profits industries.
If you're interested in becoming an elementary school counselor, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 43.1% of elementary school counselors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 33.9% of elementary school counselors have master's degrees. Even though most elementary school 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 an elementary school counselor. When we researched the most common majors for an elementary school counselor, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on elementary school counselor resumes include high school diploma degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become an elementary school counselor. In fact, many elementary school counselor jobs require experience in a role such as teacher. Meanwhile, many elementary school counselors also have previous career experience in roles such as internship or volunteer.