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.
Elementary School Counselor Overview
Working as an Elementary School Counselor
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.
What Does an Elementary School Counselor Do
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.
How To Become an Elementary School Counselor
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.
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Elementary School Counselor Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of school counselor you might progress to a role such as therapist eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title case manager.
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Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for an Elementary School Counselor
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Varsity Tutors Elementary School Tutor Elementary School Tutor | Varsity Tutors Varsity Tutors | 01/31/2021 01/31/2021 | $31,30501/31/2021 $31,305 |
Varsity Tutors Elementary School Tutor Elementary School Tutor | Varsity Tutors Varsity Tutors | 01/31/2021 01/31/2021 | $31,30501/31/2021 $31,305 |
Varsity Tutors Elementary School Tutor Elementary School Tutor | Varsity Tutors Varsity Tutors | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $31,30501/30/2021 $31,305 |
Varsity Tutors Elementary School Tutor Elementary School Tutor | Varsity Tutors Varsity Tutors | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $31,30501/30/2021 $31,305 |
Varsity Tutors Elementary School Tutor Elementary School Tutor | Varsity Tutors Varsity Tutors | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $31,30501/30/2021 $31,305 |
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Elementary School Counselor Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming an Elementary School Counselor. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write an Elementary School Counselor Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Elementary School Counselor resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for Elementary School Counselors
1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
2. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Public
3. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
4. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
5. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
6. New York University
New York, NY • Private
7. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Public
8. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
9. University of Maryland - College Park
College Park, MD • Public
10. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
Top Skills For an Elementary School Counselor
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 9.5% of elementary school counselors listed special education on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and compassion are important as well.
- Special Education, 9.5%
- Lesson Plans, 7.9%
- Classroom Management, 7.3%
- Professional Development, 7.1%
- Crisis Intervention, 5.9%
- Other Skills, 62.3% See All Elementary School Counselor Skills
Best States For an Elementary School Counselor
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an elementary school counselor. The best states for people in this position are Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, and Connecticut. Elementary school counselors make the most in Massachusetts with an average salary of $56,108. Whereas in New York and Virginia, they would average $52,216 and $48,903, respectively. While elementary school counselors would only make an average of $47,788 in Connecticut, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Massachusetts
$56,109
Avg. Salary
2. New Jersey
$47,740
Avg. Salary
3. New York
$52,217
Avg. Salary