Employment counselors assist people in making career decisions. They help groups or individuals assess their education, work experience, affinities, skills, and personal interests to guide their clients towards the right professional path.
Working as an employment counselor, you will conduct tests and surveys with your clients to explore personality traits, hidden talents, and skills. Through these assessments, you will help your clients better understand their needs and options and take steps towards finding job placements.
You might also be expected to help out with practical aspects of the job search, connecting your clients to agencies or helping them sort out job offers. A degree in psychology is often expected of candidates for this position, as you will have to deal with nuances of various personalities. Experience on the job is also valued, although usually on-the-job training is provided upon hire.
What is an Employment Counselor?
What Does an Employment Counselor Do
There are certain skills that many employment 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, listening skills and speaking skills.
How To Become an Employment Counselor
If you're interested in becoming an employment counselor, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 66.7% of employment counselors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 12.9% of employment counselors have master's degrees. Even though most employment counselors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Employment 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 case manager you might progress to a role such as program manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title director of human resources.
Average Salary for an Employment Counselor
What Am I Worth?
States With The Most Employment Counselor Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active employment counselor jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where employment counselors earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Employment Counselor Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 1,217 | $72,654 |
| 2 | New York | 880 | $59,213 |
| 3 | Florida | 783 | $45,387 |
| 4 | Pennsylvania | 682 | $59,373 |
| 5 | Texas | 611 | $48,367 |
| 6 | Illinois | 485 | $40,718 |
| 7 | Georgia | 396 | $43,193 |
| 8 | New Jersey | 372 | $60,900 |
| 9 | Washington | 326 | $58,698 |
| 10 | Massachusetts | 321 | $55,103 |
| 11 | Arizona | 315 | $41,979 |
| 12 | Virginia | 303 | $56,213 |
| 13 | Maryland | 282 | $55,553 |
| 14 | Ohio | 256 | $42,948 |
| 15 | North Carolina | 250 | $45,326 |
| 16 | Colorado | 249 | $43,482 |
| 17 | Minnesota | 247 | $40,954 |
| 18 | Michigan | 246 | $42,876 |
| 19 | Connecticut | 237 | $59,159 |
| 20 | Tennessee | 201 | $38,675 |
| 21 | Indiana | 191 | $38,121 |
| 22 | South Carolina | 180 | $36,606 |
| 23 | Oregon | 160 | $56,420 |
| 24 | Wisconsin | 157 | $40,208 |
| 25 | Louisiana | 149 | $43,562 |
| 26 | Missouri | 144 | $38,818 |
| 27 | Iowa | 139 | $35,005 |
| 28 | Alabama | 109 | $36,279 |
| 29 | Kentucky | 99 | $34,514 |
| 30 | Nevada | 83 | $56,776 |
| 31 | Montana | 78 | $37,718 |
| 32 | Arkansas | 77 | $42,635 |
| 33 | Oklahoma | 76 | $33,470 |
| 34 | New Mexico | 71 | $46,323 |
| 35 | Kansas | 71 | $38,397 |
| 36 | Utah | 68 | $44,898 |
| 37 | Idaho | 67 | $42,677 |
| 38 | Delaware | 63 | $52,881 |
| 39 | New Hampshire | 62 | $45,212 |
| 40 | Maine | 60 | $34,948 |
| 41 | Nebraska | 57 | $39,941 |
| 42 | Mississippi | 50 | $40,450 |
| 43 | Alaska | 43 | $59,382 |
| 44 | North Dakota | 42 | $40,368 |
| 45 | Hawaii | 38 | $43,941 |
| 46 | West Virginia | 38 | $30,584 |
| 47 | Rhode Island | 36 | $55,664 |
| 48 | Wyoming | 32 | $42,164 |
| 49 | South Dakota | 30 | $29,502 |
| 50 | Vermont | 29 | $44,931 |
Top Colleges for Employment Counselors
1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
2. New York University
New York, NY • Private
3. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
4. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
5. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
6. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
7. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
8. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
9. Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO • Private
10. Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA • Private
Top Skills For an Employment 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, 16.3% of employment counselors listed litigation on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and listening skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Employment Counselor Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Employment Counselor templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Employment Counselor resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Employment Counselor Demographics
Employment Counselor Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among employment counselors, 62.9% of them are women, while 37.1% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among employment counselors is White, which makes up 69.8% of all employment counselors.
- The most common foreign language among employment counselors is Spanish at 56.8%.
Work Experience Programs For Employment Counselors
Virtual work experience programs replicate work at top companies and help you gain the skills to be successful when applying and working there. In only a few hours, learn the relevant tools necessary to complete a typical work day at that company. Virtual work experience programs are 100% free, open-access, and self-paced. No experience or application is required!
Company: Accenture UK
Cost: Free
Duration: 5.75-8 hours
Company: JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Cost: Free
Duration: 4.25-5.75 hours
Company: Standard Bank
Cost: Free
Duration: 4.5-5.5 hours
Company: Standard Bank
Cost: Free
Duration: 4.5-5.5 hours
Company: NSW Government Virtual Program
Cost: Free
Duration: 1-2 hours
Company: Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine
Cost: Free
Duration: 5-6 hours
Company: ANZ Australia
Cost: Free
Duration: 2-3 hours
Online Courses For Employment Counselor That You May Like
The employment relationship is one of the foundations upon which modern society and the greater economy is built, but the nature of this relationship can be both complex and confusing. This course seeks to demystify the ways that U.S. contract law principles govern the fundamental relationship between employers and employees. We begin by examining the default rule of at-will employment that applies to most U.S. employment relationships, and we then consider the necessary elements required to...
This course aims to help high school students, recent graduates, and those considering career transitions explore health care career options and learn strategies for entry into the health care workforce and health related fields. There are lots of amazing job opportunities in medicine and healthcare! Join us, as we share the strategies and secrets for getting those jobs. This course will introduce you to healthcare professions, help you map a path towards a health career, and impart skills...
Interviewing Skills - How to ace any job interview-Excel in all Job Interviewing skills...
Best States For an Employment Counselor
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an employment counselor. The best states for people in this position are California, New Jersey, Alaska, and Pennsylvania. Employment counselors make the most in California with an average salary of $72,654. Whereas in New Jersey and Alaska, they would average $60,900 and $59,382, respectively. While employment counselors would only make an average of $59,373 in Pennsylvania, 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. Pennsylvania
$59,373
Avg. Salary
2. Connecticut
$59,159
Avg. Salary
3. District of Columbia
$65,617
Avg. Salary
How Do Employment Counselor Rate Their Jobs?
Top Employment Counselor Employers
Most Common Employers For Employment Counselor
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Medical Center | $63,416 | $30.49 | 7 |
| 2 | Interfaith of The Woodlands | $53,359 | $25.65 | 10 |
| 3 | Hired | $44,091 | $21.20 | 23 |
| 4 | State Bar of Michigan | $43,972 | $21.14 | 6 |
| 5 | Catholic Charities Health and Human Services | $43,744 | $21.03 | 7 |
| 6 | Jawonio | $43,286 | $20.81 | 7 |
| 7 | Snelling | $43,194 | $20.77 | 17 |
| 8 | Texas | $41,162 | $19.79 | 28 |
| 9 | Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County | $40,822 | $19.63 | 4 |
| 10 | Westhab | $40,334 | $19.39 | 5 |
Employment Counselor Videos
