Employment counselor vs clinician

The differences between employment counselors and clinicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a clinician has an average salary of $60,150, which is higher than the $43,848 average annual salary of an employment counselor.

The top three skills for an employment counselor include litigation, employment law and HR. The most important skills for a clinician are social work, patients, and patient care.

Employment counselor vs clinician overview

	Employment Counselor	Clinician
Yearly salary	$43,848	$60,150
Hourly rate	$21.08	$28.92
Growth rate	10%	9%
Number of jobs	29,459	105,023
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Average age	42	45
Years of experience	-	4

What does an employment counselor do?

The employment counselor is someone who guides and advises people on how to choose, manage and continue in a career path they've chosen. The employment counselor educates people on each career's pros and cons, giving them insights into what to expect, salary rates, and employment chances in a particular profession. The employment counselor will also show how to excel in a specific career, offer ideas on what training or seminar to attend and what skills to enhance to achieve an edge over others.

What does a clinician do?

A clinician specializes in providing diagnosis, treatment, and direct care to patients with different illnesses. A clinician's duties mainly revolve around conducting extensive research and analysis, providing medical care through various therapies, and improving one's overall health condition. Furthermore, a clinician must obtain and analyze a patient's complete medical history, provide diagnostic tests, always monitor the effects of treatment on a patient, provide prognosis and consider the overall impact on a patient's health and well-being.

Employment counselor vs clinician salary

Employment counselors and clinicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Employment Counselor	Clinician
Average salary	$43,848	$60,150
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $71,000	Between $34,000 And $103,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	Nevada
Best paying company	Apple	Pace University
Best paying industry	Professional	-

Differences between employment counselor and clinician education

There are a few differences between an employment counselor and a clinician in terms of educational background:

	Employment Counselor	Clinician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Psychology	Psychology
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	California State University - Long Beach

Employment counselor vs clinician demographics

Here are the differences between employment counselors' and clinicians' demographics:

	Employment Counselor	Clinician
Average age	42	45
Gender ratio	Male, 37.1% Female, 62.9%	Male, 24.3% Female, 75.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 3.7% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 3.1% White, 74.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	11%	15%

Differences between employment counselor and clinician duties and responsibilities

Employment counselor example responsibilities.

Complete reports, manage client files and process WIA billing invoices for tuition and supplies.
Manage a caseload of Calworks participants in working towards the goal of self-sufficiency and employment.
Monitor caseworkers to ensure rehabilitation services are properly coordinate to aid clients in achieving self-sufficiency.
Source, develop, and implement HRIS systems.
Provide case management to TANF recipients that move clients to employment.
Document in accordance with JCAHO, Medicaid, and all quality improvement standards.

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Clinician example responsibilities.

Perform thorough substance abuse assessments incorporating instruments such as ASAM, SASSI and urine drug screens; provide individual therapy.
Spearhead the development of rehabilitation programs serving adults with chemical dependency and mental health diagnoses with the manager.
Follow all ethical CARF standards when treating the residential client.
Facilitate stabilization, assessment, care and compassion for those in critical need.
Provide CBT and motivational interviewing for individual and group therapy to clients' who are on methadone.
Used motivational interviewing to lead recovery and therapy groups for IOP and PHP programs in the evenings and on weekends.

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Employment counselor vs clinician skills

Common employment counselor skills

Litigation, 16%
Employment Law, 14%
HR, 10%
Employment Litigation, 6%
FLSA, 5%
Training Programs, 4%

Common clinician skills

Social Work, 26%
Patients, 14%
Patient Care, 4%
Individual Therapy, 4%
Mental Health, 4%
Mental Illness, 3%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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