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Probation counselor skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Benjamin Jeppsen,

Kacie Blalock Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical probation counselor skills. We ranked the top skills for probation counselors based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 15.4% of probation counselor resumes contained mental health as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a probation counselor needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 probation counselor skills for your resume and career

1. Mental Health

Mental health is the state of wellbeing in which an individual can cope with the regular stresses and tensions of life, and can work productively without having any emotional or psychological breakdown. Mental health is essential for a person of any age and helps them make the right decisions in their life.

Here's how probation counselors use mental health:

Utilize available psychological test results, psychiatric and other mental health assessments to identify and apply appropriate treatment practices.
Performed case management tasks in conjunction with the courts, mental health professionals and various law enforcement and government agencies.

2. Intake Interviews

Here's how probation counselors use intake interviews:

Conducted intake interviews and provided referrals for classes, treatment, and urinalysis tests.
Conduct intake interviews with clients sentenced to probation from the Hillsborough County Court system.

3. Substance Abuse Issues

Here's how probation counselors use substance abuse issues:

Counseled juveniles on alcohol and substance abuse issues, anger management, and domestic violence.

4. Court Orders

Here's how probation counselors use court orders:

Supervised minor's placed on a court ordered electronic monitoring program.
Documented and monitored completion of court order special conditions.

5. Residential Facility

Here's how probation counselors use residential facility:

Monitor the daily activities of teenage boys with behavioral/emotional difficulties living in a residential facility.
Coordinate the enforcement of policies and procedures designed for juveniles detained in a county residential facility.

6. Community Services

Community ѕеrvісе is аn unраіd activity in which аn individual оr grоuр еngаgеѕ tо bеnеfіt thе lосаl, nаtіоnаl оr glоbаl соmmunіtу. It іѕ also uѕеd as аn аltеrnаtіvе to imprisonment аnd іѕ intended tо connect offenders to the victim or society ѕо thаt they can undеrѕtаnd how their асtіоnѕ аffесt оthеrѕ.

Here's how probation counselors use community services:

Worked directly with social workers and the community services board to identify appropriate community facilities for clients assessed for transition.
Developed, coordinated and monitored community services sites of delinquent who were ordered to perform community services

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7. Juvenile Offenders

Here's how probation counselors use juvenile offenders:

Developed and facilitated specialized institutional programs to help juvenile offenders build social and educational skills.
Worked in a specialized role to develop alternative programs for juvenile offenders.

8. Law Enforcement Agencies

Here's how probation counselors use law enforcement agencies:

Coordinate efforts by various law enforcement agencies in investigating complaints of adults charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor .
Contribute to maintaining a working relationship with community resource providers, judicial personnel, and other law enforcement agencies.

9. Court Reports

Here's how probation counselors use court reports:

Prepared progress evaluation and court reports on residents
Provided counseling, training, fiscal planning, court reports and developed policies/procedures.

10. Community Resources

Community resources are a set of resources that are used in the day to day life of people which improves their lifestyle in some way. People, sites or houses, and population assistance can come under the services offered by community resources.

Here's how probation counselors use community resources:

Supervised probationers, made community resources available in order to help them meet the conditions of their probation.
Make referrals to proper community resources.

11. Community Agencies

Community agencies stand for the organizations operated to provide human service in the community.

Here's how probation counselors use community agencies:

Transported youth and their families to school, court, temporary placements or community agencies.
Refer probationers to community agencies that offer specialized services that are required for aparticular individual's needs.

12. Direct Care

Direct care is the act of identifying people with special needs and offering the necessary care for them.

Here's how probation counselors use direct care:

Provide direct caregiver supervision, including one-on-one supervision as necessary; schedule and help provide adequate coverage; approve overtime.
Provide substance abuse educational counseling services and mental health monitoring under direct care of psychiatrist via individual sessions.

13. Individual Sessions

Here's how probation counselors use individual sessions:

Conduct group and individual sessions with detainees to help ease their adjustment anxieties.
Provided individual sessions and group counseling within a therapeutic setting, collaborate and provided leadership to staff members to ensure cohesiveness

14. Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution is an often necessary skill in business, employed for processes such as contract negotiations, legal matters, and even personal, emotional situations and conflicts. It is the ability to find and create an appropriate and peaceful solution to some sort of dilemma or argument in which two or more parties are involved. The resolution itself must benefit and satisfy all parties and this is what makes it so difficult to reach a peaceful point sometimes.

Here's how probation counselors use conflict resolution:

Provide counseling services to separated or divorced couples per court order in need of conflict resolution, parenting skills.
Focused on intervention and conflict resolution within the unit.

15. Security Checks

A security check is the processing of manually or automatically checking if a person is armed before entering a building. It's also the checking of a perimeter to see if it's secure. It goes further into the investigation on the background of an individual before the person is employed in an organization to check if there's any criminal record of the person in the past.

Here's how probation counselors use security checks:

Perform security checks, wake-up and bedtime procedures, showering and hygiene functions, and unit housekeeping.
Perform health and security checks as residents sleep during the night.

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What skills help Probation Counselors find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on probation counselor resumes?

Dr. Benjamin Jeppsen

Associate Professor, Augustana University

In Mental Health Counseling, the ability to work with people from various cultural backgrounds is paramount. Training in multicultural psychology, diversity, and inclusion are all essential in our pluralistic society. I would also emphasize training in empirically supported treatments and a clear theoretical orientation grounded in scientific literature. Finally, the recent pandemic has accelerated the use of teletherapy and remote counseling--effectiveness in connecting with people through technology and making the most of an adapted model for therapy will be very important.

What soft skills should all probation counselors possess?

Kacie Blalock Ph.D.

Associate Professor; Director, Master of Counseling, Louisiana State University at Shreveport

Soft skills that are essential for counselors include emotional intelligence, empathy, multicultural competency, interpersonal abilities, and authenticity.

What hard/technical skills are most important for probation counselors?

Kacie Blalock Ph.D.

Associate Professor; Director, Master of Counseling, Louisiana State University at Shreveport

It is important that counselors are able to effectively take notes and summarize progress, interpret assessments, memorize and recall information, and keep clear yet concise records.

What probation counselor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Leigh Ann Tipton-Fisler, PhD, BCBA

Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of Specialist in School Psychology and Clinical/ Community Mental Health Graduate Programs, Western Illinois University

- The best I can give to graduates is to focus on taking small steps at first. Often the first year in the field can be exciting and overwhelming at the same time. The system we work in (the helping profession broadly) often has a lot of challenges, and new professionals want to re-envision a path for changes. This is tangible, but at first, it is important to understand the roles and functions in the workplace before flipping everything upside down. I suggest taking one small change at a time in an area that is important to you and build relationships and trust with your professional colleagues before overloading yourself with the new job and new goals.

What type of skills will young probation counselors need?

Chris Hennington Ph.D.

School Counseling Program Coordinator, Lubbock Christian University

School counselors will be tasked with the usual school counseling responsibilities while also encountering trauma that students experience outside of school and in school. Being well versed in trauma response is going to be a vital aspect of being a school counselor. Kids are experiencing more trauma, but we are getting better at recognizing and treating trauma as well.

What technical skills for a probation counselor stand out to employers?

Madeline Lee Ph.D.

Associate Professor, California State University San Marcos

There are technical skills that may stand out to employers, but as social workers, I think those technical skills together with "soft skills," can make an applicant really stand out to employers; social workers can combine their research skills with evidence-informed care and organizational quality improvement efforts, while being able to lead, build relationships, and think critically. In the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, our graduates will need to be able to fluidly navigate between employing telehealth methods to performing their work safely in-person when engaging and helping clients. To be effective, social workers will also need to understand the reverberating effects of the deep-seated roots of racism in our country and be willing to honestly confront and address those issues in whatever role they assume. Social workers are needed now more than ever.

Do you want to know more?

List of probation counselor skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a probation counselor resume and required skills for a probation counselor to have include:

Mental Health
Intake Interviews
Substance Abuse Issues
Court Orders
Residential Facility
Community Services
Juvenile Offenders
Law Enforcement Agencies
Court Reports
Community Resources
Community Agencies
Direct Care
Individual Sessions

Conflict Resolution
Security Checks
Anger Management
Physical Crisis Intervention
Domestic Violence
Behavioral Observations
Treatment Programs
DMV
Court Hearings
District Court
Rehabilitation Plans
Risk Assessments
Court Proceedings

Child Support
Role Model
Juvenile Court System
Court Dates
Criminal Behavior
CPR
Disciplinary Reports
Court Appearances
ADHD
County Court
Social Service Agencies

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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