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What does a Senior Counselor do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
Quoted Expert
Juleen Buser Ph.D.

The responsibilities of a senior counselor will depend on one's line of work or industry of employment. Most of the time, a senior counselor works with the youth, particularly children. They focus on facilitating recreational programs, ensuring a safe and fun experience for them. They may also assess the children's condition and needs, providing them with the necessary assistance and guidance. Furthermore, when a senior counselor must reach out to parents and guardians, they may inform them of any concerns or progress.

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Senior counselor responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior counselor resumes:

  • Manage team of IP professionals in patent, trademark and copyright protection matters.
  • Provide supervision and manage delinquent youthful offenders, in a secure residential correctional treatment facility.
  • Manage outside counsel in connection with merger/acquisition/business development activity, litigation matters, and the resolution of third party disputes.
  • Lead educational initiatives to patients such as education in safety, assertive communication, appropriate boundaries, personal hygiene and nutrition.
  • Manage the dispute resolution/litigation process; responding to and resolving threaten litigation; responding to subpoenas and regulatory inquiries and investigations.
  • Assist with ADL's, teaching/mentoring, advocating and community integration.
  • Assist consumer's with ADL's.
  • Take children to cabins, mess hall, health center, pool, bible study etc.
  • Supervise daily group bible study.
  • Adhere to HIPAA rules and regulations.
  • Tutor children in mathematics, reading and writing.
  • Plan and run activities with other jr counselors.
  • Maintain and ensure cleanliness of areas to uphold USPH and Disney standards.
  • Provide regular written and live updates on legal developments and conduct annual HIPAA training.
  • Designate as primary speaker at executive meetings with Directors/Deputies of the FDIC and outside agencies.

Senior counselor skills and personality traits

We calculated that 10% of Senior Counselors are proficient in Litigation, Legal Advice, and Legal Issues. They’re also known for soft skills such as Leadership skills, Physical strength, and Communication skills.

We break down the percentage of Senior Counselors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Litigation, 10%

    Supervised outside counsel and assisted in drafting litigation documents and in preparing witnesses and experts for depositions and hearings.

  • Legal Advice, 10%

    Provide legal advice and guidance to senior management and Market Regulation staff concerning a wide-range of securities-related and investigative issues.

  • Legal Issues, 7%

    Litigated in state and federal courts, prevailing in precedent-setting appellate cases involving intricate record preparation and complex legal issues.

  • Patients, 6%

    Led educational initiatives to patients such as education in safety, assertive communication, appropriate boundaries, personal hygiene and nutrition.

  • Legal Support, 5%

    Managed medical malpractice litigation, labor, employment and worker's compensation litigation and provide legal support to Human Resources professionals.

  • Intellectual Property, 5%

    Managed litigation against founder and CEO to ensure company maintained operations and protected its intellectual property from claims by American-based competitors.

"litigation," "legal advice," and "legal issues" are among the most common skills that senior counselors use at work. You can find even more senior counselor responsibilities below, including:

Leadership skills. One of the key soft skills for a senior counselor to have is leadership skills. You can see how this relates to what senior counselors do because "recreation workers should be able to lead both large and small groups." Additionally, a senior counselor resume shows how senior counselors use leadership skills: "trained on litigation techniques, witness interviews, cross and direct examinations, leadership, budgeting, and contract interpretation. "

Physical strength. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling senior counselor duties is physical strength. The role rewards competence in this skill because "most recreation workers should be physically fit." According to a senior counselor resume, here's how senior counselors can utilize physical strength in their job responsibilities: "implemented therapeutic and crisis intervention via passive physical restraint techniques per agency guidelines. "

Communication skills. This is an important skill for senior counselors to perform their duties. For an example of how senior counselor responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "recreation workers must be able to communicate well." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a senior counselor: "mitigate litigation risk by training employees on use of email and other communications. ".

Problem-solving skills. A big part of what senior counselors do relies on "problem-solving skills." You can see how essential it is to senior counselor responsibilities because "recreation workers need strong problem-solving skills." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical senior counselor tasks: "managed outside counsel in connection with merger/acquisition/business development activity, litigation matters, and the resolution of third party disputes. "

All senior counselor skills

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Compare different senior counselors

Senior counselor vs. Program lead

A program lead is responsible for managing a business program's operation from its conceptualization to implementation. Program leads must have excellent communication and researching skills to monitor current industry trends, adjusting program techniques and strategies to meet society's demands. They have a clear understanding of the organization's long-term goals and outline plans to define those objectives, bringing new programs to light following clients' specifications that would help the business grow revenues, maintain customer satisfaction, and keep its good reputation, and achieve profitability goals.

We looked at the average senior counselor salary and compared it with the wages of a program lead. Generally speaking, program leads are paid $26,678 lower than senior counselors per year.Even though senior counselors and program leads are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require excellent interpersonal, patients, and customer service in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a senior counselor are more likely to require skills like "litigation," "legal advice," "legal issues," and "legal support." On the other hand, a job as a program lead requires skills like "project management," "hr," "work ethic," and "customer satisfaction." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Program leads tend to reach similar levels of education than senior counselors. In fact, program leads are 1.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 16.8% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Senior counselor vs. Activities director

An activities director is responsible for planning engaging events for the participants, considering individual interests and the safety of procedures and resources. Activities directors guide the activity staff on assisting the participants, ensuring that they are comfortable with joining the activities. Since most activities directors work at a healthcare facility or elderly institution, they must also monitor the health of the participants by conducting therapeutic activities and evaluate the participants' progress for every program. The activities director must be a critical-thinker, as well as have excellent communication skills to coordinate with facilities personnel for successful activity completion.

A career as a activities director brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a senior counselor. In fact, activities directors salary is $82,423 lower than the salary of senior counselors per year.A few skills overlap for senior counselors and activities directors. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "patients," "customer service," and "cpr. "

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that senior counselor responsibilities requires skills like "litigation," "legal advice," "legal issues," and "excellent interpersonal." But an activities director might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "rehabilitation," "resident care," "home health," and "mds."

Average education levels between the two professions vary. Activities directors tend to reach lower levels of education than senior counselors. In fact, they're 5.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 16.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Senior Counselors in the next 3-5 years?

Juleen Buser Ph.D.

Professor and Director, School Counseling and Coaching Programs, Rider University

I believe the methods of distance-based services will be more relevant and prevalent. Remote counseling services have been growing in the field for some time, but I would expect the pandemic and the shift for remote counseling during this time will lead to even higher use of such modalities in the future.

Senior counselor vs. Recreation leader

The primary role of recreation leaders is to encourage recreational and sporting activities in various settings such as schools, parks, and youth centers. Their job requires them to motivate others to work as a team member while also promoting good morals and sportsmanship. They develop recreational and sports programs best suited for their company's client base. Other duties also include advertising the availability of recreational activities, securing funding for special events and projects, and adhering to safety practices.

On average scale, recreation leaders bring in lower salaries than senior counselors. In fact, they earn a $97,365 lower salary per year.senior counselors and recreation leaders both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "customer service," "leadership," and "cpr," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a senior counselor is likely to be skilled in "litigation," "legal advice," "legal issues," and "excellent interpersonal," while a typical recreation leader is skilled in "recreation programs," "recreational facilities," "youth sports," and "homework assistance."

Recreation leaders typically earn lower educational levels compared to senior counselors. Specifically, they're 8.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 17.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Senior counselor vs. Recreation assistant

A recreational assistant is responsible for performing administrative support tasks while under the supervision of a recreational manager. Their duties revolve around planning various activities that align with the company's vision and mission, such as sporting events and other fun games. They also participate in arranging equipment and supplies such as tables and stages, facilitating programs, securing necessary permits and documentation, responding to calls and inquiries, and assisting participants. Furthermore, it is essential to coordinate with all workers and adhere to company policies and regulations.

Recreation assistants tend to earn a lower pay than senior counselors by an average of $96,365 per year.While both senior counselors and recreation assistants complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like patients, customer service, and leadership, the two careers vary in some skills.Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A senior counselor uses "litigation," "legal advice," "legal issues," and "excellent interpersonal." Recreation assistants are more likely to have duties that require skills in "mds," "recreation programs," "rehabilitation," and "compassion. "The average resume of recreation assistants showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to senior counselors. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 8.0% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 17.9%.

Types of senior counselor

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
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.

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