What Does a Senior Counselor Do?

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.

Take a few minutes to create or upgrade your resume. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Senior Counselor resume.

Senior Counselor Responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior counselor resumes representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.

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 Job Description

When it comes to understanding what a senior counselor does, you may be wondering, "should I become a senior counselor?" The data included in this section may help you decide. Compared to other jobs, senior counselors have a growth rate described as "faster than average" at 8% between the years 2018 - 2028, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In fact, the number of senior counselor opportunities that are predicted to open up by 2028 is 33,800.

A senior counselor annual salary averages $127,405, which breaks down to $61.25 an hour. However, senior counselors can earn anywhere from upwards of $81,000 to $200,000 a year. This means that the top-earning senior counselors make $115,000 more than the lowest-earning ones.

As is the case with most jobs, it takes work to become a senior counselor. Sometimes people change their minds about their career after working in the profession. That's why we looked into some other professions that might help you find your next opportunity. These professions include a program lead, activities director, recreation leader, and recreation assistant.

Learn More About Senior Counselor Job Descriptions

Find Better Talent in Less Time

Post a Job on Zippia and take the best from over 7 million monthly job seekers.

Senior Counselor Jobs You Might Like

12 Senior Counselor Resume Examples

Build a professional senior counselor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 12+ resume templates to create your senior counselor resume.


Victoria Lewis Senior Counselor Contact Information Clinton, MI (210) 555-2919 vlewis@example.com Skills Direct Support Positive Attitude Business Units Medical Facilities Substance Abuse Patient Care Client Intake Group Facilitation Health Care Direct Supervision Employment History Senior Counselor 2017 - Present Oakland University Clinton, MI Supervised and managed U.S. and international intellectual property portfolio. Develop treatment plans and implement treatment for a caseload up to 30 residents based on assessments. Substance Abuse Counselor 2014 - 2017 Macomb County Clinton, MI Provided counseling services including intake, crisis intervention, assessment, individual and group counseling. Provided case management and therapy to children and their families Provided mental health support services to adults Developed treatment plans and therapeutic goals in collaboration with clients and updated as indicated. Mental Health Technician 2013 - 2014 The Judge Rotenberg Center Canton, MA Monitor weight, temperatures, and blood pressures. Worked as direct staff serving adolescents with dual diagnosis in mental health and substance abuse. Worked on one to one basis with clients who suffered from mental health issues. Provided direct patient care to adults hospitalized for addictive disease disorders or related substance abuse or chemical dependency problems. Mental Health Worker 2012 - 2013 Delta-T Group Chicago, IL Conducted client mental health assessments during intake process to capture emotional needs, mental health history, and community resource needs. Work with individuals and groups to promote optimum mental health. Publish mobile maps using ArcMobile to support field data collection. Design treatment plans, file, and evaluate progress. Organize and conduct Drug Education Courses for non-residential/follow-up drug abuse treatment under the supervision of a DAP coordinator/Psychologist. Education Bachelor's Degree Law 2009 - 2012 DePaul University Chicago, IL


Kyle Gonzalez Senior Counselor Contact Info Trenton, NJ (430) 555-9576 kgonzalez@example.com Skills DBTDaily Living ActivitiesMental HealthSafety ChecksAnticipatory GriefDomestic ViolenceIndependent LivingBroad RangePatient CareEmotional Factors Employment History Senior Counselor 2017 - Present Boys & Girls Clubs of America Trenton, NJ Managed litigation budgets, audit letter reporting, and risk management. Served as Indiana Coal Council Secretary and represented company in significant statewide regulatory issues. Lead a group of 9-to-10-year-olds through daily activities. Provided guidance and counsel for adolescent, female, dual-diagnosis clientele, in a group setting. Social Worker 2014 - 2017 The Jewish Board New York, NY Devised comprehensive treatment plans, assessments, biopsychosocials and UCR's. Developed individualized treatment plans, monitored progress, and conducted quarterly treatment plan reviews. Complied with Association policy regarding required reporting of child abuse, elder abuse, suicide and homicide as requested. Conducted home visits, implemented behavior plans, completed psychosocial assessments, provided academic tutoring and supportive counseling. Mental Health Counselor 2009 - 2014 Private Practice New York, NY Collaborated with external social services agencies and acted as liaison to hospitals, mental health facilities, inpatient/outpatient programs and schools. Counseled adult men suffering from substance abuse disorders with co-occurring mental illness disorders. Mental Health Worker 2007 - 2009 Highland Family Medicine Rochester, NY Develop treatment plans and provide supportive counseling daily to individuals in crisis situations. Give support and care to mentally ill, emotionally disturbed, developmentally disabled, and substance abuse adults and minors. Coordinated and authorized mental health benefits based on contract specifications with third-party insurers. Education Master's Degree Law 2006 - 2007 Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School Lansing, MI Bachelor's Degree Law 2003 - 2006 Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School Lansing, MI


Edward Butler Senior Counselor New York, NY (750) 555-8370 ebutler@example.com Experience Senior Counselor2020 - Present The Legal Aid Society•New York, NY Received certification in areas such as Fire Safety, First Aid/CPR, Blood Borne Pathogens Training and Therapeutic Crisis Interventions. Lead groups, met with clients for one on one counseling to update treatment plans. Assisted with development and implementation of treatment plans for troubled youths, ranging 13-17 years of age. Attorney2013 - 2020 The Legal Aid Society•New York, NY Argue pre-trial motions/issues at evidentiary hearings. Reviewed documentation regarding compliance with Federal and state mortgage modification programs including QC and Privilege 2nd level review Participated in the formulation, execution and interpretation of public policy. Instructor2009 - 2013 NASSAU COMMUNITY COLLEGE•New York, NY Provided classroom instruction on various course topics. Developed online courses and courses for new Master's Program for the department. Used a variety of office programs including the entire Microsoft office suite, Word, PowerPoint and Excel. Led classes of varying ages in a variety of martial arts Handle product and equipment orders for the academy Teach children and adults basic knowledge on MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows. Summer Camp Counselor2006 - 2008 YMCA of Greater Indianapolis•Indianapolis, IN Created fun enriching and appropriate lesson plans for children of all age groups. Created daily activities, sporting events and games to measure clients social interactions. Use positive verbal and non-verbal communication with children to build trusting and stable relationships. Skills CPRTopicsCamper SafetyDaily ActivitiesInstructional MaterialsHuman ResourcesChild CareDiscovery ResponsesBodily InjuryCriminal Cases Education Master's Degree Social Work2008 - 2009 New York University•New York, NY Bachelor's Degree Psychology2003 - 2006 University of Central Florida•Orlando, FL

Create My Resume

Build a professional resume in minutes using this template.

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.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Senior Counselor Resume templates

Build a professional Senior Counselor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Senior Counselor resume.

"litigation," "legal advice," and "legal issues" aren't the only skills we found senior counselors list on their resumes. In fact, there's a whole list of senior counselor responsibilities that we found, including:

Arguably the most important personality trait for a senior counselor to have happens to be leadership skills. An example from a resume said this about the skill, "recreation workers should be able to lead both large and small groups" Additionally, other resumes have pointed out that senior counselors can use leadership skills to "trained on litigation techniques, witness interviews, cross and direct examinations, leadership, budgeting, and contract interpretation. "

Another trait important for fulfilling senior counselor duties is physical strength. According to a senior counselor resume, "most recreation workers should be physically fit." Here's an example of how senior counselors are able to utilize physical strength: "implemented therapeutic and crisis intervention via passive physical restraint techniques per agency guidelines. "

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

A thorough review of lots of resumes revealed to us that "problem-solving skills" is important to completing senior counselor responsibilities. This resume example shows just one way senior counselors use this skill: "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. "

See the full list of senior counselor skills.

Before becoming a senior counselor, 55.6% earned their bachelor's degree. When it comes down to graduating with a master's degree, 12.9% senior counselors went for the extra education. If you're wanting to pursue this career, it may be possible to be successful with a high school degree. In fact, most senior counselors have a college degree. But about one out of every nine senior counselors didn't attend college at all.

The senior counselors who went onto college to earn a more in-depth education generally studied law and psychology, while a small population of senior counselors studied business and political science.

Once you're ready to become a senior counselor, you should explore the companies that typically hire senior counselors. According to senior counselor resumes that we searched through, senior counselors are hired the most by ZOOM+Care, Accenture, and Humana. Currently, ZOOM+Care has 275 senior counselor job openings, while there are 68 at Accenture and 54 at Humana.

Since salary is important to some senior counselors, it's good to note that they are figured to earn the highest salaries at Crowell & Moring, Netflix, and Google. If you were to take a closer look at Crowell & Moring, you'd find that the average senior counselor salary is $198,376. Then at Netflix, senior counselors receive an average salary of $191,108, while the salary at Google is $188,673.

View more details on senior counselor salaries across the United States.

We also looked into companies who hire senior counselors from the top 100 educational institutions in the U.S. The top three companies that hire the most from these institutions include CampCo, Ymca, and Private Practice.

The three companies that hire the most prestigious senior counselors are:

Build a professional resume in minutes.

Our AI resume builder helps you write a compelling and relevant resume for the jobs you want. See 10+ resume templates and create your resume here.

Don't Have A Professional Resume?

What Program Leads Do

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 annual salary and compared it with the average of a program lead. Generally speaking, program leads receive $26,678 lower pay than senior counselors per year.

Even though senior counselors and program leads have vast differences in their careers, a few of the skills required to do both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require excellent interpersonal, patients, and customer service in the day-to-day roles.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A senior counselor responsibility is more likely to require skills like "litigation," "legal advice," "legal issues," and "legal support." Whereas a program lead requires skills like "project management," "hr," "work ethic," and "customer satisfaction." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.

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.

What Are The Duties Of an 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.

Next up, we have the activities director profession to look over. This career brings along a lower average salary when compared to a senior counselor annual salary. In fact, activities directors salary difference is $82,423 lower than the salary of senior counselors per year.

A similarity between the two careers of senior counselors and activities directors are a few of the skills associated with both roles. We used resumes from both professions to find that both use skills like "patients," "customer service," and "cpr. "

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

When it comes to the differences in education between the two professions, 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.

How a Recreation Leader Compares

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.

The third profession we take a look at is recreation leader. On an average scale, these workers bring in lower salaries than senior counselors. In fact, they make a $97,365 lower salary per year.

While looking through the resumes of several senior counselors and recreation leaders we discovered that both professions have similar skills. 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 as shown by resumes from each profession. Some of those differences include the skills required to complete responsibilities within each role. As an example of this, 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 are known to earn lower educational levels when compared to senior counselors. Additionally, they're 8.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 17.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Description Of a 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 about $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 also vary in other skills.

Each job requires different skills like "litigation," "legal advice," "legal issues," and "excellent interpersonal," which might show up on a senior counselor resume. Whereas recreation assistant might include skills like "mds," "recreation programs," "rehabilitation," and "compassion."

The average resume of recreation assistants showed that they earn lower levels of education to senior counselors. So much so that the likelihood of them earning a Master's Degree is 8.0% less. Additionally, they're less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 17.9%.

Updated October 2, 2020