What is a Service Counselor?

A Service Counselor is responsible for counseling couples, families, and individuals seeking help in overcoming or managing emotional or mental difficulties and issues. To do their job well, they must listen to their patients very carefully and should engage in detailed conversations and interviews with them. They should also use testing and examinations to further understand their patients' issues.

The Counselor must also eventually diagnose the patient once they have understood them well enough, work with them, and further communicate with their patients to help them alleviate symptoms and manage conditions. This includes teaching them appropriate coping mechanisms and usually involves quite a bit of explanation in terms of their disorders.

A person seeking work as a Service Counselor generally needs to have a Bachelor's degree in Psychology or Social Work and may need to have previous experience in this or a similar role. They should have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and should be able to empathize with patients, and should keep up with the latest research in psychology. The Service Counsel earns on average $16.61 an hour.

What Does a Service Counselor Do

There are certain skills that many service 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 communication skills, problem-solving skills and time-management skills.

Learn more about what a Service Counselor does

How To Become a Service Counselor

If you're interested in becoming a service counselor, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 58.6% of service counselors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 15.0% of service counselors have master's degrees. Even though most service counselors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Service Counselor

Top Service Counselor Jobs Near You

Service 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 social worker you might progress to a role such as therapist eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title case manager.

Average Salary for a Service Counselor

Service Counselors in America make an average salary of $35,402 per year or $17 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $51,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $24,000 per year.

Average Service Counselor Salary

$35,402 Yearly

$17.02 hourly

$24,00010%

$35,000Median

$51,00090%

See More Salary Information

What Am I Worth?

Roles and Types of Service Counselor

The role of a service counselor includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general service counselor responsibilities:

Key parts to the job role): advising in relation to: o global payment
Provide academic, vocational, career and personal counseling for prospective, new
Directly supervise and fully manage the local office docket staff

There are several types of service counselor, including:

Counselor

Role:

While there are several different types of counselors, in general they spend their time helping people overcome and understand specific problems. Although, not every counselor is going to have a couch, as depicted by TV, most do work in private office settings.

The scope of the types of counselors seems to be never-ending. From school counselors to family and marriage counselors, and even mental health counselors, people who go into this field have a range of what area they want to focus on.

Average Salary: $36,225
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Social Worker

Role:

I'm sure you've heard that social work is hard. That's all anyone has to say about it. But what exactly does that mean? As a social worker, your day will consist of provide counseling services, performing administrative duties, taking time to interview potential clients, and meeting with lawyers. This is where the hard part comes into play.

A big part of a social worker's role is to provide assistance to people who are facing challenges in their life. Social workers try to improve their wellbeing and make sure they are being treated fairly. It's the situations that you'll find yourself helping that are the tough parts. From family violence to homelessness, this job isn't protected against some sad stories.

In fact, many social workers say the hardest part of the job is seeing how cruel people can be toward each other, especially families. You never want to see a kid take the brunt of a fight between two adults, but it happens more than you know. That's the kind of sad reality you might find yourself in as a social worker. There needs to be more people like you in the world.

Average Salary: $50,102
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Service Coordinator

Role:

Service coordinators work in a number of different areas. Whether it is retail, marketing, or real estate, their job is to manage the work of customer care teams. Essentially, it is up to them to make or break a company's good reputation.

As a successful service coordinator, know what your company wants, and you know how to communicate it. Frustrated clients cannot get to you. You are organized, creative, and analytical. You are a team player and yet independent. You multitask and all the while you stay friendly and professional. You are the whole package, you are a leader.

This is a handsomely paid position averaging around $40,000 a year, but at its zenith, it can even reach $100,000 a year, if you become an expert in the field and land a job at the most high-profile companies.

Average Salary: $40,792
Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Service Counselor Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active service counselor jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where service counselors earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Service Counselor Jobs By State

Rank	State	Number of Jobs	Average Salary
1	California	4,033	$51,073
2	New York	2,122	$36,329
3	Texas	1,998	$36,724
4	Florida	1,981	$32,321
5	Massachusetts	1,960	$39,225
6	Pennsylvania	1,814	$34,177
7	Illinois	1,470	$34,736
8	Washington	1,134	$40,926
9	New Jersey	1,127	$42,284
10	Maryland	1,068	$32,012
11	Georgia	1,001	$32,487
12	Ohio	970	$35,046
13	Virginia	935	$33,442
14	Michigan	923	$27,712
15	Minnesota	873	$35,174
16	Arizona	759	$36,290
17	North Carolina	711	$32,615
18	Colorado	695	$35,056
19	Indiana	627	$32,053
20	Tennessee	539	$28,858
21	South Carolina	520	$28,981
22	Missouri	513	$31,583
23	Oregon	506	$37,121
24	Connecticut	489	$39,137
25	Wisconsin	487	$35,736
26	Iowa	383	$37,734
27	Louisiana	336	$30,524
28	Oklahoma	294	$37,481
29	Utah	288	$36,195
30	Kentucky	277	$29,674
31	Arkansas	275	$35,836
32	Alabama	269	$28,392
33	Maine	251	$40,713
34	Nebraska	241	$27,883
35	Kansas	236	$35,791
36	New Mexico	220	$42,359
37	Nevada	209	$40,260
38	Mississippi	200	$35,067
39	Idaho	177	$29,954
40	New Hampshire	170	$39,613
41	Montana	163	$33,349
42	Alaska	155	$45,443
43	Rhode Island	133	$30,696
44	Hawaii	126	$53,690
45	Delaware	115	$36,513
46	West Virginia	114	$29,430
47	North Dakota	88	$42,947
48	South Dakota	88	$29,945
49	Vermont	66	$32,384
50	Wyoming	65	$33,593

Service Counselor Education

Service Counselor Majors

Psychology

19.4 %

Business

16.2 %

Criminal Justice

9.9 %

Service Counselor Degrees

Admissions

Most Popular Majors

Business

Education

Psychology

Liberal Arts

Criminal Justice

Top Skills For a Service 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, 15.8% of service counselors listed social work on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and problem-solving skills are important as well.

Social Work, 15.8%

Crisis Intervention, 8.5%

Patients, 7.3%

Support Services, 6.3%

Social Services, 6.2%

Other Skills, 55.9%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Service Counselor Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Service Counselor templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Service Counselor resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Service Counselor Demographics

Service Counselor Gender Distribution

Female

67%

Male

33%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

Among service counselors, 66.7% of them are women, while 33.3% are men.

The most common race/ethnicity among service counselors is White, which makes up 54.7% of all service counselors.

The most common foreign language among service counselors is Spanish at 75.7%.

Online Courses For Service Counselor That You May Like

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Best States For a Service Counselor

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a service counselor. The best states for people in this position are Hawaii, California, Alaska, and North Dakota. Service counselors make the most in Hawaii with an average salary of $53,690. Whereas in California and Alaska, they would average $51,073 and $45,443, respectively. While service counselors would only make an average of $42,947 in North Dakota, 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. Alaska

Total Service Counselor Jobs: 155

Highest 10% Earn:

$63,000

Location Quotient:

1.54

$45,443

Avg. Salary

View 155 Service Counselor Jobs In AK

2. Hawaii

Total Service Counselor Jobs: 126

Highest 10% Earn:

$69,000

Location Quotient:

1.25

$53,690

Avg. Salary

View 126 Service Counselor Jobs In HI

3. California

Total Service Counselor Jobs: 4,033

Highest 10% Earn:

$78,000

Location Quotient:

1.15

$51,073

Avg. Salary

View 4,033 Service Counselor Jobs In CA

Full List Of Best States For Service Counselors

How Do Service Counselor Rate Their Jobs?

Top Service Counselor Employers

Most Common Employers For Service Counselor

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Florida Department of Children and Families	$49,394	$23.75	20
2	Los Angeles Unified School District	$48,142	$23.15	18
3	MAX Credit Union	$43,073	$20.71	10
4	GEICO	$42,920	$20.63	122
5	A+ Federal Credit Union	$41,193	$19.80	8
6	Mary Hall Freedom V	$40,901	$19.66	10
7	AAA East Central Inc	$37,486	$18.02	17
8	Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development	$36,836	$17.71	9
9	ms.gov - Mississippi's Official State Website	$36,834	$17.71	28
10	County of Riverside	$36,390	$17.50	11

Updated February 6, 2023

What is a Service Counselor?

What Does a Service Counselor Do

How To Become a Service Counselor

Service Counselor Career Paths

Top Careers Before Service Counselor

Top Careers After Service Counselor

Recent Job Searches

Average Salary for a Service Counselor

Roles and Types of Service Counselor

Counselor

Social Worker

Service Coordinator

States With The Most Service Counselor Jobs

Number Of Service Counselor Jobs By State

Service Counselor Education

Service Counselor Majors

Service Counselor Degrees

Top Colleges for Service Counselors

1. SUNY at Binghamton

2. Northwestern University

3. California State University - Dominguez Hills

4. Howard University

5. University of Southern California

6. University of Pennsylvania

7. California State University - Bakersfield

8. California State University - Long Beach

9. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

10. San Diego State University

Top Skills For a Service Counselor

Choose From 10+ Customizable Service Counselor Resume templates

Service Counselor Demographics

Service Counselor Gender Distribution

Online Courses For Service Counselor That You May Like

Best States For a Service Counselor

How Do Service Counselor Rate Their Jobs?

Top Service Counselor Employers

Most Common Employers For Service Counselor

Service Counselor Related Careers

Service Counselor Related Jobs

What Similar Roles Do

Resume For Related Jobs