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Service counselor skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted experts
Adam Greer,
Michelle Kelley Shuler Ph.D.
Service counselor example skills
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical service counselor skills. We ranked the top skills for service counselors based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 15.8% of service counselor resumes contained social work as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a service counselor needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 service counselor skills for your resume and career

1. Social Work

Here's how service counselors use social work:
  • Trained and supervised Bachelor and Master-level social work interns.
  • Formulate and/or delegate program plan for treatment, care, or rehabilitation of clients based on social work experience or knowledge.

2. Crisis Intervention

Here's how service counselors use crisis intervention:
  • Provide crisis intervention to each youth and family.oversees discipline and behavior modification of youth and enforces or recommends appropriate actions.
  • Provided intensive supervision, case management, crisis intervention and resource referral services to adjudicated youth and families.

3. Patients

Here's how service counselors use patients:
  • Implemented patient financial services department to assist patients and family members to ensure successful patient representation and expeditious benefit recovery.
  • Administered oral medications, monitored patients' physical/emotional well-being and reported unusual behavior or physical ailments to medical staff.

4. Support Services

Support services are services that support the organization internally and are usually non-revenue generating. Examples include, IT, admin, HR, etc.

Here's how service counselors use support services:
  • Provided in-home and community support services to mentally challenged adults.
  • Maintain support services documentation daily.

5. Social Services

Here's how service counselors use social services:
  • Provide social services and counseling to assist in rehabilitation of law offender juveniles in detention center custody.
  • Helped clients acquire social services such as Medicaid, Medicare, social security/disability.

6. Rehabilitation

Here's how service counselors use rehabilitation:
  • Developed treatment programs to encourage rehabilitation and recovery, specifically a psycho-educational groups that addressed trauma.
  • Submitted daily progress reports and participated in rehabilitation programs outlined by therapists and clinicians.

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7. Substance Abuse

Here's how service counselors use substance abuse:
  • Provided substance abuse screenings/assessments, made treatment recommendations based on accepted criteria for substance use disorder diagnoses and documented findings.
  • Provided behavior analysis, competency training, recreational therapy, substance abuse counseling, relaxation group and case management

8. 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 service counselors use community resources:
  • Conduct comprehensive assessments of vulnerable clients' needs and their environmental abilities in order to access appropriate community resources.
  • Updated career center information with employment leads, community resources and career development options.

9. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how service counselors use customer service:
  • Excelled in a fast paced work environment providing exceptional customer service and account maintenance for new and existing policyholders.
  • Assist customers with troubleshooting online account issues and utilizing online tools that are available to ensure extraordinary customer service.

10. AAA

American Automobile Association, commonly pronounced as AAA or triple A, is an organization in North America. AAA is a privately held non-profit driven public party affiliation and administration association with more than 60 million members in the United States and Canada. AAA offers types of assistance to its individuals, including emergency aide.

Here's how service counselors use aaa:
  • Recognized/Suggested cross selling opportunities to enhance member experience; promote AAA automotive related programs.
  • Watch the board of AAA drivers for assigned area and making sure all service calls are being completed in time allotted.

11. 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 service counselors use mental health:
  • Developed a recreational program for patient/inmate population of an inpatient mental health crisis unit within the Florida Department of Corrections.
  • Performed psychological evaluations for individuals placed on mental health hold to determine the need for involuntary commitment.

12. Emergency Situations

Here's how service counselors use emergency situations:
  • Handled all emergency situations for policyholders - Provided reassurance and contacted appropriate company to come to immediate aid
  • Prioritized and dispatched services to members in emergency situations.

13. Financial Assistance

Financial assistance refers to governmental assistance one may receive for a variety of reasons. This help is typically in the form of money, whether a loan, scholarship, grant, or reduced taxes provided to an individual or organization. One of the more common forms of financial assistance is student loans, which offer many prospective students a chance for higher education.

Here's how service counselors use financial assistance:
  • Designed worksheets to allow for consistent follow-up of Financial Assistance acquisitions.
  • Provide families with assistance for food, clothing, financial assistance, medical care, and housing.

14. Developmental Disabilities

Here's how service counselors use developmental disabilities:
  • Supported children with developmental disabilities in conjunction with parents and teachers to develop daily living skills.
  • Provided support and respite to families of adult children with developmental disabilities.

15. Mental Illness

Here's how service counselors use mental illness:
  • Coordinated and supervised community outings for individuals with chronic mental illness.
  • Lead a treatment program for those with mental illness and advocated for the patient when they were in treatment rounds.
top-skills

What skills help Service Counselors find jobs?

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

What skills stand out on service counselor resumes?

Adam GreerAdam Greer LinkedIn profile

Career Services Specialist, Auburn University

Clearly, the distance/online working skills will stand out with our HDFS majors. Our students have a strong foundation in learning to work with people, and now they have a new way to work with people and remove barriers that might have previously prevented an in-person meeting.

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

Michelle Kelley Shuler Ph.D.

Department Chair: Human Services, Austin Community College

a. Must have strong basic computer skills and knowledge of software such as excel spreadsheets, google docs, etc. Most, if not all, agencies use electronic health records and treatment planning, so it is necessary to be competent in this area.
b. A degree and additional certifications will assist you in seeking employment. It will also increase your level of competency and diversify the communities you serve. For example, at Austin Community College, we offer our students a chance to complete a certification in Mental Health First Aid Training. This increases their marketability and skill level.

What soft skills should all service counselors possess?

Treniece Lewis Harris Ph.D.

Associate Professor of the Practice, Program Director, Master's Program in Mental Health Counseling, Boston College

-compassion

-active listening

-perspective-taking

-open-mindedness and respect for differences

-humility

-curiosity and critical observation

-problem recognition and analytical thinking

-creativity and flexibility

-presentation skills

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

Dr. Lynann “Annie” ButlerDr. Lynann “Annie” Butler LinkedIn profile

Chair and Professor, Metropolitan State University of Denver

Gap years are good opportunities to get a job in the field of interest. Having some professional experience helps people decide in what field, exactly, they want to earn a master's degree, or can help students to save money and focus their energies if returning to complete their bachelor's degree.

What type of skills will young service counselors need?

Chris Hennington Ph.D.Chris Hennington Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

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.
Do you want to know more?
Read more about what experts have to say about service counselor

List of service counselor skills to add to your resume

Service counselor skills

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

  • Social Work
  • Crisis Intervention
  • Patients
  • Support Services
  • Social Services
  • Rehabilitation
  • Substance Abuse
  • Community Resources
  • Customer Service
  • AAA
  • Mental Health
  • Emergency Situations
  • Financial Assistance
  • Developmental Disabilities
  • Mental Illness
  • Community Services
  • Discharge Planning
  • Family Therapy
  • Community Agencies
  • Inbound Calls
  • Parent Support
  • Auto Loans
  • Law Enforcement
  • Outbound Calls
  • Road Calls
  • Group Sessions
  • Group Therapy
  • Delinquent Accounts
  • Payment Arrangements
  • Referral Services
  • Community Organizations
  • Hotel Reservations
  • Risk Youth
  • Domestic Violence
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Psychosis
  • Customer Inquiries
  • Anger Management
  • Emergency Road Service
  • Account Resolution
  • Retirement Benefits
  • Early Intervention
  • Customer Complaints
  • Car Reservations
  • Loan Applications
  • Court Reports
  • Crisis Situations
  • Court Proceedings
  • Court Hearings
  • IEP

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.

Updated January 8, 2025

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