What does a service counselor do?
Service counselors provide guidance to couples, individuals, groups, and families who are going through issues that influence their well-being and mental health. They comprehensively approach their clients by utilizing a "wellness" model that focuses on and motivate the client's potentials. Their duties include inspiring clients to talk about their emotions and experiences, helping them determine their action plans and goals, as well as designing therapeutic methods. Also, they may refer their clients to other services or psychologists.
Service counselor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real service counselor resumes:
- Develop contracting strategy to build capacity and achieve ongoing compliance with Medicare and Medicaid provider network adequacy requirements.
- Implement patient financial services department to assist patients and family members to ensure successful patient representation and expeditious benefit recovery.
- Examine injured persons and administer first aid or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, if necessary, using training and medical supplies and equipment.
Service counselor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 16% of Service Counselors are proficient in Social Work, Crisis Intervention, and Patients. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Problem-solving skills, and Time-management skills.
We break down the percentage of Service Counselors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Social Work, 16%
Trained and supervised Bachelor and Master-level social work interns.
- Crisis Intervention, 9%
Provide crisis intervention to each youth and family.oversees discipline and behavior modification of youth and enforces or recommends appropriate actions.
- Patients, 7%
Implemented patient financial services department to assist patients and family members to ensure successful patient representation and expeditious benefit recovery.
- Support Services, 6%
Provided in-home and community support services to mentally challenged adults.
- Social Services, 6%
Provide social services and counseling to assist in rehabilitation of law offender juveniles in detention center custody.
- Rehabilitation, 6%
Developed treatment programs to encourage rehabilitation and recovery, specifically a psycho-educational groups that addressed trauma.
"social work," "crisis intervention," and "patients" are among the most common skills that service counselors use at work. You can find even more service counselor responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a service counselor to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "social and human service assistants talk with clients about the challenges in their lives and assist them in getting help." Service counselors often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "maintained on-going communication with families; hospital programs; and community agencies, to facilitate continuity of care for patients. "
Problem-solving skills. Another essential skill to perform service counselor duties is problem-solving skills. Service counselors responsibilities require that "social and human service assistants help clients find solutions to their problems." Service counselors also use problem-solving skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "responded to and resolved emergency situations. "
Time-management skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of service counselors is time-management skills. This skill is critical to many everyday service counselor duties, as "social and human service assistants often work with many clients." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "assist with hippa compliancy maintain a case load appropriate for work hours complete documentation on time handle crisis situations as needed"
Compassion. For certain service counselor responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "compassion." The day-to-day duties of a service counselor rely on this skill, as "social and human service assistants often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what service counselors do: "provided patients and families with compassion and empathy during medical crisis. "
Interpersonal skills. Another common skill required for service counselor responsibilities is "interpersonal skills." This skill comes up in the duties of service counselors all the time, as "social and human service assistants must make their clients feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues." An excerpt from a real service counselor resume shows how this skill is central to what a service counselor does: "supervised military adolescents from the age of 7-16 and served as a role model led enrichment activities to foster interpersonal relationships"
Organizational skills. Another skill commonly found on service counselor job descriptions is "organizational skills." It can come up quite often in service counselor duties, since "social and human service assistants must often complete lots of paperwork and work with many different clients." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day service counselor responsibilities: "maintained quality documentation to comply with organizational policies and state regulations. "
The three companies that hire the most service counselors are:
- Google5 service counselors jobs
- My Florida Regional Mls5 service counselors jobs
- Eliot Community Human Services Inc4 service counselors jobs
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Compare different service counselors
Service counselor vs. Advocate
An advocate is a voice for the voiceless. It is their responsibility to speak on behalf of an individual or a particular cause. Most of the duties will vary depending on the line of organization or duty involved; however, an advocate must have extensive knowledge or background on the subject matter. Furthermore, an advocate must be present at gatherings regarding the cause, assist in the negotiation and mediation processes involving contracts and legal documentation, provide or convey accurate information, and defend what they represent.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between service counselors and advocate. For instance, service counselor responsibilities require skills such as "social work," "rehabilitation," "aaa," and "emergency situations." Whereas a advocate is skilled in "cpr," "cleanliness," "safety planning," and "medicaid." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Advocates earn the highest salaries when working in the government industry, with an average yearly salary of $40,536. On the other hand, service counselors are paid more in the education industry with an average salary of $43,030.The education levels that advocates earn slightly differ from service counselors. In particular, advocates are 4.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a service counselor. Additionally, they're 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Service counselor vs. Case worker
Caseworkers are social workers who watch over the welfare of underprivileged individuals and at-risk families by counseling and providing them with assistance. Usually employed under the government or a local non-profit organization, a caseworker must conduct a thorough interview and house visits to determine the needs of the family. They then refer them to any programs or agencies that can give them the specific care and help needed. Furthermore, it is crucial to identify neglect and abuse signs, reporting them to the authorities right away.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, service counselor responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "social services," "rehabilitation," "aaa," and "emergency situations." Meanwhile, a case worker has duties that require skills in areas such as "child abuse," "foster care," "intake assessments," and "medicaid." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, case workers earn a higher salary than service counselors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, case workers earn the most pay in the education industry with an average salary of $40,730. Whereas service counselors have higher pay in the education industry, with an average salary of $43,030.case workers earn similar levels of education than service counselors in general. They're 2.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for service counselors in the next 3-5 years?
Juleen Buser Ph.D.
Professor and Director, School Counseling and Coaching Programs, Rider University
Service counselor vs. Social worker
Social workers help their clients get through problems that they may be facing. Social workers help identify individuals or groups of people, usually families, who may need assistance, generally through a set of pre-determined criteria. They then determine the best ways to help their clients by interviewing them, getting to know them, and understanding the context of their lives. They create plans that will help their clients become better, such as integrating into a new environment, assisting them in their needs, or even rescuing them from their current place. Social workers have good interpersonal skills and communication 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 service counselor is likely to be skilled in "customer service," "aaa," "emergency situations," and "inbound calls," while a typical social worker is skilled in "patient care," "msw," "home health," and "psychosocial assessments."
Social workers make a very good living in the government industry with an average annual salary of $56,132. On the other hand, service counselors are paid the highest salary in the education industry, with average annual pay of $43,030.When it comes to education, social workers tend to earn higher degree levels compared to service counselors. In fact, they're 18.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.5% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Service counselor vs. Human service specialist
Human services specialists provide a range of social services with the purpose of improving the quality of life of people they serve. They can work for organizations, including housing associations, mental health facilities, rehabilitation centers, residential care homes, and food banks. Most of their duties involve interacting with people and conduct counseling. This job also requires active listening skills to comprehend your clients easily and understand their needs to provide care for people in difficult circumstances.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between service counselors and human service specialists, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a service counselor might have more use for skills like "customer service," "aaa," "emergency situations," and "mental illness." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of human service specialists require skills like "program eligibility," "medicaid," "human services," and "child support. "
The government industry tends to pay the highest salaries for human service specialists, with average annual pay of $49,059. Comparatively, the highest service counselor annual salary comes from the education industry.In general, human service specialists hold similar degree levels compared to service counselors. Human service specialists are 0.9% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 1.6% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of service counselor
Updated January 8, 2025
