How To Become A Volunteer Counselor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a volunteer counselor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Juleen Buser Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a volunteer counselor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $15.46 an hour? That's $32,156 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 32,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a volunteer counselor?

Juleen Buser Ph.D.

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

Counseling Services (school counseling concentration) and an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (we have a CMHC concentration and a Dance Movement Therapy concentration in this program). The general advice I would give to graduates starting positions in the counseling field would be to understand the critical importance of the work of helping professionals. Counselors optimally provide a safe space for clients to discuss their fears, worries, anxieties, joys, traumas, insecurities, accomplishments, etc. This ability to be an empathic, listening, accepting presence will be even more crucial for clients in our current situation.

ScoreVolunteer CounselorUS Average

Salary

2.5

Avg. Salary $32,156

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.0

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.62%

Asian 3.74%

Black or African American 10.64%

Hispanic or Latino 14.20%

Unknown 3.76%

White 67.03%

Gender

female 65.22%

male 34.78%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

9.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a volunteer counselor

Explore volunteer counselor education requirements

Most common volunteer counselor degrees

Bachelor's

63.1 %

Master's

16.1 %

Associate

11.5 %

Start to develop specific volunteer counselor skills

Skills	Percentages
Crisis Intervention	23.47%
Mental Health	8.58%
Substance Abuse	7.26%
Provide Emotional Support	6.50%
Suicide Prevention	6.18%

Complete relevant volunteer counselor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New volunteer counselors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a volunteer counselor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real volunteer counselor resumes.

Research volunteer counselor duties and responsibilities

Conduct group check-in and co-lead group psychotherapy sessions to help clients identify and manage problems associate with psychiatric conditions.
Counsele inmates and teach bible principles.
Inform the client about the parenting, bible study, and relationship classes.
Help to develop handouts, job lists and PowerPoint presentations on specific jobs and general job-seeking topics.

Prepare your volunteer counselor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your volunteer counselor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a volunteer counselor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable volunteer counselor resume templates

Build a professional volunteer 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 volunteer counselor resume.

Apply for volunteer counselor jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a volunteer counselor job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do volunteer counselors rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Volunteer counselor reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2019

Pros

Change agent when people are stuck and need support in the process of restoration. One on one and group processing is powerful.

Cons

The over documentation required by DHS that robs the quality time needed in intervention and treatment. This lopsided demand makes the term “best practices” mere bureaucratic lip service without the means to actually deliver quality hands on services.