What does a youth leader do?
A youth leader is a young individual who is responsible for building a sense of community within the church youth that can provide an opportunity for both spiritual and social development. Youth Leaders organize regular social, educational, and spiritual oriented events with parents and volunteers to maintain a vibrant program. They establish support and appropriate relationships with their youth members and their families. Youth leaders also maintain social media and emails to provide information publicly to youth members about their organized events.
Youth leader responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real youth leader resumes:
- Lead a range of activities from science, mathematics, art, physical education, technology and language arts.
- Assist in achieving and maintaining DoD certification and national accreditation or equivalent compliance.
- Focuse on community outreach and discovering their passion as well as teaching effective communication skills and leadership development.
- Develop and teach lessons plans, multimedia and meeting notes using PowerPoint.
- Bring together skits and PowerPoint presentations to better display the teachings of the mission
- Supervise and assist FRG volunteers at activity find raisers and family day events.
- Work as a youth leader for children, and become lifeguard and CPR certify.
- Plan meetings and activities for the youth group to make sure everything run according to schedule.
- Create a club and a stem (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) every week.
- Aid in organization of vacation bible school by helping paint and build props, and package outreach gifts.
- Work on spiritual self-care of the family through discussion, bible study, meditation, praying, etc.
- Organize, develop and run recreational activities
- Review youth leader applications and provide leadership and educational training for working with kids.
- Assist teen parents/juvenile criminal offenders in obtaining a high school diploma and/or vocational training.
- Develop and distribute relevant and comprehensive written materials on safety and the logistics of the trips to participating members.
Youth leader skills and personality traits
We calculated that 22% of Youth Leaders are proficient in CPR, Fine Arts, and Academic Enrichment. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Managerial skills, and Time-management skills.
We break down the percentage of Youth Leaders that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- CPR, 22%
Perform other duties and responsibilities as requested.LICENSES- CPR and First AidSECURITY CLEARANCE- Completed FBI & Police National Background Check
- Fine Arts, 10%
Assisted the Youth Leader in preparing the youth for Fine Arts competitions and supervised youth during their activities.
- Academic Enrichment, 10%
Provided academic enrichment, social, and recreational experiences in an after school environment
- Homework Assistance, 10%
Provided academic assistance to program participants (homework assistance and light tutoring).
- Youth Development, 7%
Create an environment that facilitates the achievement of positive youth development.
- Core Values, 5%
Assisted in teaching a Sunday school class, meeting weekly, teaching core values and giving direction to high school Seniors.
"cpr," "fine arts," and "academic enrichment" are among the most common skills that youth leaders use at work. You can find even more youth leader responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. One of the key soft skills for a youth leader to have is analytical skills. You can see how this relates to what youth leaders do because "social and community service managers need to understand and evaluate data in order to provide strategic guidance to their organization." Additionally, a youth leader resume shows how youth leaders use analytical skills: "implemented and facilitated leadership development trainings, kept database and support youth. "
Managerial skills. Many youth leader duties rely on managerial skills. "social and community service managers spend much of their time administering budgets and responding to a variety of issues.," so a youth leader will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways youth leader responsibilities rely on managerial skills: "provide conflict resolution training to areas with staff and managerial conflict. "
Time-management skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of youth leaders is time-management skills. This skill is critical to many everyday youth leader duties, as "social and community service managers must prioritize and handle numerous tasks, often in a short timeframe." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "lead event planning committee; responsible for training and delegating event execution to people to meet critical deadlines. "
Communication skills. For certain youth leader responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "communication skills." The day-to-day duties of a youth leader rely on this skill, as "social and community service managers must be able to speak and write clearly." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what youth leaders do: "educated and recruited teens via online communications. "
Problem-solving skills. Another crucial skill for a youth leader to carry out their responsibilities is "problem-solving skills." A big part of what youth leaders relies on this skill, since "social and community service managers must be able to address client, staff, and agency-related issues." How this skill relates to youth leader duties can be seen in an example from a youth leader resume snippet: "team building, role modeling, and conflict resolution. "
The three companies that hire the most youth leaders are:
- Think Together
12 youth leaders jobs
- First Coast YMCA - Metropolitan Office8 youth leaders jobs
- The Salvation Army7 youth leaders jobs
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Youth leader vs. Director of social services
A director of social services or social services director is an individual who works with the community to identify the suitable programs and services. Social services directors provide overall leadership for certain departments within organizations. Essentially, they take charge of the daily activities of a program or an organization. They perform as social services board secretary and executive officer. In nursing homes, the directors assess patients, develop care plans, and help patients adjust along with their respective families.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a youth leader are more likely to require skills like "cpr," "fine arts," "academic enrichment," and "homework assistance." On the other hand, a job as a director of social services requires skills like "social work," "patients," "discharge planning," and "mental health." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Directors of social services tend to make the most money working in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $59,532. In contrast, youth leaders make the biggest average salary, $29,561, in the education industry.directors of social services tend to reach higher levels of education than youth leaders. In fact, directors of social services are 20.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Youth leader vs. Residential manager
A residential manager coordinates and oversees all activities that happen in a residential building. They work with their employers to market their apartments and ensure all the occupants qualify to be in the building. They are often the face of the building and also manage the financials of the residential building. Their duties and responsibilities include marketing the building, encouraging tenants, and keeping financial records of all property operations.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, youth leader responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "fine arts," "academic enrichment," "homework assistance," and "youth development." Meanwhile, a residential manager has duties that require skills in areas such as "developmental disabilities," "related training," "oversight," and "foster care." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, residential managers earn a higher salary than youth leaders. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, residential managers earn the most pay in the government industry with an average salary of $37,859. Whereas youth leaders have higher pay in the education industry, with an average salary of $29,561.residential managers earn similar levels of education than youth leaders in general. They're 3.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Youth leader vs. Student manager
Student managers are executives who assist in coaching staff with practice management and games. They are employed to ensure the efficient and safe operation of the organizations. Their responsibilities include chasing work for the excluded students, student monitoring, positive role models, supporting students in need, and assisting with the transition. This job's necessary skills include effective communication, knowledge of external agencies, and the right education level with passing grades in math and English.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a youth leader is likely to be skilled in "cpr," "fine arts," "academic enrichment," and "homework assistance," while a typical student manager is skilled in "customer service," "food safety," "food service," and "alumni."
Student managers earn the best pay in the education industry, where they command an average salary of $50,101. Youth leaders earn the highest pay from the education industry, with an average salary of $29,561.When it comes to education, student managers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to youth leaders. In fact, they're 1.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Youth leader vs. Youth development professional
Youth Development Professionals are specialists in implementing and overseeing programs to help adolescents discover their abilities and interests. They are responsible for coordinating career days and field trips, organizing mentorship sessions, create youth outreach projects, and assisting community organizations in youth provision development. Other duties include supporting the training of volunteer youth workers as well as ensuring service provided adheres to professional standards and current regulations. A Youth Development Professional may specialize in a specific development sector, such as healthy living, experiential learning, or public service.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between youth leaders and youth development professionals, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a youth leader might have more use for skills like "academic enrichment," "core values," "crisis intervention," and "community outreach." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of youth development professionals require skills like "direct care," "productive relationships," "restraints," and "professional development. "
Youth development professionals reach higher levels of education compared to youth leaders, in general. The difference is that they're 5.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of youth leader
Updated January 8, 2025











