How To Become A Youth Worker: What It Is and Career Path

What is a youth worker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Tommy Casarez Ph.D.,

Christopher Todd Belser Ph.D.

The primary duty of a youth worker is to help young people develop personally, socially, and intellectually in an informal setting. He/She uses educational processes, care, and leisure approaches to evaluate the needs of young people and identify measures to address them. Similarly, he/she records the activities carried out by the young people and he/she sets up and organizes programs such as workshops, events, and shared activities. Also, he/she works with parents, organizations, and community leaders to organize youth empowerment programs and activities. The worker plans and reviews employment programs for youth.

To become a youth worker, you can either volunteer, earn a degree, certification, or complete postgraduate studies. Core skills include communication, reliability, confidentiality, multitasking, interpersonal, and patience. Youth workers are employed in local authorities, local charities, social services, schools, youth centers, churches, and drug and alcohol services. Youth workers earn an average salary of $34,060 per annum. This falls between $23,000 and $50,000.

What general advice would you give to a youth worker?

Dr. Tommy Casarez Ph.D.

Dr., Assistant Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology, Vanguard University

Opportunities come in many different shapes and sizes, but they are still out there. Whether you are seeking to land a job in education or the non-profit sector, you will need to familiarize yourself and get used to all things digital, for the sake of communicating effectively. The younger your student or service partner's mindset, the more digitally savvy you will need to be, especially in the classroom and in the non-profit world.

ScoreYouth WorkerUS Average

Salary

2.5

Avg. Salary $32,242

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.51%

Asian 2.67%

Black or African American 13.37%

Hispanic or Latino 15.12%

Unknown 4.19%

White 63.14%

Gender

female 57.35%

male 42.65%

Age - 42

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 - 42

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.5

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a youth worker

Explore youth worker education requirements

Most common youth worker degrees

Bachelor's

53.1 %

High School Diploma

17.7 %

Associate

17.2 %

Start to develop specific youth worker skills

Skills	Percentages
Direct Supervision	11.78%
CPR	10.57%
Crisis Intervention	9.68%
at-Risk Youth	8.00%
Youth Development	6.44%

Complete relevant youth worker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New youth workers 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 youth worker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real youth worker resumes.

Research youth worker duties and responsibilities

Assist in achieving and maintaining DoD certification and national accreditation or equivalent compliance.
Certify in CPR, and basic first aid.
Demonstrate patience, compassion, and understanding while helping with homework.
Stay current with require safety certifications including CPR, first aid, and fire protection.

Prepare your youth worker resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your youth worker 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 youth worker resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable youth worker resume templates

Build a professional youth worker 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 youth worker resume.