You’ve probably encountered school counselors in the past. How familiar are you, really, with what they do day in and day out? It’s hard as an individual to make an informed assessment based only on experience.
Why? Because the way that school counselors operate is highly individualized. Your experience with one could be very different than that of your peers.
In this article, we take a comprehensive look at answering the question of what does a school counselor do. First, it’s important to understand that school counselors are very qualified.
They generally have a master’s degree in psychology, social work, or a related discipline. They also have some form of state-issued licensing to further ensure their qualification.
It’s a genuinely complicated job that requires a unique combination of practical and personal skills.
You need to be able to work well with others, communicate clearly, express empathy effectively, and generally lead well.
A Psychologist’s Eye View of the Situation
From a psychological perspective, school counselors contribute positively to the social-emotional element of education.
The extent to which this is the case may depend slightly on the school environment. Different districts will have—or every district will have—its own approach to how it handles social-emotional awareness.
Some will rely entirely on social workers and school psychologists, while other intervention teams will be more blended.
Nevertheless, it’s fair to say that guidance counselors typically do play an important role, be that responsibility formal or informal.
For example, even in situations where the guidance or the school counselor is not the primary point of contact for social-emotional needs, they’re often a trusted resource for students.
Environmental considerations are a major determining factor when it comes to student success. Counselors play an important role in this dynamic.
Role Varies Based on Age Group
It’s important to understand that guidance counselors do very different things depending on the academic environment that they’re working in. For example:
- In the elementary school setting, the primary focus is on developing social-emotional skills and essentially teaching kids how to learn.
- By middle school, school counselors are often more focused on navigating complex social interactions and preparing students for high school.
- In the high school setting, there’s a big emphasis on career readiness or helping kids navigate the college placement process.
In all of these environments, there’s also often an element of working with students on social or personal issues.
Guidance counselors are academic advisors, but they’re also important resources that play an impactful role in every step of a student’s educational journey.
School Counselors May Go Into Classrooms
School counselors are not precisely teachers, but they may provide education. School counselors are not teachers, but they may provide educational interventions.
The extent to which this is the case will depend on the setting.
- With younger students, they often push in to teach emotional social skills.
- The older the students get, the more focused the interventions are on personal development. It might be providing short lessons on managing increasingly complex social factors. There could be generalized information on safety concerning substances or other adult behaviors as kids get older.
School counselors will often be responsible for helping execute interventions in the context of school bullying or other scenarios where there is a generalized problem within the student body.
For these reasons, a school counselor should be good at speaking to a group and also equally effective at one-on-one interactions.
Who Should Consider Working as a School Counselor
This is an interesting question, and there is not a singular answer. School counselor roles are naturally ideal for anyone who has a passion for helping the next generation of adults.
If you are drawn into the educational setting but find the idea of managing your own classroom intimidating or just ill-suited for your desires, working as a school counselor is a good adjacent role and provides many of the same personal benefits as teaching, but without some of the headaches.
You get to work with kids often in a much more personalized environment. You help them make choices that will shape the rest of their lives.
You simply don’t have some of the frustrations that come with classroom management requirements. Don’t get us wrong, there’s plenty of headaches in the world of school counseling.
You’ll have students in precarious personal situations, or maybe you’ll work with kids who are stubborn beyond what’s good for them. Education is hard no matter where you’re sitting, but the school counselor role is good for people who don’t want the classroom experience.
How Much Do School Counselors Make
School counselors earn a median salary of approximately $60,000, though the actual range is between $40,000 to $72,000 based on experience. Essentially, the pay scale is very similar to that of a teacher.
You’ll start out in the lower mid-five-figure range and, throughout the course of your career, approach the upper five-figure range.
It’s not the sort of job that you take with the hopes of getting rich, but despite maybe the joke about education salaries, you can absolutely live comfortably. You can’t absolutely live comfortably as a school guidance counselor typically in a multi-income household.
Consider Working as a Guidance Counselor
The world of education is always in desperate need of dedicated professionals who are passionate about what they do.
If you’re interested in touching the lives of children in a way that is impactful and long-lasting, there are few better ways to do it than to work as a guidance counselor.
Not only will you teach them important skills, but you’ll help them make choices that follow them throughout the rest of their lives.
Maria holds an MS in Psychology with a specialization in Social Psychology. She is a research-oriented writer with a strong academic background in psychological and behavioral sciences. Her work focuses on bridging academic research and public understanding by simplifying complex psychological theories and social dynamics. She writes about the relationship between society, mental health, and human behavior, making evidence-based ideas more accessible and practical for readers.
