Getting a career counselor job.

How did you get your start doing career counselor work, and what career moves did you make to get to your current position?

Do you need a particular educational background?

Marcelle Brawner in Raleigh, North Carolina said: I am interested in the reply to the question posed as I am transitioning my career and have an interest in career counseling as a profession.

Apply at local staffing agencies as a recruiter. Familiarize yourself with local and federal HR policies.Test at an accredited facility. You can usually do that as an employee of an agency.Apply with a local college in its recruitment program.Getting a Masters in Social Work or MSW is a way to get in with the local state funded employment center.

Host said: How did you get your start doing career counselor work, and what career moves did you make to get to your current position?

Do you need a particular educational background?

Hope this link will help as there's directory of counselor profiles with their background edu.:
www.eastbayscore.org/counselors.htm

Marcelle Brawner in Raleigh, North Carolina said: I am interested in the reply to the question posed as I am transitioning my career and have an interest in career counseling as a profession.

Reply?

Maybe you missed the reply 7 days ago.

Be careful, "career counselor" is one of those categories that masks sales positions including "senior consultant" and "recruiting director" (aka headhunter).

Do some research on career counselor. You can start with Indeed.com and SimplyHired.com's job listings and see what organizations hire for that position.

Who do you want to counsel? College or high school students? Retirees? Mid-career professionals? Each of those segments has different career goals and needs.

Placement offices will have the first group as clients, and organizations like SCORE will cater to the second. The third group presents the most challenge: 40-somethings often want to do something more enjoyable that they have no experience with.

Go to websites like SHRP.org and start researching, since that is the one thing a good career counselor needs to be good at. Learn about the job market, industries and career fields. Do you want to be a generalist or a specialist? Decide who will pay you: an employer, the client and why they should. Look at the credentials of others who are in the field, and see what they have.

www.career-hunter.info

Host said: How did you get your start doing career counselor work, and what career moves did you make to get to your current position?

Do you need a particular educational background?

I began career counseling at a CUNY college working within the Career Planning and Placement Program. I obtained this job because I had a Master of Science Degree in Guidance and Counseling from a major university. I also had experience with working with adult skills training programs which involved such services as career counseling, job development...

I started my career counseling because I had over 4 years in recruiting and human resources and an Associates in Business. I was hired as a Career Services Rep at Lincoln Tech, a vocational college with diploma programs. It's a very demanding and exciting role and great for those new to the field because it's more 'placement oriented' and not as much counseling.

Now I manage a Job Center at a library which is free to the general public and am finishing up my BS in Human Resources.

Plan to move onto my Masters in Career Counseling and hopefully a Director-level position at a school somewhere.

A good way to research potential positions in your area is www.higheredjobs.com - they have a section for "Administrative - Career Counseling and Placement". That should help to give you an idea of the qualifications necessary for schools in your area.

--
The Career Lady
askthecareerlady@gmail.com
askthecareerlady.blogspot.com

From what i have learned you don't need a degree in psychology per se to be a career counselor. I'm a dislocated worker and the counselor assigned to me was a buddy of mine who finished his schooling with a degree in organizational management and communication, then did a three month course (CDF)Career Development Facilitator. I'm thinking of going the same route and even getting a GCDF

You need to be certified in order to utilize self-assessment instruments such as the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, Strong Campbell Vocational Assessment Battery, etc. Look into certificaton training in using these career development tools!
Career Counseling is not just reviwing and revamping resumes, or mock interview practice, or even networking. It requires for the counselor to help a client go through the entire career planning process, which entails self-assessment, career exploration, decision-making, goals setting...

Don't they have in their curriculum to do the assessment testing analysis? I think they do. My point is you dont have to have a degree in psychology to be a vocational counselor. I have done a number of informational interviews and confirmed that a good number of them do not necessarily have a counseling background.

Check out the Global Career Development Facilitator certification, which is recognized by many agencies.
The trainings can be completed in 4-6 months and usually cost around $1000. You can find out where the trainings are taking place at www.ncda.org

alortiz0606@aol.com in Bronx, New York said: I began career counseling at a CUNY college working within the Career Planning and Placement Program. I obtained this job because I had a Master of Science Degree in Guidance and Counseling from a major university. I also had experience with working with adult skills training programs which involved such services as career counseling, job development...

Hi - Can you advise if Career Counsellors working in Higher / University settings in the US need to be registered with a professional body? Im a fully qualified Careers Counsellor, with 5 years career development and counselling experience at University level in Ireland. I am considering relocating to the states, where I have worked before. I really appreciate any guidance you may be able to offer.

I have worked as an advisor at a college, for 11 years, 10 years as a high school counselor with a masters in counseling, and lost my job 2 years ago was told to complete a school counselor license. I was not able to use my previous work experience and had to do a 600 HOURS internship at a school setting and pay for this at the university. I will be looking for a job come June. Hard to find a job in school counseling.

I am reaching the end of my School Counseling degree at the University of Connecticut and am faced with a dilemma. I need to find an internship for the upcoming school year, but I am currently in a dual income household with a 3 year old son so taking an unpaid internship is difficult if not borderline impossible for me.

I have been told that I can get hired without certifications as either a leave replacement or at a private/catholic school and that time can count as my one year internship. This is ideal for me because I would receive an income while completing my requirements, but given the state of the economy they are few and far between.

Does anyone out have a solution for me, or can you suggest a location for a paid internship. I will share my resume after you share a position description (I just don't want for my personal information to be out there on the net for anyone to grab).

Thank you in advance.

Harold in Holyoke, Massachusetts said: Check out the Global Career Development Facilitator certification, which is recognized by many agencies.
The trainings can be completed in 4-6 months and usually cost around $1000. You can find out where the trainings are taking place at www.ncda.org

There is also the completely on-line GCDF training offered by the National Employment Counseling Association www.employmentcounseling.org Competitively priced at $900. Leads to national certification under the auspices of the Center for Credentialing and Education. mlazarchick.com/gcdf

Host said: How did you get your start doing career counselor work, and what career moves did you make to get to your current position?

Do you need a particular educational background?

With a Bachelors Degree in Sociology I was hired as an employment interviewer at my local public employment office. It helped that I was a veteran of the military. While there I used my GI Bill to get a masters degree in counseling during the evening and weekends. I was promoted to employment counselor. I stayed with the state and retired this past year as manager of a One Stop Career Center, which is the modern day version of the public employment office. To be a career counselor in public schools you must have higher education credentials. Obviously, colleges are bias towards education and want their career offices to be staffed by individuals with credentials. Counseling is licensed in all states now and recognized at the master's degree level.
Not everyone can afford the time and money to earn a master's degree. The GCDF (Global Career Development Facilitator) certification was created to demonstrate competency in the field. It is an intensive 12 week training program that leads to certification under the auspices of the Center for Credentialing and Education.
Many people break into the field doing job placement work for community based organizations or government agencies or for-profit staffing services or human resource departments. The more education or experience or credentials, the easier it is to get consideration.
In retirement, I am now the lead instructor for the National Employment Counseling Association's "Working Ahead Moving Forward" GCDF training. www.employmentcounseling.org or mlazarchick.com/gcdf

There is also the coach route. Coaching is not yet licensed. CCE www.cce-global.org/ however does now have a certification and there is an approved coaching school. Most coaches seem to be in their own business.