A Day in the Life of a Guidance Counselor
Few careers are as potentially rewarding—or as frustrating—as that of a guidance counselor,
whose job it is to help guide and structure children’s educational and vocational direction
as they pass through an unstable and confusing time in their lives. It can be frustrating
because you will have limited power to make students follow your advice, and often you will
face students “who don’t want to think about the day after tomorrow,” as one counselor put
it. A guidance counselor helps students determine courses of study and possible vocations.
Counselors try to understand what motivates each student as well as his or her skills and
desires. “When you’re doing things right,” wrote
one, “it’s like you’re another parent, except they
trust you a little more.” Individuals who aspire to
enter the field should be aware that emotional as well as intellectual demands come with the
territory.
As most guidance counselors spend over a third of their time in consultations with students
and parents, prospective counselors should be comfortable with teenagers and have
excellent communication skills. Another 25 percent of a guidance counselor’s day is spent
administering and evaluating tests. Guidance counselors use the results to provide context
for existing records of academic performance, teacher evaluations, and a better overall understanding
of students’ needs.
Some guidance counselors call the continuing education they receive from the students
with whom they work the most interesting feature of the profession. “I learned more from
them than from any class in college,” wrote one enthusiastic counselor. “I learned more in the
first day.”Not all counselors are as positive as this, but the level of satisfaction guidance counselors
recorded was one of the highest of any career in this book. Of course, people who don’t
love the profession usually leave quickly; guidance counselors have one of the highest initial
attrition rates of any profession in this book—a staggering 60 percent within the first two
years. Careers that require this degree of emotional commitment can be rough on those individuals
who are not prepared to make one on a regular basis.
Paying Your Dues
A bachelor’s degree is required to become a high school guidance counselor, and some
states require that the candidate have a master’s degree, as well. To work in public schools,
guidance counselors also typically need to be licensed. Coursework should include social
studies, psychology, and communications work, with an emphasis on public speaking.
Courses dealing with education are important, too; many private schools require that guidance
counselors teach courses in addition to performing their counseling duties. A background
in statistics and mathematics is important for evaluating students’ standardized tests.
By far the most important skill a potential guidance counselor can bring to this profession is
the ability to relate to adolescents. This skill requires a combination of the ability to listen,
honesty, an open mind, and a sense of humor. Individuals who succeed in this profession
communicate well with students.
Present and Future
Guidance counselors were first introduced in the United States in the Northeast in the
early 1900s, but this profession didn’t experience any significant growth until the end of
World War II. Pushed by the Department of Education, school systems across the country
soon “strongly encouraged” the position in every public and private school.
Guidance counselors face daunting tasks every day, but their roles at the center of youth
education have never been more important. The job market for guidance counselors should
be full of opportunity for the next 10 years or so, as enrollment is growing in United States
school systems. The problem is that institutional support for guidance counselors is waning.
Guidance counselors can be the first to face the consequences of budget cuts, since they are
“noninstructional personnel.”
Quality of Life
PRESENT AND FUTURE
These early years are the most trying years for guidance counselors. The full emotional
impact of helping guide teenagers through difficult personal decisions and
life-changing options presents itself to the new hire. Many counselors opt for different
occupations after the first couple of years. Individuals who remain must learn to keep
personal and professional decisions separate while maintaining warm relationships with students.
This juggling act is difficult to manage, particularly in the first few years when older
students are making critical decisions but have no context in which to trust in your ability to
help them.
FIVE YEARS OUT
Individuals who’ve survived five years as guidance counselors face a much more stable
work environment, from which less than 5 percent leave each year. Counselors
learn to interpret standardized tests and improve their communication skills with
students. Many of them become involved in conferences, lectures, and conventions where
issues about vocational and academic counseling are discussed. The hours decrease and pay
increases, but administrative duties may increase as well. Many schools like to see a continuous
development of guidance-counseling programs, so creative thinking is a must.
TEN YEARS OUT
Ten-year veterans, for the most part, have found positions where they are happy and
satisfied. Pay levels off, and, unless they want to assume additional duties, guidance
counselors can expect only cost-of-living salary adjustments. Guidance counselors
continue in the same roles as before, but many of them exercise their seniority to initiate parent/
teacher programs that provide a further safety net for troubled teens.