Careers > Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors

$60.14K Median Salary 35K Job Openings (Annual Projection) 11.5% Job Growth

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About This Career

Advise and assist students and provide educational and vocational guidance services.

Reported Job Titles

Academic Advisor, Academic Counselor, Admissions Counselor, Career Counselor, College Counselor, Guidance Counselor, School Adjustment Counselor, School Counselor, Student Development Advisor, Student Services Coordinator

Career data shown for:

Skills You'll Need

Click on skills to find related courses.

Abilities

Oral Expression

Oral Comprehension

Problem Sensitivity

Written Comprehension

Written Expression

Deductive Reasoning

Inductive Reasoning

Speech Clarity

Fluency of Ideas

Information Ordering

Speech Recognition

Near Vision

Originality

Selective Attention

Category Flexibility

Knowledge

Therapy and Counseling

Psychology

Education and Training

English Language

Administrative

Customer and Personal Service

Sociology and Anthropology

Skills

Active Listening

Social Perceptiveness

Speaking

Reading Comprehension

Service Orientation

Critical Thinking

Writing

Active Learning

Complex Problem Solving

Coordination

Instructing

Judgment and Decision Making

Persuasion

Learning Strategies

Monitoring

Negotiation

Time Management

Systems Analysis

Systems Evaluation

Management of Personnel Resources

Technology Skills

Data base user interface and query software

Analytical or scientific software

Computer based training software

Web page creation and editing software

Project management software

Electronic mail software

Presentation software

Spreadsheet software

Medical software

Graphics or photo imaging software

Video conferencing software

Enterprise resource planning ERP software

Cloud-based data access and sharing software

Word processing software

Internet browser software

Network monitoring software

Development environment software

Desktop communications software

Desktop publishing software

Video creation and editing software

Customer relationship management CRM software

Network conferencing software

Office suite software

Instant messaging software

Data base reporting software

Human resources software

Web platform development software

Information retrieval or search software

Mobile messaging service software

Tools

Liquid crystal display projector

Photocopiers

Videoconferencing systems

Notebook computers

Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers

Instant messaging platform

Digital voice recorders

Digital camcorders or video cameras

Digital video disk players or recorders

Desktop computers

Overhead projectors

Personal computers

Video cassette players or recorders

Abilities

Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.

Knowledge

Therapy and Counseling: Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Psychology: Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Education and Training: Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Administrative: Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Sociology and Anthropology: Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

Skills

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Instructing: Teaching others how to do something.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Persuasion: Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Learning Strategies: Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Negotiation: Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Systems Analysis: Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Systems Evaluation: Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Management of Personnel Resources: Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.

Technology Skills

Data base user interface and query software: Blackboard software; Database software; Microsoft Access; Yardi software
Analytical or scientific software: Statistical analysis software; TapRooT
Computer based training software: BrainTrain IVA+Plus; Language arts educational software; Math educational software
Web page creation and editing software: Facebook; Google Sites; LinkedIn; Social media sites
Project management software: Mavenlink; Microsoft Project
Electronic mail software: IBM Notes; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Outlook
Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint
Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel
Medical software: Henry Schein Dentrix; Medical condition coding software; Medical procedure coding software; MEDITECH software
Graphics or photo imaging software: SmugMug Flickr
Video conferencing software: Teleconferencing software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software: Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne; Oracle PeopleSoft; Oracle PeopleSoft Financials; SAP software
Cloud-based data access and sharing software: Dropbox; Google Drive; Microsoft SharePoint
Word processing software: 3M Post-it App; Evernote; Google Docs; Microsoft Word
Internet browser software: Web browser software
Network monitoring software: Nagios; Wireshark
Development environment software: Adobe Systems Adobe Creative Suite
Desktop communications software: Edmodo
Desktop publishing software: Adobe Systems Adobe InDesign; Microsoft Publisher
Video creation and editing software: YouTube
Customer relationship management CRM software: Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge; Microsoft Dynamics; Salesforce.com Salesforce CRM
Network conferencing software: LogMeIn GoToWebinar
Office suite software: Microsoft Office software
Instant messaging software: GroupMe
Data base reporting software: SAP BusinessObjects Crystal Reports
Human resources software: ADP Workforce Now
Web platform development software: Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP
Information retrieval or search software: LexisNexis
Mobile messaging service software: Intrado SchoolMessenger

Tools

Liquid crystal display projector: Liquid crystal display LCD projectors
Photocopiers: Photocopying equipment
Videoconferencing systems: Videoconferencing equipment
Notebook computers: Laptop computers
Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers: Personal digital assistants PDA
Instant messaging platform: Yahoo! Messenger
Digital voice recorders: Digital audio recorders
Digital camcorders or video cameras: Digital video cameras
Digital video disk players or recorders: Digital video disk DVD players
Desktop computers:
Overhead projectors: Overhead data projectors
Personal computers:
Video cassette players or recorders: Video cassette recorders VCR

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