INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, School Counselor positions are at a 7% growth rate, which is as fast as average. With that said, there are currently 598,500 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 44,800 to 643,300 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the School Counselor jobs was $60,810 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $40,930, and the highest 10% more than $98,840.
Our conclusion? The School Counselor job market is wide open for candidates.
Top school counselor sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
How to Write the Perfect School Counselor Resume Experience Section
School counselor experience section: checklist
- List your positions in chronological or reverse-chronological order;
- Go for 4-6 bullet points;
- Add only relevant work experience;
- Include information about the challenges you’ve faced, the actions you’ve taken, and the results you’ve achieved;
- Use action verbs instead of filler words.
We’ve selected some of the top School Counselor resumes made using the Enhancv platform to illustrate what a great experience section looks like. Use them as inspiration when building your own resume:
- Carried out counseling sessions with elementary, middle, and high school students.
- Worked on individual plans that best support students' needs.
- Taught Grades 11 and 12 the American Diploma Curriculum of Psychology.
- Directed one-on-one and group meetings with students; identified challenges, worked collaboratively toward solutions, provided emergency counselling and referrals.
- Facilitated access and accompanied students to local resources; women shelters, food banks, mental health crisis centers.
- Monitored and evaluated the academic progresses of a group of 20 young mothers returning to High School.
- Developed a new counseling curriculum in line with modern ASCA guidelines
- Collaborated as a team member in suicide awareness education and revamping protocol for dealing with suicidal ideation in students based off of evidence-based practice provided by NAMI, as well as data collected about our student demographic
- Provided direct and indirect school counseling services. Students seen for short-term therapy saw
- Active team member, attending and contributing to data collection, 504 plans, IEPs, RTI meetings, and Risk Review Meetings
- Assisted students in college and career planning and readiness using programs like Naviance, testing, and counseling
- Provided direct school counseling services to High School Students such as individual counseling and academic advisement
- Provided direct school counseling services to High School Students such as individual counseling and academic advisement
- Provided indirect school counseling services such as consultation to school professionals, community members, and parents
- Active team member, attending and contributing to data collection, 504 plans, IEPs, RTI meetings, and Risk Review Meetings
- Educating the whole child, understanding that academic success is inextricably interwoven with healthy social and personal development
- Design and implement programs that anticipate and respond to the counseling needs of the school, including collaborating on the development and implementation of child protection lessons for all students
- Running parent education courses and regular Coffee Mornings
- Sitting as the Child Safeguarding Officer for the campus and attending monthly Child Safeguarding meetings
- Actively building the positive learning climate of the school
- Participation in-school field trips, including overnight trips
- Supporting families with transitions in/out of JIS
- Managing a caseload of 250 students, covering the four ISCA domains
- Delivering a comprehensive transition program for students, families and teachers
- Member of Child Safeguarding Team and Officer for the campus
- Adviser for student council from 2017-2019
- Started an Eco club to empower students to participate and take up meaningful environmental activities and projects
- Implemented school wide ‘Social Behavior Mapping’ & ‘The Zones of Regulation’
- Facilitated individual counseling and small group counseling based on student need
- Conducted parent education workshops and book clubs
- Designed and delivered a comprehensive school counseling program
- Prepared students for transitions from grade to grade and from school to school
- Coordinated and organized student assessments
- Healthy relationships instructor for grades K-8 using CPS mandated curriculum
- Ran small groups based on student need, met with students individually based on needs
- Coordinated and implemented Successful HS Fairs and Career Days
- Account Manager for secondary schools and build closer relationship with the school counselors.
- Plan and organise campus visits and events for the schools.
- Provide programme and career counseling to prospective students from various sources.
- Manage Customer Relation Management (CRM) and Partner School Account Management (PSAM) system.
- Participate and carry out public and school exhibitions.
- Provided culturally responsive ongoing personal social/ academic/ career and crisis counseling for students with diverse issues and backgrounds.
- Facilitated counseling groups including anger management, coa, grief, social skills, divorce, teen issues, addictions, and study skills.
- Completed student scheduling including construction of master schedule and all schedule changes for school.
- Conducted and coordinated student services team, parent meetings, faculty training, team meetings.
- Case managed all school 504 plans. Collaborated w/ SPED and School Psychologists.
- Maintained active school presence and developed relationships with parents and all stakeholders.
- Actively collaborated with community agencies to provide integrated service provision for students and families.
- College admissions outreach and advocacy for virtual school students
- Coordinated and assured compliance with all aspects of programming under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act for high school students. Provided outreach, referrals, and intervention as appropriate.
- Managed and developed individual academic plans for 180 students
- Maintained confidential documentation and personalized academic plans for 180 students
- Administered and interpreted academic and interest assessment data
- Coordinated 504 plans; identified appropriate interventions in consultation with parents, staff and faculty
- Initiated military and college admissions outreach & student advocacy
- Accountable for providing academic, emotional and personal support to 9th grade students during their critical transitional year.
- Responsible for all special education students in grades 9th through 12th.
- Participated in annual review meetings for special education students.
- Assisted with the development of the master schedule for special education students.
- Served as PARCC administrator and proctor, working wtih multiple stakeholders to ensure successful testing sessions for three years.
- Worked with general education students and students with Specific Learning Disabilities in the areas of Mathematics and Reading, ADHD, ED, and ODD
- Implemented the use of Crazy 8's Mathematics Curriculum
- Created and implemented tutoring plans in the areas of English Language Arts and Mathematics
- Assisted in tutoring students in the areas of English Language Arts and Mathematics
- Made sure children completed homework each day.
- Helped reinforce lessons learned throughout the school day.
- Responsible for 15+ 3rd and 4th graders
- Support and assist the school counselor in all needed tasks.
- Assist organizing all school advisory session.
- Communicate with all school students.
- Schedule appointments with teachers and parents.
- Translations help for the ES/MS School Counselor.
- Working across school with students from k - 12 grades.
- Involved in conducting in-house psycho-educational assessments of students with specific learning disorders and writing reports for the same.
- Involved in social, emotional & behavioral of counseling students with varied anxiety related concerns such as selective mutism, separation anxiety, adjustment related concerns, neurodevelopmental disorders such as learning disabilities, autism, aspergers, social communication disorder.
- Actively working with parents & teachers with respect to the same.
- Collaborating with professionals such as occupational therapists, psychiatrists, speech & language based therapists as national & international level.
- Involved in doing PSHE (Personal Social Health Education) sessions with students on a periodic basis concerning their developmental age & needs.
PRO TIP
Check the School Counselor job description for inspiration. Look for similarities between your employer’s values and your experience.
Action verbs for your school counselor resume
Recommended reads:
School counselor resume: How to write a strong skills section
The ultimate school counselor skills section checklist:
- Balance between all kinds of hard skills – technical, analytical, etc.
- When it comes to technical skills, match them to the job description;
- Add keywords present in the job advert to pass ATS;
- Don’t forget to list transferable skills such as communication, teamwork, work ethic, and presentation skills.
Top Skills for Your School Counselor Resume
Camtasia
Claro
Office 365
SharePoint
Microsoft Office
Google Drive
Career Cruising
Bridges
BigFuture
Skyward
Communication
Leardership
Empathy
Problem solving
Team work
Listening
Influencing
Mentoring and coaching
Motivating
Emotional intelligence
PRO TIP
When describing your experience, don’t go too far from its terminology. Recruiters use ATS systems to filter resumes based on them having certain keywords, so make sure you use at least a few keywords mentioned in the job description.
Recommended reads:
School counselor resume header: tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your school counselor resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Include a link to your portfolio in your School Counselor resume header. Most companies will require that you include one in your resume, and even if they don’t, it’s an excellent opportunity to directly show them your proudest projects.
School counselor resume summary: things to include and things to avoid
Job-winning school counselor resume summary checklist:
- Mention your total years of experience in the field;
- Highlight one or two of your top achievements;
- Avoid getting into too much detail – you’ll do that in the experience section;
- Focus on short sentences that are easy to read and add value to your application.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
Your summary should act as an elevator speech, briefly promoting how you will benefit the employer if hired. Pitch your strengths in the summary and expand on them in your School Counselor experience section. Give examples like how your work benefited each employer.
Recommended Reads:
Highlighting Education, Courses, and Certifications in Your School Counselor Resume
Education section checklist:
- What? Where? What’s the result? Answer these questions when mentioning education and courses on your resume;
- Give preference to courses and degrees that are relevant to the job position;
- Be honest! Some recruiters love checking with colleges and universities to see if you’ve really been enrolled in them;
- Share more about certifications that have helped you turn into a professional, and mention the bodies that have issued them.
Top certifications for your school counselor resume
Character Art School: Complete Character Drawing Course
Learn How to Draw People and Character Drawings Professionally, Drawing for Animation, Comics, Cartoons, Games and More!
College Recruiting Game Plan: WIN at the Recruiting Process
Learn the 28 Action-Taking Tactics to STANDOUT from 10,000 other competing student-athletes to WIN at College Recruiting
How to Get a Tech Job; Interview for and Land Any Job
Land any interview, job or internship in tech with networking, emailing, and interviewing advice from Microsoft PM
Certified Alternative Healing Therapist/Practitioner
Become A Soul Care Provider, Get a Healing Certificate. Be a Spiritual Counselor, Comfort Others, Positive Psychology!
Environment Art School: Complete Perspective Drawing Course
Learn How To Draw Landscapes, How to Draw Perspective, How to Draw Backgrounds and How to Draw Scenes and Create Worlds
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
If you hold a certain major and a minor, your majors should be mentioned first.
School counselor resume format 101
If a couple of years ago School Counselor resumes could be text files with no graphic elements, today’s recruiters need a bit more to remember you.
And yet, you can still choose between three basic resume formats:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
But when it comes to choosing the right format for your School Counselor resume, there are two factors to keep in mind: your experience and whether you’re looking for an industry change.
The reverse-chronological format is the most common one. That being said, it gives recruiters exactly what they’re used to in terms of order and information. However, it’s not suitable for applicants with employment gaps or not enough experience.
We at Enhancv suggest the functional skills-based resume format for people with limited work experience who find reverse-chronological resumes irrelevant. This format showcases the applicant’s most significant accomplishments, skills, and strengths.
Don’t miss our resume format checklist:
- Go for a traditional easy-to-read resume font sized 10-12p;
- Don’t risk it: choose standard 1-inch resume margins;
- Make sure your School Counselor resume fits in one to two pages;
- Save your resume in PDF to avoid having it edited by someone else.
Looking for more tips? Check out our job-winning guide for crafting a resume that gets you remembered!
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Test your draft School Counselor resume by sending it out to peers and mentors in your circles. Ask them to review it as if they are hiring you for a project and implement the feedback afterwards.
Other sections for your school counselor resume
If the position you’re applying for allows for that, you can include some non-traditional sections in your resume. This will add a bit more depth to your application and will also give the hiring manager a better idea of who you are as a person.
Some ideas include:
A school counselor resume recruiters would love
You’ve drafted an amazing School Counselor resume, but are still not sure whether it will make a strong first impression? After all, recruiters go over tens of resumes each day, right?
Right! And the recipe for getting their attention includes a dash of creativity.
What’s more, a creative resume is perfect for adding your personality to the mix. For example, you could mention your favorite books, quotes, movies, or even what your day usually looks like.
Regardless of what you choose, make sure your levels of creativity match the industry, the company, and the position. Otherwise, your resume might look silly and inapt.
What makes a great school counselor resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
