Career Counselor
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Career Counselor works with adults of all ages to plan career choices and access the education and training needed to support a career. Gives skills assessment and aptitude tests to clients. Provides job search assistance or training for general workplace skills. Provides referrals for workplace literacy, academic or job training programs, or direct job referrals.
Job Outlook
There were 1024 Career Counselor job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 31852 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Career Counselor industry, which includes the Career Counselor career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Career Counselor jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $61,970.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $61,194.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Career Counselor postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $50,408.
Education and Experience
Posted Career Counselor jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 51.43% |
| Master's Degree | 17.74% |
| Doctoral Degree | 2.04% |
| Other | 27.09% |
Posted Career Counselor jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 61.62% |
| 3 to 5 years | 33.72% |
| 6 to 8 years | 3.27% |
| 9+ years | 1.38% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Career Counselor positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Communication (43.67%)
- Coaching (21.56%)
- Writing (21.47%)
- Planning (20.3%)
- Management (17.71%)
- Customer Service (17.59%)
- Microsoft Office (15.66%)
- Presentations (14.85%)
- Leadership (14.55%)
- Interpersonal Communications (13.81%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Career Counseling (16.13%)
- Career Management (11.57%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Mental Health (6.87%)
- Disabilities (11.81%)
- Social Work (22.33%)
- Medical Records (12.03%)
- Human Services (16.76%)
- Case Management (23.69%)
- Marketing (13.59%)
- Workforce Development (14.95%)
- Psychology (14.48%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Employability Development (4.54%)
- Labor Market Trends (2.18%)
- Job Search Strategies (8.06%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Career Counselor skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Job Coach
- Career Coach
- Career Advisor
- Job Developer
- Career Navigator
- Career Specialist
- Employment Specialist
- Career Transition Specialist
- Planner
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Program Coordinator
- Social / Human Services Manager
- Academic / Guidance Counselor
- Higher Education Program Coordinator
- Social / Human Service Assistant
- Higher Education Administrator
- Enrollment / Admission Counselor
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Career Counselor jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Goodwill (1006)
- Year Up (293)
- Equus Workforce Solutions (265)
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (204)
- Eckerd Connects (204)
- Management & Training Corporation (200)
- Ernst & Young (177)
- Redfin (172)
- Educational Data Systems (165)
- PRIDE Industries (140)
North Carolina
- State of North Carolina (45)
- Goodwill (25)
- Wake County Public Schools (19)
- Brunswick Community College (18)
- University of North Carolina (16)
- Lifespan Services (16)
- Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools (16)
- Johnston County Industries (15)
- Cumberland County Schools (15)
- Oe Enterprises (14)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
- Clinical Mental Health Counseling Master's Degrees
- College Counseling and Student Development Master's Degrees
- Counselor Education Graduate Certificates
- School Counseling Master's Degrees
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.