Guidance Counselor Jobs

A guidance counselor provides individual counseling sessions to students to help them with educational and personal concerns. Students also help each other by working in small groups with leadership from the guidance counselor. Students share ideas about issues such as problem solving, educational planning, and peer relationships with the help of the guidance counselor. Groups can be small or large. Guidance counselors also help students, parents, and teachers by collecting information about student abilities, behaviors, and achievements so that decisions can be made about educational placement and instructions. Guidance counselors are referral agents who help students and their families receive assistance from other programs and services in the school system and from agencies outside the school. Guidance counselors also consult with teachers and parents to plan appropriate services for every child.

A guidance counselor must respond to everything from the most mundane problems of a child to crisis situations. A solid college and graduate school education, along with relevant training and experience, are the requirements for guidance counselor jobs. Guidance counselors can help students to understand and learn to deal with the intellectual, emotional, social, and physical changes that occur in a student’s transition from childhood to adolescence.