High school is a time when students often find themselves in tricky situations in which their teachers and parents cannot help them much.
Being in the school itself can be quite a stressful thing. Many people drop out of school, due to the sheer pressure of education, and social existence.
This is where the role of a counselor is most profound. A high school counselor does not only help in retaining students, but also provides them with assistance in dealing with problems at school, and helps them in making informed choices about courses and programs.
High School Counselor Job Description
High school counselors assist students in handling the often challenging cases associated with adulthood and education. They may help students on a personal or academic level, depending on what they require.
A degree in psychology is usually a prerequisite for someone working as a high school counselor. In addition to this, it is essential for him or her to be able to understand and help with problems and issues that high school students go through. In fact, many counselors help students decide what courses to take up or which colleges to apply to after they graduate from high school.
Working as a high school counselor is indeed no walk in the park. The work is challenging to say the least, and one often feels the responsibility of assigned students on one’s shoulders.
A patient attitude, the ability to incorporate counseling plans into the student curriculum, and the will to help are just some of the required skills of a counselor.
If this is the work that you want to do (and have the necessary qualifications for), you may refer to the following list of duties to determine what to add to your high school counselor resume.
High School Counselor Duties & Responsibilities
- Engage students in conversation to determine their individual needs and requirements, to help developmentally, socially, and academically.
- Create and implement programs to meet the individualized requirements of each assigned student.
- Plan and promote programs to enhance the academic, social, and emotional growth of students.
- Meet with students who have been identified as non-compliant, and determine the cause of their behavior.
- Analyze students’ behavior to determine causes and effects of them on their academic presence and provide correlating solutions.
- Take teachers and parents into confidence, explain students’ problems and propose solutions.
- Assist students in choosing courses that are consistent with their interests and abilities and career plans.
- Organize and promote standardized assessments to gauge students’ abilities and provide correlating reports.
- Help students in developing a post-high-school plan per their interests and career plans.
- Assess students’ personal and academic attributes and help them realize their strengths.
- Identify behavioral problems in students and provide both feedback and resolution plans to parents, teachers, and school administration.
- Study students’ records to look for past problems or issues, and update them with updated information.
- Look through students’ files to determine their backgrounds, and form opinions about their future aspirations.
- Conduct student interviews to determine what their specific academic and co-curricular goals and objectives are.
- Listen to students intently, to find out what they are looking for in a program or a course.
- Provide suggestions regarding specified programs, and which courses to undertake, according to their specific strengths and limitations.
- Deliver individual and group guidance curricula to support student development initiatives.
- Provide students with assistance in course placement and scheduling and prepare and review transcripts.
- Analyze students’ data and develop data-driven programs for intervention action plans.
- Assist students in determining their limitations and working with them to overcome them or come to terms with them.
- Assist students in the acquisition of study skills, and academic opportunities.
- Support standardized testing programs, parent education, and staff development initiatives.
- Counsel students regarding problems associated with peers, and teachers, aiming to resolve issues immediately.
- Provide emotional support to students, undergoing stressful situations at school, or home.
High School Counselor Qualifications
- To be considered eligible to work as a high school counselor, you have to possess a degree in psychology, education, or sociology.
- Apart from formal education, one has to maintain the ability to handle students from different walks of life and be able to manage their problems effectively.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills go a long way toward helping counselors work well with students.
- It is also imperative to be able to think like a high school student, to understand their problems, and provide viable solutions.
Conclusion
Working as a high school counselor is complicated work, as you have to work with so many different students, ensuring their emotional wellbeing at all times. There is another aspect of the work that one has to perform while working as a high school counselor – creating and implementing programs that positively impact the school’s instructional goals.