School Counselor Resume Examples & Templates
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School counselors are an important part of the school community and are crucial in supporting students’ academic, career, personal and social development while helping create a positive and inclusive school culture.
With our expertly crafted school counselor resume samples and pro tips, we’ll help you write a resume highlighting your expert counseling, communication and problem-solving skills.
Start by editing this sample resume for a school counselor, or explore our library of customizable resume templates to find appeals to your unique style.
School counselor resume example (text version)
Sarah Fielding
Naples, FL 34106
555-555-5555
example@example.com
Skills
- Program development and management
- Data-driven decision making
- Individual and family support
- Diverse groups presentations
- Professional referral network
- Student progress reporting
- Attention to detail
- Active listening
Education
Florida International University Miami, FL
Master of Science Counselor Education
School Counseling Track
Florida Career College Miami, FL
Bachelor of Arts School Counseling
Certifications
School Counseling Certification – (Updated 2023)
Professional Summary
Determined school counselor with success in helping students achieve educational goals and personal well-being. Talented in meeting the objectives of the counseling program by providing preventative education, advocacy, mediation and counseling to students. Sensitive to socioeconomic and cultural differences of students.
Work History
June 2016 – Current
St Thomas High School – Jacksonville, FL
School Counselor
- Identify and address concerns of incoming students and parents, up to over 15 per day.
- Counsel students wherein behavior, school progress and mental or physical impairment indicated the need for assistance, diagnosing students’ problems and arranging for needed services.
- Create and design marketing materials for student recruitment and retention.
August 2012 – June 2015
West Borrow Middle School – Miami Gardens, FL
Guidance Counselor Assistant
- Analyzed student data to assess counseling program effectiveness and make improvements.
- Provided referrals for community resources and mental health professionals for over 200 families and students.
- Assessed students’ abilities and recommended degree programs to highlight strengths.
October 2009 – July 2012
Myers Middle School – Miami Gardens, FL
Teacher’s Aide
- Promoted physical, mental and social development by implementing classroom games and outdoor recreational activities in two groups of 20 students.
- Supported instructor with test administration, curriculum development and assignment grading.
- Completed and filed all necessary paperwork for classroom activities, including meal count sheets and attendance logs.
Important resume sections
Contact details
Begin your resume with an accurate and up-to-date contact section so hiring managers can reach you to schedule interviews. As our sample school counselor resume shows, you should include your full name, city, state, ZIP code, phone number and professional email address. If you have a professional website, LinkedIn profile or any other professional networking profile, you can add them to this section.
Personal statement
A school counselor resume summary is a three-to-five sentence statement that tells hiring managers how long you have been in this field, highlights some of your strongest job-relevant skills and showcases one or two quantifiable accomplishments that help demonstrate your positive impact in past roles. For example:
Dedicated and results-driven school counselor with 10 years of experience fostering student success in academic, career, and social development. Proven ability to build rapport with diverse student populations, providing effective individual and group counseling. Successfully designed and implemented a comprehensive college readiness program, resulting in a 26% increase in FAFSA applications and scholarship awards. Skilled in crisis intervention, conflict resolution and stakeholder collaboration to create a supportive and inclusive school environment.
See our expertly developed samples for additional school counselor summary examples. If you are just starting your career, it might be better to include a resume objective for a school counselor.
Skills
Using bullet points to create a balanced skills section for your school counselor resume can be helpful. Check out our school counselor sample resume for ideas on formatting your skills section. Here are some essential skills for a school counselor:
- Communication: This is the foundation of the counselor-student relationship, as it helps counselors build trust, understand student concerns and provide appropriate guidance.
- Problem-solving: School counselors are constantly faced with diverse challenges and strong problem-solving skills enable them to assess situations, identify root causes, develop creative solutions and implement effective interventions.
- Cultural competence: Schools are diverse communities, and counselors must be culturally competent to understand and respect students’ unique backgrounds.
- Advocacy: Students can face many barriers to success due to a variety of factors, and school counselors may need to advocate for students to ensure their needs are met.
Try to match skills from the job description to demonstrate your job-relevant strengths. As you can see in our sample school counselor resume, it’s best to include hard skills, like counseling techniques, assessment and data analysis, and soft skills, like collaboration, active listening and empathy.
Work history
Your resume should also include a work history section, even if this happens to be your first professional job. Start with your most recent role and work chronologically if you have had multiple jobs. Ensure you provide company names, job titles, locations and the dates you worked in those roles.
Include three-to-five bullet points for each job and aim to effectively describe your responsibilities while highlighting your most relevant skills and accomplishments for each role, quantifying your achievements when possible. Here are some examples of school counselor resume bullet points:
- Provided individual and group counseling to over 150 students annually, resulting in a 20% decrease in disciplinary referrals and a 15% increase in academic performance among at-risk students.
- Collaborated with 10 teachers and administrators to design and implement a school-wide emotional learning curriculum, effectively decreasing bullying incidents by 30%.
- Analyzed student data to identify trends in academic performance, attendance and behavioral concerns, leading to improved development of targeted interventions.
If you are writing a resume for a school counselor with no experience, you can also highlight volunteer work, internships, practicums and extracurricular activities that helped you learn and hone relevant skills. Check out our resume examples for school counselors to see additional work history section samples.
Education
As you can see in our sample resume for a school counselor, it’s important to include an education section on your resume.
In this section, you will want to begin with the highest degree you have obtained and work backward, showing the degree title, name of the school or institution and graduation year.
School counselors typically need a bachelor’s degree in education, psychology, or a related field, as well as a master’s degree in school counseling.
In addition to those degrees, you will likely need to obtain state licensure or certification. Still, these requirements can vary from state to state, so it’s essential to research your specific state.
You can see how to list education on a resume for additional tips and examples.
See why MyPerfectResume is a 5-star resume builder
Action words for your resume
Including action words in your resume can help make your descriptions more compelling and engaging for hiring managers. Here is a short list of action words that you could consider including in your school counselor resume:
- Interpret
- Support
- Resolve
- Liaise
- Counsel
- Mediate
- Mentor
- Encourage
- Guide
- Relate
- Advise
- Motivate
- Assess
- Facilitate
- Collaborate
- Implement
- Plan
- Develop
- Monitor
- Track
- Consult
- Research
- Partner
Want more inspiration? We have 800+ resume examples to help you write a professional school counselor resume.
Best skills for your resume
You should carefully review job descriptions to match the required skills for your target roles to the ones that align with your experience. Here are some key skills that you may want to include in your school counselor resume skills section:
- Individual counseling
- Group counseling
- Crisis intervention
- Assessment
- Referral expertise
- Conflict resolution
- Parent communication
- Program evaluation
- Program development
- Data analysis
- Academic advising
- Career counseling
- Mental health literacy
- Cultural competence
- Advocacy
- Special education
- Active listening
- Rapport building
- Collaboration
- Time management
- Problem-solving
Our Resume Builder has all the tools you need to create a professional resume in minutes! We’ll help you fill in your template, make edits on the fly, download and save your finished resume in multiple file formats.
Certifications for your resume
A school counselor’s resume could include several certifications and licenses, some of which might be required to demonstrate their knowledge and expertise, depending on your state.
Some relevant certifications to consider include:
- State Licensure or Certification
- National Certified Counselor (NCC)
- ASCA-Certified School Counselor (ACSC)
- Certified Trauma Professional (CTP)
- College Admissions Counseling Certificate (CACC)
- Certified Substance Abuse Counselor (CSAC)
- Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC)
Adding relevant certifications to a resume highlights your commitment to the profession and expertise in specific areas critical to school counseling roles.
Pair your resume with a matching cover letter
FAQ
What is the best resume format for a school counselor?
The appropriate resume format often depends on your experience level and career goals. Suppose you are a recent graduate or a first-time job seeker. In that case, it’s typically better to use a functional resume format, which emphasizes relevant skills and training rather than work experience.
If, on the other hand, you already have several years of experience, a chronological resume format will help you focus on your work history and accomplishments.
Another option would be a combination resume format, which presents a balanced mix of skills and work and could be a good choice for job seekers with just a few years of experience.
How do I list a school counselor certification or license on my resume?
Public school counselors must typically obtain a state-issued license or certification, so including these credentials on one’s resume is important.
Once you have obtained your license and any other certifications that could improve your candidacy, you can add them to the education section of your resume with the name of the certification or license, the state and body that issued the credential and the associated date.
You could also consider mentioning your most relevant or required certifications in your personal statement or resume summary so that you can quickly emphasize that you possess the necessary qualifications to be considered for the position.
What should be included in a school counselor resume summary?
The personal statement or resume summary for your school counselor resume should be designed to catch the reader’s attention and spark interest in you as a potential fit for the role.
Pay close attention to the job description to tailor your summary accordingly and demonstrate your fit for the specific role you are applying for.
It can also be beneficial to mention other role-specific attributes or experiences you possess and key skills or notable achievements that further highlight your strong fit for the role.
The aim should be to keep your summary concise, relevant and impactful to make a strong impression on the hiring manager.
Best practices
- Use measurable achievements to describe your skills and experience as a school counselor. For example: “Spearheaded a school-wide mental health awareness campaign, resulting in a 25% increase in student utilization of counseling services and a 10% decrease in self-reported anxiety levels among participating students.”
- Use action words to make an impact on your school counselor resume.
- Tailor your resume to your target counseling job.
- Use keywords from the job description throughout your school counselor resume.
- Format your school counselor resume so that it is easy to read by ATS software and human eyes.
- Lie about your counseling experience and skills.
- Boast that you are the “most qualified school counselor in the country.” Instead, focus on concrete examples of your experience supporting students’ academic, career, personal and social development.
- Include irrelevant personal information, such as your ethnicity and age.
- Add skills and experience that do not align with a counseling role.
- Forget to proofread. A school counselor resume with errors is unprofessional. Use our ATS Resume Checker to scan for 30+ common mistakes and improve your resume score.
Interview tips
Research first.
Before your interview, learn about the school and district to fully grasp its history, goals, values and people. Here are a few specific areas you might consider researching as you prepare for your interviews:
- School mission and values: Ensure you understand the school’s mission statement, educational philosophy, values, culture and community involvement.
- District information: Examine the broader district’s goals, strategic plans, funding and policies to understand the wider educational environment.
- Achievements and challenges: Learn about the school’s accomplishments, like awards or recognitions, and be aware of any difficulties or issues the school might face, like declining enrollment or administration changes.
Researching this information will help you convey interest, passion and commitment, all traits that will help set you apart from other candidates.
Practice your answers.
Practicing is an important part of your interview preparation, as it can help you be more confident and improve your performance during the interview. While you don’t want to sound overly rehearsed, it can be helpful to review common interview questions like:
- How have you motivated others?
- Why did you choose this career?
- What is most important to you in your job?
It’s also helpful to prepare for common behavioral interview questions, such as:
- Describe a time when you put your needs aside to help a colleague.
- Describe a time your colleagues disagreed with you.
- Provide an example of how you handle change.
You should also prepare for some job-specific questions, like:
- What are your preferred counseling theories or modalities?
- Share an example of a successful group counseling session that you facilitated. What were the goals, and how did you achieve them?
- What strategies have you implemented to create a more inclusive school environment?
- How do you approach college and career counseling? What resources do you use to help students explore their options?
- What school-wide programs or initiatives have you developed or implemented, and how did you assess their effectiveness?
- How do you use data to inform your counseling practices? What data sources do you use?
It can be helpful to write down two or three possible answers or talking points to questions like these, then try practicing them out loud with a friend.
Prepare questions to ask during the interview.
Near the end of your interview, you are usually offered the opportunity to ask the hiring manager some questions.
You should always have at least three questions for each person you speak with to show that you’re interested and have been paying close attention.
Some questions that you could consider asking for a school counselor role are:
- How would you characterize the student body and their needs?
- What are the school’s priorities for the counseling program in the coming year?
- How is the school counselor’s role integrated into the school system, and how do counselors collaborate with teachers, administrators and other staff?
- What resources are available to support the school counseling program?
- How does the school encourage collaboration and shared learning among its staff?
- How is the performance of the counseling program evaluated within the district?
Prepare references.
Have your professional references ready before your interview. You never know when the hiring manager might request them, so being prepared is important. Make a list of two former colleagues and a former supervisor who can speak highly about your performance as a school counselor or your experience working within a school community.
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Toni is a Career Expert who has been providing career advice to professionals for over 16 years. Her areas of expertise include interview prep, salary negotiation, resume writing and career change coaching.
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