Guidance Counselor Resume: Examples and Tips
As the name implies, a guidance counselor advises and helps students make good academic and personal decisions, providing assistance for setting career goals and support for emotional development. To do well in this role, you should be expected to have expertise in educational counseling, the ability to interact with students, and have exceptional communication and interpersonal skills.
Use these resume tips and examples to create a distinguished resume that gets you the counseling job you want:
Table of Contents
Featured Resume Example: Guidance Counselor
Name : NATE FISCHER
Address: City, State, Zip Code
Phone: 000-000-0000
E-Mail: email@email.com
PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
Determined Guidance Counselor with success in helping student 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 difference of students.
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
Communication:
- Maintained positive relationships with students, faculty, alumni and administration.
- Conducted community workshops to promote different programs and educate public on available services.
- Conferred with representatives of local governments to assess and meet community needs.
Program Management:
- Gathered necessary paperwork and applications for students to initiate enrollment process.
- Used data to monitor students’ progress and recommend solutions for improvement.
- Worked with financial aid office to verify student’s’ applications and discuss payment options.
Education:
- Provided one-on-one and group counseling for students.
- Evaluated and documented student progress and behavior, recommending tactics to improve tutoring effectiveness.
- Improved test scores by focusing on reading comprehension through one-on-one tutoring sessions.
WORK HISTORY
September 2018 to Current
Company Name, City, State
March 2016 to August 2018
Company Name, City, State
April 2015 to September 2017
Company Name, City, State
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS
- Conflict resolution and mediation expertise.
- Group supervision and management experience along with First aid and CPR certification
- Pleasant individual with patience and compassion to work with children of all ages.
SKILLS
- Individualized education programs
- Student records management
- Counseling and therapy
- Professional referral network
- Individual and family support
- Mediation and crisis intervention
EDUCATION
Master of Science Counseling And Student Services
Company Name, City, State
Top 4 Characteristics of a Best-in-Class Guidance Counselor Resume
- Summary Give a quick overview (two to three sentences) of your work experience and skills, focusing on accomplishments and traits that match what the employer is looking for. For example: “Dedicated guidance counselor with 8+ years of experience mentoring high school students, in one-and-one and group settings.”
- Skills Break this section into two categories: hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are abilities that you’ve learned over time, such as student registration and placement, crisis intervention and familiarity with school regulations. Soft skills are intangible traits that impact how you do your job, such as strong networking abilities, decision-making, leadership and a positive attitude.
- Work experience For each previous job, feature three to five bullet points describing your top achievements and responsibilities. Quantify your accomplishments, wherever possible, to give more context. For example: “Promoted school counseling services through 20+ external presentations, classes, and workshops”).
- Education List your highest academic degree, along with the name and location of the institution where you got it. Also mention any licenses, additional training or certifications that show your expertise, as well as professional affiliations, such as membership in the American Counseling Association or the American School Counseling Association.
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Find the Right Template for Your Resume
Get your resume noticed by using one of these professionally-designed templates:
Cool
This simple, strong layout uses two columns to easily differentiate work experience from skills. The striking header font and contrasting colors ensures good readability.
Knowledgeable
This template neatly organizes each section using shaded headers, making for easy scanning navigation. The elegant font for the job seeker’s name adds a touch of class.
Pacific
This design sets itself apart using bold colors for the header, while leaving plenty of leeway to customize each section.
Check out our complete assortment of resume templates in our templates section.
Do’s and Don’ts for Your Resume
- DO focus on soft skills. While practical skills and certifications are important for counseling work, how effective you are will depend on your soft skills — the personal traits you bring to your interactions with others. Look for soft skills in the job posting such as “service-oriented” or “proactive,” match them with your own skills, and feature them throughout your resume. For example, you can use soft skills in your summary: “Dedicated and compassionate guidance counselor with 8+ years of professional experience.” For more in-demand soft skills you can use, see our Top Resume Skills page.
- DO review your resume. Counselors need to set an example for students in terms of reliability and accuracy, so apply those qualities to your resume. Proofread your document a few times to catch grammatical mistakes. Make sure your information is appropriate for the job you want and correct. When you use our Resume Builder to create your resume, our tools can do the checking for you.
- DO include job-specific keywords. It’s true: keywords are key when creating your resume. To feature the right keywords that get employers’ attention, scan the job description for the position you want and note the most important tasks and qualifications (e.g., “coordination of all standardized and college placement testing,” or “innovative problem-solving”). Come up with experiences and skills of your own that meet these needs, and feature them throughout your resume. For example, you could write “problem-solving” as a skill, or describe a previous work experience in which you helped manage placement testing in your work history section. For more keyword advice, see our article How to Use Keywords Effectively.
- DON’T make your resume overlong. Hiring managers only spend a few seconds to review a resume, on average, so keep your document short and sweet. Aim for two pages at most, and zero-in on top skills, strengths, and work accomplishments relevant to the position you’re applying for. Instead of long paragraphs, use bullet points and punchy phrases, and limit your work history section to the last 10 years.
- DON’T forget to list relevant activities or certifications. Many schools require a license or certification to be a guidance counselor, so be sure to include this information in your education section. Additional non-professional experiences (such as volunteering as a camp counselor) or certifications in related areas can also improve your chance for a job opportunity, so be sure to mention them here too (or create a separate “Certifications and Activities” section if you have enough of them). Some examples:
- C3 Conference-Career and College Readiness
- Recognizing and Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect
- Foundations of Disaster Mental Health for Guidance Counselors
- Counseling, K-12 certificate
- National Certified School Counselor (NCSC) certificate
- DON’T get too fancy with your resume layout. While it’s important that your resume make a good visual statement, going too far with unusual fonts and graphics can defeat the purpose, especially if it results in your resume being misread by recruiters or the software they use to scan resumes. Focus more on your content, and use a straightforward layout for your document.
Guidance Counselor Resume FAQs
- 1. What skills should you emphasize for a guidance counselor position?
- 2. How should you format your resume?
- 3. How should you craft your resume if you’re looking to move up in your career?
- 4. Why is quantifying your accomplishments important?
- 5. How should you use action verbs?
1. What skills should you emphasize for a guidance counselor position?
| Hard skills: | Soft skills: |
| Registration and placement | Time management |
| Scheduling | Communication |
| Mentoring programs | Leadership |
| Crisis management | Friendly approach |
| Community partnerships | Mentorship |
| Classroom guidance | Problem-solving |
| Student assessments | Organizational skills |
| Developmental awareness | Relationship building |
| Career planning | Interpersonal skills |
| Administrative support | Team player |
| Proficiency in specific software (e.g., Impero) | Problem-solving |
| Activity planning | Critical thinking |
| Curriculum coordination | Decision-making |
| Career presentations |
| Hard skills: |
| Registration and placement |
| Scheduling |
| Mentoring programs |
| Crisis management |
| Community partnerships |
| Classroom guidance |
| Student assessments |
| Developmental awareness |
| Career planning |
| Administrative support |
| Proficiency in specific software (e.g., Impero) |
| Activity planning |
| Curriculum coordination |
| Career presentations |
| Soft skills: |
| Time management |
| Communication |
| Leadership |
| Friendly approach |
| Mentorship |
| Problem-solving |
| Organizational skills |
| Relationship building |
| Interpersonal skills |
| Team player |
| Problem-solving |
| Critical thinking |
| Decision-making |
2. How should you format your resume?
Your resume format, or how your resume will be organized, will depend on your skills and work experience. Choose the chronological format if you can show off plenty of counseling work experience and career progress. The combination format is another good option if you want to display a combination of key skills and work achievements. If you’re new to counseling or a fresh graduate, try the functional format, which focuses on skills and training you already have that can be applied to counseling work.
3. How should you craft your resume if you’re looking to move up in your career?
If you’re looking to eventually move on to a more senior position, consider including the following achievements and qualifications in your resume:
- Examples of successfully mentoring students to overcome academic and emotional challenges
- Additional training or coursework that has improved your understanding of child development and behavior
- Examples of hitting goals and targets set by school management, as well as any recognitions you’ve received for your work (e.g., voted “Best Guidance Counselor” by students)
- Advanced degree in education, counseling or related area
4. Why is quantifying your accomplishments important?
Look at this sentence: “Provided academic counseling.” Not bad, but it doesn’t really provide any detail for the reader. On the other hand, “Provided academic counseling to 500+ high school students” tells recruiters how effective and hard-working you are. Always use numbers and stats when you can to demonstrate how you’ve generated exceptional results, or handled large rasks.
5. How should you use action verbs?
When describing your skills, achievements and responsibilities, always use action verbs to energize them. “Managed student workshops” certainly makes you look like you’re more in charge, compared to “Tasked with student workshops.” Some of the action verbs that you can use include:
- Guided
- Instructed
- Achieved
- Developed
- Communicated
- Assisted
- Scheduled
- Organized
- Designed
- Assigned
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