Searching for a School Counselor Degree? The professional life of a school counselor is extremely difficult, but also extremely rewarding.

School Counselors are responsible for helping students with their problems, by giving them guidance on a number of issues, ranging from academic advice to helping them overcome social misgivings. The students that a counselor encounters are going through one of the most transformational and often difficult time of their lives, so it is important to be prepared for some turbulence in this career.

However, if you are interested in getting your School Counselor Degree, there are many avenues you can take. Before setting out on this career path, you should do some internal searching – is this the right choice for you? Will you be able to dedicate yourself to helping others? Are you prepared for the tough days, as well as the satisfying days?

If you’ve determined that counseling is right for you, now is a great time to get your school counselor degree. Before you go after this, there are some lesser known ways for you to get a leg up on the competition once you graduate.

During your degree, you can use your spare time to volunteer at a help hotline, peer counseling or other related fields. Although you might not get paid, the fact that you will obtain experience will look great on your resume as well as help you in later schooling.

Education Requirements

School Counselors require both a Bachelor Degree as well as a Masters in School Counseling Degree. You technically can choose any Bachelor degree in order to move on to your graduate work, but there are some degrees that will set you apart as someone who is professionally committed to counseling from the beginning. A degree in education, psychology or sociology will make the application process for your Masters School Counselor Degree much smoother.

Once you’ve attained your Bachelor Degree, you could move on to your Master Degree, but there are a few things you can do before you start your graduate work. First, you could get a teacher’s license – because most school counselors work in public and elementary schools, this will be a great help to you when you apply for a job. You should also apply to many graduate schools, as opposed to just one or two. With experience and a related Bachelor Degree, even those seemingly out of reach schools might just accept you into their School Counselor Degree program.

Once you’ve begun your Masters, you need to begin looking in to the laws pertaining to counselors in your state. Some require a teacher’s license, some require a counselor’s license and still others require some form of certification in conjunction with related experience. This should be researched thoroughly, so that you can enter the professional field immediately upon graduation.