c
  


 
      counselors to have a master's
degree as well, and many schools
Few careers are as potentially rewarding²or
as frustrating²as that of a guidance
require the counselor to be
counselor, whose job it is to help guide and licensed. In the college setting,
structure children¶s educational and counselors may not have a B.A.,
vocational direction as they pass through an
unstable and confusing time in their lives. It but may be experts in their
can be frustrating because you will have teaching area. Sometimes the
limited power to make students follow your guidancecounselor at the college
advice, and often you will face students ³who
don¶t want to think about the day after level is called an academic
tomorrow,´ as one counselor put it. A advisor.
guidance counselor helps students determine
courses of study and possible vocations.
Counselors try to understand what motivates In the elementary setting,
each student as well as his or her skills and guidance counselors are
desires. ³When you¶re doing things right,´ frequently catchall counselors
wrote one, ³it¶s like you¶re another parent,
except they trust you a little more.´ who help to facilitate testing for
Individuals who aspire to enter the field learning disabilities and may also
should be aware that emotional as well as manage Individualized Education
intellectual demands come with the territory.
As most guidance counselors spend over a Plans (IEPs) for students in need
third of their time in consultations with of them. They tend not to offer
students and parents, prospective counselors psychological assistance, but may
should be comfortable with teenagers and
have excellent communication skills. Another participate in observation of
25 percent of a guidance counselor¶s day is students in classroom settings or
spent administering and evaluating tests. in psychological or intelligence
Guidance counselors use the results to
provide context for existing records of testing. Children in need of
academic performance, teacher evaluations, significant counseling for
and a better overall understanding of psychological issues usually meet
students¶ needs. Some guidance counselors
call the continuing education they receive with a school psychologist instead
from the students with whom they work the of a guidancecounselor, although
most interesting feature of the profession. ³I in some schools, funding issues
learned more from them than from any class
in college,´ wrote one enthusiastic counselor. can mean that access to a
³I learned more in the first day.´Not all psychologist may be significantly
counselors are as positive as this, but the limited.
level of satisfaction guidance counselors
recorded was one of the highest of any career
in this book. Of course, people who don¶t Friends
love the profession usually leave quickly;
guidance counselors have one of the highest ‘
initial attrition rates of any profession in this
book²a staggering 60 percent within the
first two years. Careers that require this
degree of emotional commitment can be
rough on those individuals who are not
prepared to make one on a regular basis.

A guidancecounselor works in a
school setting to help students
better prepare for continuing
education, or to help facilitate
decisions made about future
careers. The requirements for
becoming a guidancecounselor
varies among schools. Guidance
counselors tend to have at least a
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in
psychology, but may also have a
B.A. in career counseling. Some
places require high school