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COUNSELORS AND SOCIAL WORKERS Sometimes a rewarding career can mean more than just financial success; there are many jobs where personal satisfaction far outweighs the quest for the almighty dollar. If you like to help people work out problems and plan for the future, perhaps you should consider a job as a counselor or social worker. The main job of a counselor is to help people make informed personal, family, social, career and educational decisions, or deal with specific problems or concerns in these areas. The four main types of counselors are: school and college counselors, college career counselors, rehabilitation counselors, and employment counselors. Social service workers (sometimes known as human services workers) often help people by working for various organizations such as government agencies, halfway houses, health agencies, group homes and prisons. School and College Counselors Help students identify abilities and interests, develop academic plans, and explore career options. High school counselors advise students on choosing a major, admissions requirements, taking entrance exams, financial aid programs, and on applicable vocational and technical training. Help students cope with social problems. The work setting may be one-on-one, in small groups, or even a classroom. Often consult with parents, teachers and school administrators when trying to solve problems that students are having. Elementary school counselors are mostly involved with social and personal counseling, and observe children at play and in the classroom. College Career Counselors Help future graduates and alumni with job-seeking strategies. Sometimes help create professional resumes, or conduct mock-interviews to help students become more comfortable in the interviewing situation. May also be involved in the creation and promotion of job fairs and other recruiting events to help student job placement efforts. Rehabilitation Counselors Mainly deal with the impact of disabilities on peoples' lives. Evaluate strengths and limitations of clients in order to provide personal and vocational counseling. Confer with physicians, therapists and employers to develop a rehabilitation/training program so clients can become employable and eventually live independently. Employment Counselors Evaluate clients' education, training, job history, interests, skills and personal traits and apply them to a job search. Develop job-seeking skills. Provide assistance in locating and applying for jobs. Social Workers Often involved in helping solve the social problems of our cities. May investigate, evaluate, and attempt to rectify reported cases of abuse, neglect, endangerment, illness or domestic disputes. Can intervene if necessary and provide counseling and referral services to individuals and families. Sometimes act as career counselors and financial advisors, assisting clients with their housing, health care, employment, or money management problems. Often work for publicly funded agencies, but increasing opportunities available in the private sector (drug rehab, family counseling, etc.). Eligibility workers evaluate clients for financial aid or public assistance. WORKING CONDITIONS Counselors and social workers generally work one-on-one with people, but group counseling is also becoming more common. Most counselors are employed in schools but some work at job and career centers, social service agencies, correctional facilities, and residential care facilities. Some health maintenance organizations and insurance companies also employ counselors, due to recent laws allowing counselors to receive payments from insurance companies, and laws requiring employers to provide rehabilitation for some laid off or out-placed employees. JOB OUTLOOK Employee "burn-out" is especially common among the more stressful social service agency assignments. Depends primarily on government spending, but the demand is increasing. Growth expected in family care social workers, especially concerning children or the elderly. Increasing growth for human service workers in publicly funded halfway houses, prisons, corporate employee assistance programs, health agencies and hospitals. A 40 percent growth rate is expected through the next ten years. Private sector will increase employment with more corporate programs, and in areas like private practice marriage and family counseling, drug rehabs etc. SALARY Education and vocational counselors averaged between $17,800 to $51,900 in 1992. The average salary for school counselors was $40,400. Counselors in private practice in cities tend to make more than small-town school counselors. Human services workers salary ranges around $18,000 with experience or education. Beginning salaries for position in social work average $25,000 (with a Master's degree in Social Work). The average for mid-level employees is around $30,000. EDUCATION & TRAINING Eligibility workers at some agencies like the Department of Public Social Services need only an A.A. degree or three years of specialized job experience. For advancement, an advanced degree is usually necessary in most fields. Social service caseworkers need a degree in social work, although many employees like public assistance workers, parole officers and probation officers do not necessarily need a degree. Foreign language skills are very helpful and may give you an edge if seeking social work in large hospitals and similar organizations. Work/study programs are often available to earn a degree while working. Teaching experience is frequently needed to work as a school counselor. CONTACTS/ADDITIONAL INFORMATION American School Counselor Association 801 North Fairfax Street Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone (703) 683-ASCA (2722) FAX (703) 683-1619 Toll Free: 1-800-306-4722 Email: ascaoffice@aol.com American Association for Counseling and Development 5999 Stevenson Ave. Alexandria, VA 22304 703-823-9800 or 800-545-2223 American Association on Mental Retardation 444 N. Capitol St., NW, Suite 846 Washington, DC 20001 800-424-3688 or 202-387-1968 Child Welfare League of America 440 First St., NW, Suite 310 Washington, DC 20001-2085 202-638-2952 Council on Social Work Education 1600 Duke St. Alexandria, VA 22314-3421 703-683-8080 National Association of Social Workers 750 First St., NE Washington, DC 20002 202-408-8600 National Employment Listing Service Sam Houston State University Criminal Justice Center Huntsville, TX 77341-2296 409-294-1692 (Provides monthly listing of job openings in all areas of law enforcement and corrections; also social work). Other Internet Social Work and Counseling Resources: California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists' (CAMFT) Home Page Latino Social Worker Organization The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and its California chapter The New Social Worker socialservice.com -- a career site created for social service professionals. Mailing LIsts SOCWORK is an open, unmoderated, general discussion list, created to enable broad discussion of information and issues of concern to the social work community. To subscribe to this list, send the message subscribe socwork to majordomo@uwrf.edu You may also subscribe to the PSIQUIATRIA list, a Spanish-language email discussion list for people who are interested in or practicing psychiatry. To subscribe to this list, send the message SUB PSIQUIATRIA yourfirstname yourlastname to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES. No part of this article may be reproduced without permission of the author. HTML links to this document are allowed, but please let us know via email so we can keep you informed of URL changes.