Experience, Skills, and Personality Traits
Guidance counseling students can gain valuable practical experience by participating in college internships and also by working as teachers for several years after graduation.
Your most important asset will be your ability to relate easily and well to others. To achieve a sound relationship with other adults and with children, you must have a sincere interest in other people and their welfare. You must be able to relate to all kinds of people and situations, and to be sensitive to issues of race, religion, sexual orientation, and disability. Empathy, patience, and listening skills are some of the personal qualities that make a good counselor. Guidance counselors must have the ability to work independently or as part of a team.
Related Professions
- Adapted Physical Education Specialists
- Adult and Vocational Education Teachers
- Art Teachers
- Athletic Directors
- Biophysicists
- Book Editors
- Career and Employment Counselors
- Career and Employment Technicians
- Child Care Service Owners
- Child Care Workers
- Child Life Specialists
- Children's Librarians
- College Administrators
- College Professors
- Community Nutrition Educators
- Computer Trainers
- Cooking Instructors
- Curriculum Coordinators
- Dance School Owners and Managers
- Distance Learning Coordinators
- Driving School Owners and Instructors
- Education Directors and Museum Teachers
- Edupreneurs
- Elementary School Teachers
- English as a Second Language (ESL) Teachers
- Environmental Education Program Directors
- Flight Instructors
- Health Educators
- Instructional Coordinators
- Instructional Designers
- Journalism Teachers
- Learning Innovations Designers
- Library and Information Science Instructors
- Mathematics Teachers
- Music Teachers
- Nannies
- Neonatal Nurses
- Nursing Instructors
- Pediatric Dentists
- Pediatricians
- Physical Education Teachers
- Political Scientists
- Preschool Teachers
- Real Estate Educators
- School Administrators
- School Nurses
- Secondary School Teachers
- Special Education Teachers
- Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists
- Speech-Language Pathology Assistants
- Teacher Aides
- Tutors and Trainers