School Counselor Resume: Templates & Top Tips

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School counselors are an essential part of the educational system. They ensure students can learn better, in a positive and productive learning atmosphere. Despite the counseling purpose, these professionals are also in charge of creating agendas according to students’ timetables and have superb communication skills and responsiveness. 

When it comes to writing a winning resume for the school counselor role, precision, experience, and the right skillset are the pillars of success. Trying to squeeze 10 years of experience into a single page may feel claustrophobic. 

Read on to learn how to write a resume for a school counselor position, with our examples and top tips, and land your dream job. 

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[Roger Enderson]

[School Counselor]

[Connecticut | 111-000-1414 | roger-enderson@randomemail.com]

Summary

Dedicated school counselor with 5 years of experience in elementary school counseling looking for an opportunity to handle young teenagers and help them find their way to college. Managed to conduct multiple student agendas for 300 students to ease the learning process. Raised awareness about the importance of positive and collaborative student culture through workshops and team projects. Succeeded in improving students’ awareness on a personal level, with a success rate of 30 students per week with better results than the previous month.

Experience

High School of Harford County

School Counselor

2016-2021

• Organized and created agendas, records, and other administrative paperwork for 300 students
• Helped students identify their weaknesses and overcome procrastination
• Provided curriculums for student development on individual and team levels.
• Actively monitored students’ data and intervention programs and turned them into plans.
• Conducted online workshops for students’ motivation during social isolation

Education

Master of School Counseling | Multnomah University

2014-2016

• Human growth and development during the adolescence 

Bachelor of Science Degree in Pedagogy | Multnomah University

2009-2013

• Pedagogical approach in redirecting student’s focus from social media addiction to physical socialization 

Skills

• Cultural Competency
• Analytical Thinking
• Problem-Solving Skills
• Empathetic Listening
• Patient

• Curriculum Development
• Career counseling
• Classroom Management
• Staff development
• Educational leadership

Certifications

• Global Career Development Facilitator (GCDF)
• Child Development Associate (CDA)
• Certified Planning Engineer (CPE)
• Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA)

Hobbies and Interests

• Volunteering in local high schools to raise awareness about mental health importance and impacts to student’s learning process.
• Reading psychological and self-improvement books.

If you are not certain where to begin your resume, you can always turn to pre-designed resume templates for guidance. This might come in handy when the company you apply at requires its applicants to send a specific resume outline. 

When creating a resume template from scratch, however, you must be practical and insightful. Every great resume starts with a great format. 

And here are the top three resume format types you can consider:

• Reverse-chronological format. This is the most effective resume format because it’s the most practical. Generally, it enlists all career achievements you have and emphasizes your overall experience from present to oldest. This format instantly hooks the hiring board’s attention and compels them to read on. This format is excellent if you have both the experience and skills to show for it. 
• Functional format. The functional resume templates are more restricted. They require the applicant to focus only on their skills instead of their experience. Use the functional resume templates only if the company you’re applying to requires you to, or if you don’t have enough experience – but have enough skills.
• Hybrid format. This format is a combination of the reverse-chronological format and the functional format. Here you will enlist your experience, key achievements, and skills. It’s also effective as it stores all your working abilities in one place.

The role of a school counselor is to optimize students’ possibilities to learn and grow. They also ought to provide a positive learning environment where everyone feels welcomed and equal. Applicants need to provide information on how they plan to achieve that in the summary or objective section.

Writing a resume summary typically sums up your experience and previous success to explain why you’re fit for the position. A summary will be the best choice if you have enough experience to showcase.  

On the flip side, a resume objective is where you share your motivation for the type of industry you want to work in, and it is more fitting for less experienced candidates. 

School Counselor Resume Objective Example

Here is a resume objective structure example to avoid:

And now, a correct way to compose a summary:

Always specify! Provide more information about the projects you worked on, and detail how you plan on encouraging students to achieve their goals. Avoid fluff! Avoid wordy sentences like “it would be my pleasure” and begin with action verbs.

If you have experience, the resume objective is optional. The objective section of the resume is meant for newbie school counselors with no previous experience in the field. Therefore, in this section, you need to explain your career goal. 

Here is a simple example of how NOT to write a resume objective:

And one on how to nail the objective every time: 

The hiring manager will always prefer to see practical ways you plan to manage the job position, not how passionate you are about the job or what your personality is like.

The best experience resume section should be impactful and straight to the point. It may feel a bit claustrophobic for beginners, but once you focus on the job description requirements it will become a breeze.

Read the job description well and only add your valuable experience to your resume, leaving out whichever experience does not correspond to the ad. 

For additional effect, add numbers and statistics that are relevant to your school counseling experience. Using metrics to quantify your achievements can immediately show a recruiter the impact you have had on a workplace.

Also, use action verbs to detail what you accomplished at a previous position and always feature keywords mentioned in the job ad.

The best experience resume section should be impactful and straight to the point. It may feel a bit claustrophobic for beginners, but once you focus on the job description requirements it will become a breeze. Read the job description well and only apply your valuable experience in the resume, leaving out whichever experience does not correspond to the ad. 

For additional effect, add numbers and statistics that are relevant to your school counseling experience. Also, use powerful language to detail what you accomplished at a previous position and always feature keywords mentioned in the job ad.

School Counselor Resume Examples: Experience

Here’s how not to write the experience section:

And here is how to ensure it is everything your interviewer is looking for: 

Answering the right questions – how many years and how many students – is pivotal for providing extra information. You may also add your success rate to be more precise.

The education section is crucial to mention for school counselors. Typically, one must own a Master’s degree in school counseling and have the required certifications for the position. 

Let’s examine what an education section should and should not look like.

School Counselor Resume Education Section

When creating your education section, avoid following this or similar patterns:

Instead, have a look at this wholesome example:

Fulfilling a school counselor’s duty requires having deep knowledge of human behavior.

Add your thesis under the degree and help the employer learn what you specialized in.

Bullet points with details of your education, awards, high GPA, and relevant modules of study can make this section shine.

If you won any relevant awards or made the Dean’s list consistently, you could add this information too, especially if you are a fresher in school counselling.

A school counselor’s resume should showcase both your hard and soft skills.

Being able to manage 100+ students, nurturing a positive learning culture, having great communication skills, as well as superb problem-solving skills, will always get the employer’s attention when reading your resume. To showcase your skills right, it is best to divide them into designated soft and hard skills. 

Here is an example of the hard and soft skills you can feature in your resume. 

Any extra sections on your resume may sound too general, but they have a meaningful purpose. These sections give the final say on your career profile and list the additional reasons that make you fit for the job. Here’s what you need to enlist:

• Certificates or official certifications;
• Volunteering or projects completed in the industry;
• Languages you speak;
• Hobbies and interests related to the job position you’re applying;

School Counselor Resume Sample Extra Sections

To ensure your extra sections feature all the necessary information, here is an example to follow:

Other

Certificates: 

• Global Career Development Facilitator (GCDF), 2023
• Child Development Associate (CDA), 2022
• Certified Planning Engineer (CPE), 2021
• Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), 2021

Languages:

• German (Proficient)
• French (Intermediate)
• Chinese (Beginner)

Hobbies & Interests: 

• Volunteering in local high schools to raise awareness about mental health importance and impacts to student’s learning process. 
• Reading psychological and self-improvement books.
• Learning new languages

The hobbies and interests section should always be professional and valuable to the position that you’re applying for. Adding irrelevant or personal information to this section like “spending time in nature” or “playing a sport” will not do much for your application.

The school counselor’s duty is quite dynamic. They need to organize the student’s agendas, ensure there’s always a positive environment for the students, mend student relationships, teach students how to become more responsible, etc. 

But sometimes, even the most qualified applicants fail to reach the interview stage because their resume was either not compact, or contained irrelevant and dull information. 

As a summary, here is what to always include in your school counselor resume: 

• Use the job description as your guiding template. 
• Use both action words and keywords mentioned in the job description. 
• Don’t use adjectives or other decorative words. They make your CV subjective.
• Don’t be redundant and use personal pronouns. It’s self-explanatory.
• Support your statements with facts.
• Choose the perfect format and ensure you have your education, experience, and skills well organized. 

Last but not least, always proofread your resume before you send it to your employer. First impressions matter, and sending a resume with spelling or grammar mistakes gives out an impression of a clumsy applicant.