Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors
Advise and assist students and provide educational and vocational guidance services. Help students develop academic plans, choose courses, and explore career options.
Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors advise and assist students and provide educational and vocational guidance services. Help students develop academic plans, choose courses, and explore career options. The role reports a median annual salary of $65,140 in the US with the middle 80% earning between $38,070 and $102,220 and is projected to grow 4% over the next decade (about as fast as average). Entry typically requires a Master's degree, and shows moderate AI exposure (0.49 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include Active Listening, Speaking, Social Perceptiveness, Service Orientation, Critical Thinking.
Salary distribution (US)
Real salary data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The p10–p90 spread tells you more than the median alone.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £35,194 a year for Human resources and industrial relations officers (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £29,116 to £43,735 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 3571). ONS rates this estimate precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Professionals” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 2. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
How to get here in India
The usual route into this career in India. Each step links to the official page it comes from.
- 1 · Qualification BA/B.Sc in Psychology, plus a certificate or diploma in counselling[1]
- 2 · First role School counsellor in a Kendriya Vidyalaya[1]
Rules change: check the exam body's and regulator's current notice before you apply.
3 open listings on our jobs board → Recent listings whose job title matches this career. Some jobs in this career are advertised under other titles.
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Therapy and Counseling
- Psychology
- Education and Training
- English Language
- Customer and Personal Service
- Sociology and Anthropology
- Administration and Management
- Law and Government
A day in the life
Your morning starts with one-on-one meetings with students—helping a junior narrow down a college list, walking a sophomore through course selection, and checking in on a freshman who has been missing classes. By mid-morning you might lead a classroom guidance lesson on study skills or career exploration using interest inventories and labor-market data. Afternoons are spent writing recommendation letters, coordinating with teachers about at-risk students, reviewing transcripts for graduation requirements, and meeting with parents who have questions about financial aid. The job is part mentor, part navigator, and the reward is watching students discover paths they never knew existed.
Illustrative: one typical day. Real days vary by employer and seniority.
What you'd actually do
- Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
- Counsel students regarding educational issues, such as course and program selection, class scheduling and registration, school adjustment, truancy, study habits, and career planning.
- Provide crisis intervention to students when difficult situations occur at schools.
- Counsel individuals or groups to help them understand and overcome personal, social, or behavioral problems affecting their educational or vocational situations.
- Review transcripts to ensure that students meet graduation or college entrance requirements, and write letters of recommendation.
- Prepare students for later educational experiences by encouraging them to explore learning opportunities and to persevere with challenging tasks.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors do?
Advise and assist students and provide educational and vocational guidance services. Help students develop academic plans, choose courses, and explore career options.
What does a typical day look like in Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors?
Your morning starts with one-on-one meetings with students—helping a junior narrow down a college list, walking a sophomore through course selection, and checking in on a freshman who has been missing classes. By mid-morning you might lead a classroom guidance lesson on study skills or career exploration using interest inventories and labor-market data.
How much does Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors earn?
The median annual salary for Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors in the US is $65,140. The middle 80% of workers earn between $38,070 and $102,220 annually. Entry-to-mid-career earners typically fall between $47,440 and $81,630.
What is the job outlook for Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors?
The role is projected to grow 4% over the next decade (about as fast as average). Current US employment is approximately 376,300 workers.
How do I become educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors?
The typical entry education is a Master's degree. Building a foundation in the top skills below will strengthen your application.
What skills does Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include Active Listening, Speaking, Social Perceptiveness, Service Orientation, Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors?
Our AI-durability model gives Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors a score of 0.49 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.
How hard is it to enter this field?
Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors has high barrier to entry — highly gated — a graduate degree or extended training/apprenticeship is typically required.