A career in psychology - Essay Example

Careers In Psychology Careers In Psychology Career Counselor Job Responsibilities Career counselors are mostly directly in contact with student population and their main duties include administration of different kinds of test to test the personality as well as interests of their clients. Help individuals in realizing their strengths and weaknesses with the assistance of aptitude based tests. Provide assistance to individuals who are looking to alter their career paths. Analyze current educational as well as professional attainments of clients to help them in identifying positions they can assume immediately and providing them insight regarding future professional and educational endeavors that can assist them in attaining future goals (Nalp.org, 2014).

Help their clients in choosing the best path for attainment of a particular career or position of choice and helping their clients in developing skills essential for obtaining employment. Working Conditions and Working Hours Career counselors work in private settings where they privately operate as counselors and they even are employed by both public as well as private educational institutes. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of United States, 47% of the career counselors worked with both public and private elementary as well as secondary schools and 31% were employed with universities and colleges (Bls.gov, 2014).

Career counselors who are employed work from 9am to 5pm and in they are provided with quite a private practicing career, mostly a complete room as provided to them so they can maintain confidentiality with those being counseled. Career counselors working in a school setting tend to enjoy holiday session during the summers when schools experience summer vacations. Compensation and Benefits BLS reports that 50% of the population of career counselors was earning at least $53,000 and the minimum salary earned by these professionals was at least $31,000 each year, while those earning the most were at least earning $86,000 per year during the period of 2012 (Bls.gov, 2014).

Career counselors who were getting the highest number of salaries were working with elementary as well as secondary schools, while those working with the government were earning more than those who were working in professional level educational institutes as well as healthcare organizations.Advantages and Disadvantages One of the main benefits of seeking a career in the field of career counselor is that the demand for such counselors is expected to increase by 12% in the coming years and that is mostly because of increase in number of students enrolling in schools (Bls.gov, 2014).

The downside of this career choice is that the employment of a career counselor is dependent on the level of school’s budget and if schools choose to decrease their budgets, career counselors may experience a threat to their employment.Educational Requirements In order to attain a career in career counseling, a counselor needs to at least have a master’s level degree in the field of psychology and/or counseling to get hired by state level educational institutes. Counselors require a license in order to practice; these licenses can be obtained by completing master’s level education along with an internship.

The requirements for licenses and certifications vary from one state to another.ReferencesBls.gov. (2014). School and career counselors : occupational outlook handbook : u.s. bureau of labor statistics. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/school-and-career-counselors.htm#tab-1 [Accessed: 3 Mar 2014].Nalp.org. (2014). Nalp - the association for legal career professionals | sample career services job description. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.nalp.

org/samplecareerservicesjobdescription#couns [Accessed: 3 Mar 2014].