School and Career Counselor

I. JOB SUMMARY

Main Topic: Human Geography
Secondary Topic: Places and Regions

Overview: School and career counselors help students plan for their next steps after graduating from high school and university. Typically, they help individuals develop and improve skills that will aid them be successful in their applications to universities, identifying and selecting majors that compliment the student’s strengths, weaknesses, and also personal interests, and then help them in their job searches after graduation by offering resume workshops, mock interviews, and career fairs.

School and Career Counselors would benefit greatly from geographic knowledge, especially when helping students finding a university or job that fits their wants and needs. For example, if a student interested in forest conservation, the counselor should know that industry is prominent in the Pacific Northwest, rather than Nevada. They could implement skills such as GIS to create maps showing the locations of colleges and universities, trending jobs throughout the country. They could also conduct their own qualitative and quantitative research to cater advice and resources specific to the high school, university, or career center they work for.

Geographers at work: Geography educators, human geographers, geography researchers

Recommended College Courses:  Introduction to Cultural Geography, Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems, Research Methods in Geography, Geography of the United States and Canada, Location Analysis,

Skills: Human Geography, Location Analysis, Cultural Geography, Communication Skills, Quantitative and Qualitative Research Skills, GIS

Occupation Group: Community and Social Services

Learn more about School and Career Counselors from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/school-and-career-counselors.htm