What Are Common Entry-Level Counseling Jobs?
Updated July 22, 2024 · 3 Min Read
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While you need a graduate degree and supervised experience to become a licensed mental health counselor, you can pursue some entry-level counseling jobs without those credentials. If you're curious about the counseling roles you can secure without a master's degree, use this guide to learn about your options.
Explore the most common entry-level counseling jobs, including their responsibilities, requirements, and salary potential.
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Common Entry-Level Counseling Jobs
The most common entry-level counseling jobs require only a bachelor's degree and limited experience. These positions allow you to build expertise in a narrow field, such as substance use or juvenile offender counseling, probation, and correctional treatment.
The experience you gain from these positions may also help you stand out on your graduate applications. The more experience and education you have, the greater your scope of practice may become.
Substance Use Counselor
Substance use counselors, also referred to as addiction counselors, counsel individuals with alcoholism or other drug addictions.
Substance use counselors are typically responsible for evaluating clients’ mental health, developing treatment plans, helping clients develop skills to recover from addiction, teaching coping strategies, and referring clients to other resources for the road to recovery. Addiction counselors can find employment opportunities in hospitals, residential treatment facilities, prisons, juvenile detention centers, and drug treatment centers.
While those with more education can provide private one-on-one counseling sessions and practice without supervision, substance use counselors usually must have at least a high school diploma or bachelor’s degree with supervised clinical hours.
Juvenile Counselor
If you have a propensity for working with children and adolescents, becoming a juvenile counselor can be a rewarding option for helping rehabilitate youth to lead better lives. Within the court system, juvenile counselors work with young people convicted of crimes and may be on parole or probation.
Juvenile counselors may also find employment in schools, group homes, juvenile halls, private practices, and treatment facilities. Juvenile counselors are often responsible for managing individual cases, providing counseling, and supervising delinquents following court orders.
To qualify for entry-level positions as a juvenile counselor, you must have at least a bachelor’s degree in social work, psychology, counseling, or criminal justice and on-the-job training.
Probation and Parole Officers
Probation and parole officers assist probationers and parolees in their court-ordered treatment and rehabilitation plans. They also regularly meet with clients to perform wellness and progress checks, assist clients in finding resources, and oversee drug testing and other monitoring requirements.
Probation and parole officers typically work in state or local government facilities, though they regularly visit client homes, workplaces, and courts.
You usually need a bachelor's degree in psychology or criminal justice for entry-level probation and parole officer careers. You may also need to complete a government-sponsored training program and certification test.
Correctional Treatment Specialists
Correctional treatment specialists provide counseling and treatment to inmates, probationers, and parolees. They assist in rehabilitation, help secure support resources, and advise the courts and parole boards on their clients' progress. Although they typically work in government-run corrections facilities, their work may take them into courts, social service organizations, and client homes.
These professionals usually need a bachelor's degree at minimum, such as a social science or criminal justice degree. They may also need to pass a specialized training program and certification test for employment.
What Can a Counselor Without a Graduate Degree Do?
While the scope of practice varies by state, counselors typically need a graduate degree to conduct clinical evaluations, diagnose mental health disorders, and develop treatment plans for patients. Graduate degree-holding counselors can also provide therapy, manage cases, and formally assess clients.
You can still participate in the counseling process without a graduate degree, but you typically do so under supervision. You can also educate clients and their families, monitor and assess client treatment progress, and even facilitate group sessions.
Each state and counseling profession has unique requirements. Still, besides your bachelor's degree, you usually need a state-prescribed number of post-bachelor supervised clinical experience hours and a passing grade on the appropriate certification exams.
Salary and Job Growth for Entry-Level Counseling Jobs
The salary and job growth numbers for entry-level counseling jobs vary by profession and state. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median annual salary for probation and parole officers is $61,800 as of May 2023. The lowest 10% of salaries fell below $41,700, while the top 10% exceeded $105,220. The BLS projects a 3% growth for these occupations between 2022 and 2032, which aligns with the average growth for all occupations.
The BLS reports a median annual salary of $53,710 for substance use counselors. The lowest 10% of earners made less than $36,700, and the top 10% made more than $89,920. Degree level and scope of practice impact how much a substance use counselor makes. The BLS projects 18% growth in the field between 2022 and 2032, much faster than average growth for all jobs.
Although counselors usually need a graduate degree, supervised experience, and a license, finding entry-level counseling jobs is a great way to build your career in this in-demand profession. After all, these entry-level counseling jobs can provide the experience needed to determine your career interests and help you stand out when you decide to apply for a master’s program in counseling.
Page last reviewed on July 11, 2024