Student Counsellors

ANZSCO ID 272115

Overview

Snapshot

Employed
2,700
Future Growth
N/A
Weekly Earnings
N/A
Full-Time Share
55%
Female Share
78%
Average age
43

Summary

Student Counsellors provide information and assistance to students, parents and teachers about a wide range of matters, such as students' personal problems, learning difficulties and special requirements.

Tasks

  • Conducts counselling interviews with students.

  • Assists students in the understanding and adjustment of attitudes, expectations and behaviour to develop more effective interpersonal relationships.

  • Presents alternative approaches and discusses potential for attitude and behavioural change.

  • Contributes information, understanding and advice on the learning and behaviour of students, especially those with special needs, and assists parents and teachers in dealing with these needs.

  • May work in a call centre.

Characteristics

Job Type
Professionals
Skill Level
Very high skill
ANZSCO Occupation group
Unemployment Rate
n/a
Industries
Pathway(s)
  • University
  • Vocational Education and Training (VET)
Interests
  • Helping
Physical Demand
  • Sedentary

Outlook

Employment Outlook

JSA produces employment projections to show where likely future job opportunities may be. Employment projections data are only produced for occupations at the broad four digit Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) level. While data are not available for this occupation, projections data are available for the parent occupation, Counsellors, under the outlook section.


Earnings and hours

Working arrangements

  • Around 55% of people employed as Student Counsellors work full-time hours, in all their jobs combined. This is 11 percentage points below the all jobs average (66%).

    Full-time workers work an average of 42 hours per week in their main job. This is similar to the all jobs average (44 hours per week).

    Sources:Full-time share and full-time hours: ABS, 2016 Census, customised report. Compared to the all jobs average.


Industries

Main industries

1
Education and Training
87.6%
2
Health Care and Social Assistance
6.0%
3
Other Services
1.4%
4
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
1.3%
5
Other industries
2.8%

Regions

Employment across Australia

NSW

34.6% All occupations: 31.6%

VIC

27.8% All occupations: 25.6%

QLD

18.0% All occupations: 20.0%

SA

10.6% All occupations: 7.0%

WA

5.2% All occupations: 10.8%

TAS

1.4% All occupations: 2.0%

NT

1.3% All occupations: 1.0%

ACT

1.1% All occupations: 1.9%

Employment by State and Territory (% Share)

State Student Counsellors All Jobs Average
NSW 34.6 31.6
VIC 27.8 25.6
QLD 18.0 20.0
SA 10.6 7.0
WA 5.2 10.8
TAS 1.4 2.0
NT 1.3 1.0
ACT 1.1 1.9


  • Around 62% of Student Counsellors live in capital cities, similar to the all jobs average of 62%.

    South Australia and New South Wales have a large share of employment relative to their population size.

    The regions with the largest share of workers are:

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Share of workers across Australian states, territories and regions, in this job compared to the all jobs average.


Worker profile

Age and gender

Age In Years
43
All Jobs Average is 40
Female Share
78%
All Jobs Average is 48%
  • The median age of Student Counsellors is 43 years. This is higher than the all jobs average of 40 years.

    A large share of workers are aged 25 to 34 years.

    Females make up 78% of the workforce. This is 30 percentage points above the all jobs average of 48%.

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile and gender share compared to the all jobs average.

Age Profile (% Share)

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Age Bracket Student Counsellors All Jobs Average
15-19 1.1 5.0
20-24 5.8 9.3
25-34 23.7 22.9
35-44 22.1 22.0
45-54 21.2 21.6
55-59 10.1 9.0
60-64 9.9 6.0
65 and Over 6.2 4.2
Median Age 43 40

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.


Employment Pathways

Education, training and experience

A bachelor degree in psychology, counselling or social work is usually needed to work as a Student Counsellor. Some workers have a Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualification.

Registration with the state or territory teaching board is required to teach in schools.

Visit

  • Course Seeker to search and compare higher education courses.
  • ComparED to compare undergraduate and postgraduate student experiences and outcomes.
  • My Skills to compare Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, providers and student outcomes.
  • AAPathways website to explore Community Services VET training pathways.

Highest Level of Education (% Share)

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.
Type of Qualification Student Counsellors All Jobs Average
Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate 45.2 10.1
Bachelor degree 33.3 21.8
Advanced Diploma/Diploma 9.5 11.6
Certificate III/IV 3.6 21.1
Year 12 7.0 18.1
Year 11 0.7 4.8
Year 10 and below 0.7 12.5

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.


Skills and Knowledge

Employers look for Counsellors who can communicate clearly and are caring and compassionate.

Skills

Skills can be improved through training or experience.

  • 68%

    Social perceptiveness

    Understanding why people react the way they do.

  • 63%

    Active listening

    Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

  • 63%

    Reading comprehension

    Reading work related information.

  • 61%

    Writing

    Writing things for co-workers or customers.

  • 59%

    Speaking

    Talking to others.

  • 57%

    Critical thinking

    Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

  • 57%

    Serving others

    Looking for ways to help people.

  • 55%

    Judgment and decision making

    Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.

  • 55%

    Learning strategies

    Figuring out the best way to teach or learn something new.

  • 55%

    Time management

    Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.

  • 54%

    Active learning

    Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.

  • 54%

    Monitoring

    Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.

  • 52%

    Persuasion

    Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.

  • 50%

    Complex problem solving

    Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

  • 50%

    Coordination with others

    Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.

  • 50%

    Systems evaluation

    Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

  • 48%

    Instructing

    Teaching people how to do something.

  • 48%

    Negotiation

    Bringing people together and trying to sort out their differences.

  • 48%

    Systems analysis

    Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect it.

  • 45%

    Management of personnel resources

    Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, and choosing the best people for the job.


Knowledge

These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.

  • 90%

    Therapy and counselling

    Diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and career counselling and guidance.

  • 80%

    Education and training

    Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

  • 79%

    Psychology

    Human behaviour; differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; research methods; assessing and treating disorders.

  • 75%

    Customer and personal service

    Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.

  • 69%

    English language

    English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

  • 69%

    Clerical

    Word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office work.

  • 64%

    Sociology and anthropology

    Group behaviour and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

  • 59%

    Computers and electronics

    Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

  • 54%

    Administration and management

    Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.

  • 50%

    Mathematics

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.

  • 49%

    Philosophy and theology

    Philosophical systems and religions, including their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and impact on society.

  • 41%

    Geography

    Describing land, sea, and air, including their physical characteristics, locations, how they work together, and the location of plant, animal, and human life.

  • 41%

    Communications and media

    Media production, communication, and dissemination. Includes written, spoken, and visual media.

  • 41%

    Law and government

    How our laws and courts work. Government rules and regulations, and the political system.

  • 39%

    Sales and marketing

    Showing, promoting, and selling including marketing strategy, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

  • 39%

    Personnel and human resources

    Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.

  • 34%

    Public safety and security

    Use of equipment, rules and ideas to protect people, data, property, and institutions.

  • 31%

    History and archeology

    Events of the past, their causes, how we learn about them, and how they influence the way we live today.

  • 23%

    Economics and accounting

    Economics and accounting, the financial markets, banking and checking and reporting of financial data.

  • 17%

    Telecommunications

    Transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.


Abilities

Workers use these physical and mental abilities..

  • 66%

    Written comprehension

    Read and understand written information.

  • 64%

    Oral expression

    Communicate by speaking.

  • 64%

    Oral comprehension

    Listen to and understand what people say.

  • 64%

    Written expression

    Write in a way that people can understand.

  • 63%

    Problem spotting

    Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.

  • 59%

    Inductive reasoning

    Use lots of detailed information to come up with answers or make general rules.

  • 57%

    Deductive reasoning

    Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.

  • 54%

    Speech clarity

    Speak clearly so others can understand you.

  • 50%

    Speech recognition

    Identify and understand the speech of another person.

  • 50%

    Brainstorming

    Come up with a number of ideas about a topic, even if the ideas aren't very good.

  • 50%

    Categorising

    Come up with different ways of grouping things.

  • 50%

    Near vision

    See details that are up-close (within a few feet).

  • 50%

    Originality

    Come up with unusual or clever ideas, or creative ways to solve a problem.

  • 48%

    Sorting or ordering

    Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

  • 41%

    Selective attention

    Pay attention to something without being distracted.

  • 41%

    Flexibility of closure

    See a pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) hidden in other distracting material.

  • 39%

    Far vision

    See details that are far away.

  • 39%

    Multitasking

    Do two or more things at the same time.

  • 36%

    Visualization

    Imagine how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

  • 34%

    Perceptual speed

    Use your eyes to quickly compare groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.


Activities

These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.

  • 78%

    Building good relationships

    Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.

  • 73%

    Planning and prioritising work

    Deciding on goals and putting together a detailed plan to get the work done.

  • 72%

    Helping and caring for others

    Providing personal assistance, medical attention, or emotional support.

  • 72%

    Keeping your knowledge up-to-date

    Keeping up-to-date with technology and new ideas.

  • 69%

    Making decisions and solving problems

    Using information to work out the best solution and solve problems.

  • 66%

    Giving expert advice

    Providing guidance and expert advice to management or other groups.

  • 65%

    Coaching and developing others

    Working out the needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or helping them to improve.

  • 65%

    Thinking creatively

    Using your own ideas for developing, designing, or creating something new.

  • 65%

    Communicating within a team

    Giving information to co-workers by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 63%

    Negotiating and resolving conflicts

    Handling complaints and disagreements, and negotiating with people.

  • 63%

    Scheduling work and activities

    Working out the timing of events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.

  • 60%

    Working with the public

    Greeting or serving customers, clients or guests, and public speaking or performing.

  • 59%

    Communicating with the public

    Giving information to the public, business or government by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 59%

    Collecting and organising information

    Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or checking information or data.

  • 58%

    Researching and investigating

    Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.

  • 58%

    Coming up with systems and processes

    Deciding on goals and figuring out what you need to do to achieve them.

  • 54%

    Documenting or recording information

    Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

  • 53%

    Training and teaching others

    Understanding the needs of others, developing training programs, and teaching or instructing.

  • 49%

    Explaining things to people

    Helping people to understand and use information.

  • 46%

    Working with computers

    Using computers to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.


Interests and demands

Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.

Interests

Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.

  • 100%

    Helping

    Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.

  • 52%

    Creative

    Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.

  • 52%

    Enterprising

    Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.

  • 48%

    Administrative

    Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.

  • 48%

    Analytical

    Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.

  • 14%

    Practical

    Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.


Values

Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.
  • 100%

    Relationships

    Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.

  • 76%

    Achievement

    Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

  • 71%

    Working conditions

    Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.

  • 67%

    Independence

    Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.

  • 67%

    Recognition

    Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.

  • 52%

    Support

    Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.


Demands

The physical and social demands that workers face most often are shown below:
  • 100%

    Electronic mail

    Use electronic mail.

  • 100%

    Telephone

    Talk on the telephone.

  • 98%

    Face-to-face discussions

    Talk with people face-to-face.

  • 92%

    Letters and memos

    Write letters and memos.

  • 91%

    Contact with people

    Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.

  • 91%

    Indoors, heat controlled

    Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.

  • 89%

    Teamwork

    Work with people in a group or team.

  • 88%

    Freedom to make decisions

    Have freedom to make decision on your own.

  • 88%

    Contact with the public

    Work with customers or the public.

  • 84%

    Conflict situations

    Deal with conflict or disagreements.

  • 82%

    Lead or coordinate a team

    Lead others to do work activities.

  • 80%

    Unstructured work

    Have freedom to decide on tasks, priorities, and goals.

  • 77%

    Impact of decisions

    Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.

  • 76%

    Frequent decision making

    Frequently make decisions that impact other people.

  • 76%

    Physically close to people

    Work physically close to other people.

  • 76%

    Angry or unpleasant people

    Deal with unpleasant, angry, or rude people.

  • 73%

    Spend time sitting

    Spend time sitting at work.

  • 72%

    Time pressure

    Work to strict deadlines.

  • 68%

    Being exact or accurate

    Be very exact or highly accurate.

  • 63%

    Repeating same tasks

    Repeat the same tasks or activities (e.g., key entry) over and over, without stopping.

Occupational Information Network
O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 21-1012.00 - Educational, Guidance, School, and Vocational Counselors.


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