Careers Counsellor
Careers counsellors help people work out what to study or do next, matching their skills and interests against real education and job options.
- Median salary
- $112,000
3.6%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 2,300
0.0%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +23.4%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Moderate
- automation risk
- Average hours
- 41/wk
+1h vs all jobs
- Shortage status
- Not in shortage
national
Careers counsellors work with students, job seekers and people changing direction to assess their skills, interests and goals, then map out education, training and employment options that fit. Most work inside a school, university or employment service, and some build a private practice once they have a client base. The role is often confused with career coaching, which is unregulated and usually shorter term, while careers counsellors are more likely to hold a formal qualification in career development and to work with psychometric and labour market tools.
How much do careers counsellors earn?
The median full-time salary for a careers counsellor is $112,000 per annum, before tax, up $23,100 since 2018.
Pay depends heavily on the setting: school counsellors are covered by state education agreements or independent school agreements, university careers services by enterprise agreements, and private practitioners by the fees they charge and the number of clients they see. Part-time work is common in schools, so a full-time equivalent figure can sit above what a part-time counsellor actually takes home. Within an employer, a postgraduate qualification in career development and several years of practice are the main things that move you up the scale.
What does a careers counsellor do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Meeting one to one with clients to talk through their skills, interests and what is making a decision hard to pin down
- Matching a client's ambitions against training pathways and what the local job market can realistically absorb
- Running group sessions on resume writing, interview technique and job search tactics
- Interpreting aptitude and interest test results, using tools such as the Strong Interest Inventory, and turning them into a plain next step
- Following up months later to see whether the plan led to an enrolment, apprenticeship or job offer
What skills do careers counsellors need?
Employers look for pastoral care and wellbeing, data analysis, teaching and instruction, backed by CareerOne database fluency and strong client relationships and advisory.
Specialist skills
- Pastoral care and wellbeing
- Data analysis
- Teaching and instruction
Software and tools
- CareerOne database
- MyFuture.edu.au
- SEEK and LinkedIn
- Psychometric assessment software (e.g. Strong Interest Inventory)
- Microsoft Office and case-management systems
General skills
- Client relationships and advisory
- Written communication
- Stakeholder management
- Problem solving
- Empathy and interpersonal care
Is the job growing?
About 2,300 people work as careers counsellors in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 23.4% over the decade to 2035. That's very strong growth. Few roles in Australia are expanding this fast, and it points to solid demand for years to come.
How do you become a careers counsellor?
Here's the path most careers counsellors take, step by step.
- 1Start with a related undergraduate degree
Education, psychology, social work and behavioural science are the usual foundations, and a three-year degree leaves room to specialise later. If you want to work as a careers adviser inside a government school, you generally need a teaching qualification as well.
- 2Add postgraduate study in career development
A graduate certificate, graduate diploma or masters in career development teaches the theory behind career decision-making, assessment tools and labour market analysis. Many courses are endorsed by the Career Industry Council of Australia, and about 44% of people working in the role hold a postgraduate qualification.
- 3Build supervised experience
Placements and entry-level roles in school careers offices, university careers services or employment services providers give you real cases and a supervisor to check your judgement against. This is where the assessment tools stop being theory.
- 4Join a professional body and keep learning
Membership of an association such as the Career Development Association of Australia gives you professional development, a code of practice and a network, and schools and universities often look for it when hiring.
Ready to apply as a careers counsellor?
Whether you're working toward becoming a careers counsellor or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can a careers counsellor move to?
None of the roles careers counsellors typically move into pay more than the role itself. Counsellor is the closest match. If a bigger salary is the goal, moving up into a senior or principal position within the role is usually the faster route than moving sideways.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Counsellor Careers counsellors bring listening and guidance skills to general counselling, requiring further training in mental health practice. | +$0 | 40% | reskill |
| Recruiter Careers counsellors bring job market insight and assessment skills to recruitment, though the move needs training in hiring and sales.Known move | −$9,600 | 19% | reskill |
| Learning and Development Specialist Careers counsellors bring career development and guidance expertise to learning and development, with further study in organisational training. | −$10,300 | 45% | reskill |
Moves are chosen from Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility, which follows income tax records between 2011-12 and 2020-21, together with entry requirements and skill overlap. A known move is one people were seen making in that data. Pay change compares median full-time pay for the two roles.
Who works as a careers counsellor?
The typical careers counsellor is 47 years old; 78% are women, 57% work full-time, and full-timers average 41 hours a week.
- 47
- Median age
- 78%
- Female share
- 57%
- Full-time
- +1h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being a careers counsellor?
The work runs on appointments and the school calendar. Term time brings a steady stream of one-to-one sessions, and the pressure concentrates around subject selection in Year 10, university applications and results season. Much of the skill is holding a conversation with someone who is unsure, and staying useful when the answer turns out not to be the one they hoped for.
What people like
- A plan that finally fits. Helping someone who has been stuck for months settle on a course, a traineeship or an apprenticeship is the clearest reward in the job.
- You keep learning about the labour market. Entry requirements, course fees and which industries are hiring change constantly, so the research side of the role never runs dry.
- Clients tell you what is really going on. People often say things in a counselling session that they have not raised with a parent, a teacher or a manager, and that trust is what makes the advice work.
- A mix of one-to-one and group work. A week can move between individual appointments, classroom workshops and conversations with employers about placements.
What people find hard
- You cannot create the job. A client can be fully ready to work while the local labour market, transport or visa conditions leave the plan short of where they want to be.
- Peaks follow the school calendar. Subject selection, university applications and results season land close together, and the weeks around them are booked out.
- Private practice builds slowly. Without an employer's referrals, a fee-based practice depends on word of mouth, so the first year or two can be thin.
- Other people's expectations arrive in the room. Parents, teachers or an employment services contract sometimes come with an answer already in mind, which takes care to work around.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ careers counsellors?
Education and Training employs the largest share of careers counsellors, followed by Administrative and Support Services.
Top employing industries
- 1Education and Training
- 2Administrative and Support Services
- 3Health Care and Social Assistance
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Postgraduate | 43.7% | |
|---|---|---|
| Bachelor degree | 25.5% | |
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 11.5% | |
| Certificate III/IV | 10.6% | |
| Year 12 or below | 6.7% |
Will AI replace careers counsellors?
AI exposure here is moderate: it reaches the research and paperwork rather than the counselling conversation. Labour market data, course searches and resume drafting are all faster with AI tools, which leaves more time for the parts clients come for. The relationship, the local employer contacts and the judgement about what suits one person keep the role grounded in human work.
Share of typical working time by exposure level
- One-to-one counselling sessionsReading hesitation, asking the next question and adjusting the plan as the client talks is the part of the job no tool takes over.35%low
- Interpreting aptitude and interest test resultsTools such as the Strong Interest Inventory score the responses, but explaining what a profile means for someone's next two years is still a counsellor's judgement.25%moderate
- Labour market and course pathway researchAI can pull current entry requirements, fees and job outlook from sources such as MyFuture and course databases in seconds, which cuts hours of manual searching.20%high
- Group workshops and resume sessionsDrafting tools improve the wording of a resume quickly, while the workshop itself, and the questions that come up in it, stay with the counsellor.20%moderate
Moves least exposed to AI
These career moves from careers counsellor work are rated low for AI exposure:
- Counsellor
Solid skill overlap (40%), reskill to get there, and a low automation-risk profile.
Common questions about becoming a careers counsellor
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much do careers counsellors earn?
Careers counsellors earn a median of $112,000 per year before tax. School and university roles pay according to enterprise agreements and classification levels, while private practitioners set their own fees, so earnings vary with sector, qualifications and hours. Many school-based roles are part-time, which affects total yearly income.
How do I become a careers counsellor in Australia?
Most people start with a degree in education, psychology, social work or a related field, then complete a postgraduate qualification in career development. From there you build supervised experience in a school, university or employment service and join a professional association. A teaching qualification is also needed for careers adviser roles in many government schools.
Are careers counsellors in demand?
Careers counsellors are currently not in shortage, and employment is projected to grow 23.4% over the decade to 2035. The occupation is small, at about 2,300 people, so a percentage change translates into a limited number of new positions each year. Schools, universities and employment services remain the main places those roles appear.
Will AI replace careers counsellors?
AI reaches the research and paperwork in this job more than the conversation. Course searches, labour market data and resume drafting are all quicker with AI tools, which frees time for the parts clients actually come for. Reading a hesitant client and drawing on local employer contacts remain counsellor work.
What jobs can a careers counsellor move into?
Moving into recruitment is common, and recruiters earn $9,600 less, with the labour market knowledge carrying over even though the work shifts towards hiring targets and sales. Learning and development specialists earn $10,300 less, where the guidance skills transfer into organisational training. Some experienced counsellors build a private practice instead, which is often where earnings grow.
What is the difference between a careers counsellor and a career coach?
Career coaching is unregulated in Australia, so anyone can use the title, and coaching usually focuses on short-term job search or performance goals. Careers counselling is more likely to involve a formal qualification in career development and the use of assessment tools and labour market data. The two overlap in practice, and some practitioners hold coaching qualifications alongside their counselling credentials.
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