Rehabilitation Counselor
Impact: Employment and independence for people with disabilities through expert rehabilitation counseling
Help people with physical, mental, developmental, or emotional disabilities achieve their personal, career, and independent living goals. Assess client needs, develop rehabilitation plans, coordinate services, and provide counselling and job placement assistance.
What the day looks like
- People interaction
- Extensive
- Team vs solo
- 65% Team / 35% Solo
- Client facing
- Frequent
- Impact visibility
- High
- Travel
- 10 to 20% for employer and community visits
- Schedule flexibility
- Moderate
- Remote work
- Hybrid
- Typical work hours
- 38 to 45 hours/week
- Stress level
- Moderate
At a glance
- Median salary
- $75,000
- Entry-level
- $40,000 - $60,000
- Senior
- $110,000+
- Growth by 2033
- 10% (faster than average)
- Demand
- Growing
- Freelance potential
- Low
- Salary growth potential
- High - 65 to 80% growth from entry to senior
- Typical student debt
- $30,000 - $80,000
Skills you'll use
Hard skills
- Vocational assessment
- Rehabilitation planning
- Job placement
- Disability law
- Case management
Soft skills
- Empathy
- Communication
- Advocacy
- Problem-solving
- Cultural competence
Technical complexity: Low
How to get there
- Minimum education
- Master's Degree
- Licensing
- No
- Years to mid-career
- 2 to 3 years
- Years to senior
- 5 to 8 years
- Career switching
- Moderate
Where this career leads
How people arrive here
Where you can go from here
Typical progression
- Rehabilitation Counselor > Senior Counselor > Rehabilitation Supervisor > Director of Rehabilitation Services
Future outlook
- Automation probability
- 10% low risk as counselling relationships require human expertise
- AI disruption risk
- Low
- Demand trend
- Growing
How people feel about it
- Overall satisfaction
- 8/10
- Meaning
- 8.8/10
- Work-life balance
- 7.2/10
- Prestige
- 7.5/10
- Social perception
- High