Occupation Profile

Rehabilitation Counselors

(SOC Code : 21-1015)

in California

Counsel individuals to maximize the independence and employability of persons coping with personal, social, and vocational difficulties that result from birth defects, illness, disease, accidents, or the stress of daily life. Coordinate activities for residents of care and treatment facilities. Assess client needs and design and implement rehabilitation programs that may include personal and vocational counseling, training, and job placement.

Employers are usually looking for candidates with a Master's degree .

View a Career Video for this occupation from America's Career InfoNet (requires Windows Media Player)

Occupational Wages

[Top]

Area	Year	Period	Hourly Mean	Hourly by Percentile
				25th	Median	75th
California	2012	1st Qtr	$17.63	$10.97	$14.83	$22.08

View Wages for All Areas About Wages

Occupational Projections of Employment (also called "Outlook" or "Demand")

[Top]

Area	Estimated Year-Projected Year	Employment		Employment Change		Annual Avg Openings
		Estimated	Projected	Number	Percent
California	2010 - 2020	10,400	12,400	2,000	19.2	420

View Projections for All Areas About Projections

Job Openings from JobCentral National Labor Exchange

[Top]

Enter a Zip Code Find a Zip code in California

Within miles of Zip Code.

Industries Employing This Occupation (click on Industry Title to View Employers List)

[Top]

Industry Title

Number of Employers in State of California

Percent of Total
Employment for Occupation in State of California

Vocational Rehabilitation Services

1,806

44.6%

Individual and Family Services

18,414

20.9%

Residential Mental Health Facilities

4.2%

Social Advocacy Organizations

7,971

3.9%

Emergency and Other Relief Services

649

2.8%

Outpatient Care Centers

6,487

2.4%

Other Residential Care Facilities

848

1.4%

Offices of Other Health Practitioners

38,883

1.3%

About Staffing Patterns

Training Programs (click on title for more information)

[Top]

Program Title

Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling/Counselor.

About Training & Apprenticeships

About This Occupation (from O*NET - The Occupation Information Network)

[Top]

Top Tasks (Specific duties and responsibilities of this job.)

Monitor and record clients` progress to ensure that goals and objectives are met.

Confer with clients to discuss their options and goals so that rehabilitation programs and plans for accessing needed services can be developed.

Prepare and maintain records and case files, including documentation such as clients` personal and eligibility information, services provided, narratives of client contacts, and relevant correspondence.

Arrange for physical, mental, academic, vocational, and other evaluations to obtain information for assessing clients` needs and developing rehabilitation plans.

Analyze information from interviews, educational and medical records, consultation with other professionals, and diagnostic evaluations to assess clients` abilities, needs, and eligibility for services.

Develop rehabilitation plans that fit clients` aptitudes, education levels, physical abilities, and career goals.

Maintain close contact with clients during job training and placements to resolve problems and evaluate placement adequacy.

Locate barriers to client employment, such as inaccessible work sites, inflexible schedules, and transportation problems, and work with clients to develop strategies for overcoming these barriers.

Develop and maintain relationships with community referral sources, such as schools and community groups.

Arrange for on-site job coaching or assistive devices, such as specially equipped wheelchairs, to help clients adapt to work or school environments.

More Tasks for Rehabilitation Counselors

Top Skills used in this Job

Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others` reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others` actions.

Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Systems Analysis - Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.

Time Management - Managing one`s own time and the time of others.

Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.

Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.

More Skills for Rehabilitation Counselors

Top Abilities (Attributes of the person that influence performance in this job.)

Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

More Abilities for Rehabilitation Counselors

Top Work Values (Aspects of this job that create satisfaction.)

Relationships - Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Achievement - Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

More Work Values for Rehabilitation Counselors

Top Interests (The types of activities someone in this job would like.)

Social - Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Investigative - Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

More Interests for Rehabilitation Counselors