Additional Information
The education levels of employment and placement specialists vary greatly.
Employment counselors might just have a two-year diploma. Or they might be
working toward a degree.
That degree is "usually in human resources or education, or sometimes business
administration," says employment officer Eric Ritskes. "A lot of the people
who work here are either working toward their degree or have their degree.
A lot of people in other offices have their diploma from a community college."
Ideally, those who seek a long-term career in this field have earned a
master's degree, says Janet Lenz. She is the associate director of the career
center at Florida State University.
"If they are functioning as a professional in the field, they have gotten
a master's degree in counseling or higher education or maybe something on
the business side in organizational behavior or human resource management."
The National Career Development Association (NCDA) offers training toward
becoming a certified career development facilitator.
"Basically, you learn the skills that you need to function as an employment
and placement specialist," says Lenz. She's the southern region trustee for
the NCDA.
"You learn about the labor market. You learn about job hunting. You learn
about running programs. You learn about helping diverse groups [and] job searching
on the Internet."