Top 12 After School Counselor Skills to Put on Your Resume
Working as an after-school counselor takes a nimble blend of people skills, structure, and creativity—because kids don’t leave their curiosity (or their energy) at the final bell. Your resume should spotlight strengths that show you can build a safe, lively, supportive space where students grow, unwind, and feel seen.
After School Counselor Skills
- Childcare
- CPR Certified
- Conflict Resolution
- Activity Planning
- Behavioral Management
- First Aid
- Homework Assistance
- Group Leadership
- Safety Protocols
- Communication
- Empathy
- Time Management
1. Childcare
Childcare means supervising, caring for, and engaging children outside regular school hours, centering on safety, well-being, and healthy development.
Why It's Important
It keeps kids safe and supported after class, nurtures social-emotional and academic growth, and gives families peace of mind.
How to Improve Childcare Skills
Focus on safety, enrichment, and connection—done consistently and with heart.
Enhance Safety Measures: Use clear check-in/out procedures, background checks, and secure spaces. Review incident protocols often.
Educational Support: Offer homework help and enrichment aligned with school standards. Short, purposeful activities beat marathon sessions.
Social-Emotional Learning: Build a climate of respect and belonging. Use SEL routines grounded in well-known frameworks such as CASEL.
Professional Development: Refresh training on child development, communication, and behavior supports. Practice scenarios, not just theory.
Family Partnership: Share regular, two-way updates with caregivers. Invite input. Celebrate wins together.
Small improvements stack up quickly—kids notice, and so do parents.
How to Display Childcare Skills on Your Resume
2. CPR Certified
CPR certification confirms you’ve been trained and assessed to respond to cardiac and breathing emergencies—a vital safeguard in child-centered settings.
Why It's Important
Emergencies are rare, but readiness matters. Quick, correct action can protect a child’s life while medical help is en route.
How to Improve CPR Certified Skills
Refresh Often: Review current guidelines regularly. Standards evolve; your skills should too.
Practice Hands-On: Use a manikin to refine compressions, breaths, and AED use. Muscle memory helps under pressure.
Go Pediatric-Focused: Choose courses tailored to infants and children. Consider advanced pediatric response training when available.
Stay Current: Most certifications last two years. Schedule renewals before they lapse.
Drill With Your Team: Run quick mock scenarios so everyone knows their role.
How to Display CPR Certified Skills on Your Resume
3. Conflict Resolution
Conflict resolution means guiding students through disagreements toward safe, respectful solutions—listening first, problem-solving next, and repairing relationships along the way.
Why It's Important
It keeps the environment calm and fair, teaches lifelong social skills, and helps kids return to learning faster.
How to Improve Conflict Resolution Skills
Listen Actively: Reflect what you heard. Validate feelings. Slow down the swirl.
Show Empathy: Acknowledge each student’s perspective—trust grows when they feel understood.
Set Ground Rules: No interruptions, no name-calling. Respectful tone, shared time.
Problem-Solve Together: Identify root needs, brainstorm options, agree on a plan—and how to follow up.
Use “I” Statements: Reduce blame and defensiveness; model the language yourself.
Teach Regulation: Breathing, breaks, movement. Calm bodies think better.
Know When to Escalate: Bring in school leadership or support services if safety or fairness is at risk. NASP and CASEL offer reliable guidance.
How to Display Conflict Resolution Skills on Your Resume
4. Activity Planning
Activity planning is the art of building a balanced schedule—academic support, play, creativity, movement—matched to student ages and interests.
Why It's Important
Good plans prevent chaos, boost engagement, and turn idle minutes into meaningful moments.
How to Improve Activity Planning Skills
Know Your Group: Ages, interests, abilities, sensory needs. Design with them, not around them.
Set Outcomes: Teamwork, skills practice, joy—state the purpose so activities aren’t just time-fillers.
Map the Week: Use a shared calendar and mix academics, physical activity, arts, and downtime.
Prep Materials Early: Reduce transitions and bottlenecks by staging supplies.
Seek Feedback: Ask students and staff what hit, what missed. Iterate quickly.
Stay Flexible: If energy dips or spikes, pivot. Shorten, extend, or swap.
Keep Learning: Explore courses in child development and program design. Apply one new tactic each month.
Safety First: Age-appropriate, risk-aware, inclusive. Always.
How to Display Activity Planning Skills on Your Resume
5. Behavioral Management
Behavioral management uses clear expectations, positive reinforcement, and consistent follow-through to promote prosocial choices and reduce disruptions.
Why It's Important
It protects safety, preserves learning time, and helps students build self-control and community awareness.
How to Improve Behavioral Management Skills
Set Clear Expectations: Teach, model, and revisit norms. PBIS-aligned routines work well after school too.
Build Relationships: Trust first. Students follow people who see them. Edutopia’s insights on connection are useful.
Reinforce Positively: Catch the good. Praise effort, recognize growth, use tangible systems sparingly and purposefully.
Be Consistent: Fair, predictable responses teach accountability. Follow through calmly.
Listen Actively: De-escalate by hearing the story beneath the behavior.
Offer Choices: Two good options can avert power struggles. Responsive Classroom approaches fit well here.
Model What You Want: Respect, patience, repair. Learning for Justice offers strong perspective on modeling equity and empathy.
Plan Engaging Time: Structured, interesting activities leave little room for misbehavior. The Afterschool Alliance has excellent program ideas.
How to Display Behavioral Management Skills on Your Resume
6. First Aid
First aid is immediate care for illness or injury to stabilize and support someone until medical professionals take over. In after-school settings, that often means quick, calm responses to scrapes, sprains, or sudden symptoms.
Why It's Important
It safeguards health in the moments that matter and reassures families you’re prepared.
How to Improve First Aid Skills
Keep Certifications Current: Renew on time through reputable providers and review updates annually.
Practice Scenarios: Simulate common incidents—falls, allergic reactions, nosebleeds—so response steps feel automatic.
Debrief and Learn: After any incident, reflect on what worked and what to refine. Resources from the National Safety Council can guide learning.
Maintain Your Kit: Check stock and expiration dates monthly. Use a standard checklist and track replenishment.
Teach Basics to Kids: Age-appropriate safety, when to seek help, and how to describe symptoms. KidsHealth-style resources can help you frame it.
How to Display First Aid Skills on Your Resume
7. Homework Assistance
Homework assistance supports students in completing assignments, grasping material, and building study habits that stick.
Why It's Important
It bridges school and home, boosts confidence, and helps students stay on track academically—without turning after-school into more school.
How to Improve Homework Assistance Skills
Personalize Support: Identify strengths, gaps, and learning preferences. Offer targeted scaffolds.
Shape the Space: Quiet zones, organized supplies, and clear routines reduce friction and distraction.
Use Smart Tools: Lean on trusted educational platforms and flashcard or practice apps when they truly help.
Peer Power: Small group study and peer tutoring build understanding and ownership. Edutopia’s cooperative learning tips translate well after school.
Share Resources: Provide reference guides for writing, math strategies, and research skills (think OWL-style tools and math anchor charts).
Feedback That Lifts: Be specific, focus on process, and celebrate progress—Positive Psychology principles apply here.
Team With Teachers and Families: Align expectations and updates with teachers; keep caregivers in the loop through consistent, brief notes.
Keep Growing: Tap into ASCA and similar groups for strategies and professional learning.
How to Display Homework Assistance Skills on Your Resume
8. Group Leadership
Group leadership means guiding students toward shared goals, maintaining safety and belonging, and sparking active participation.
Why It's Important
It transforms a crowd into a community—structured, fair, and fun.
How to Improve Group Leadership Skills
Communicate Clearly: Short directions, visual cues, and check-for-understanding. Offer constructive, timely feedback.
Lead Inclusively: Invite every voice. Adapt for diverse needs and backgrounds. The ADL’s guidance on inclusive communities is a strong touchstone.
Activate Engagement: Rotate roles, use hands-on tasks, and build in choice. Edutopia’s engagement strategies fit well.
Set Goals and Roles: Define what success looks like and who does what. The Balance Careers’ guidance on team goal-setting aligns neatly.
Train Yourself: Take short courses or workshops on leadership and facilitation. Practice one new move each week.
How to Display Group Leadership Skills on Your Resume
9. Safety Protocols
Safety protocols are the written and practiced procedures that keep children and staff physically and emotionally safe—emergency response, supervision, child protection, health practices, and more.
Why It's Important
Preparedness reduces risk, builds trust, and ensures kids can learn and play without worry.
How to Improve Safety Protocols Skills
Assess and Train: Run risk assessments and provide thorough training in first aid and emergency response. CDC school safety guidance is a solid frame.
Communicate Clearly: Establish fast, simple channels for alerts and updates among staff, students, and families. APA emphasizes communication as a safety pillar.
Strengthen Policies: Keep bullying prevention, evacuation, reunification, and digital safety policies current. Reference StopBullying.gov best practices.
Drill Regularly: Practice fire, lockdown, and shelter-in-place drills. Ready.gov provides dependable planning ideas.
Resource Pathways: Ensure access to mental health and community services. SAMHSA’s directories are useful starting points.
Gather Feedback: Ask staff, families, and students what feels safe—or not. Safe Kids Worldwide can inspire focus areas.
How to Display Safety Protocols Skills on Your Resume
10. Communication
Communication is the clear, responsive exchange of information and feelings with students, caregivers, and staff—so support is coordinated and kids feel understood.
Why It's Important
It builds trust, reduces confusion, and keeps the program humming.
How to Improve Communication Skills
Active Listening: Listen to understand, not to reply. Reflect, clarify, and slow your pace.
Be Direct and Age-Appropriate: Simple language, concrete examples, visuals when helpful. Land the message.
Constructive Feedback: Specific, actionable, kind. Harvard Business Review offers useful framing ideas.
Lead With Empathy: Name emotions, normalize struggle, and offer choices.
Resolve Conflicts: Use calm mediation techniques and teach “I” statements.
Cultural Humility: Learn about students’ backgrounds and avoid assumptions. NEA’s cultural competence guidance is instructive.
How to Display Communication Skills on Your Resume
11. Empathy
Empathy is tuning in to another person’s feelings and perspective—and responding with care that fits the moment.
Why It's Important
Kids open up when they feel seen. Empathy strengthens relationships and guides better support.
How to Improve Empathy Skills
Active Listening: Give full attention, reflect feelings, and suspend judgment.
Open-Ended Questions: Invite stories, not yes/no answers. Let kids narrate their experience.
Perspective-Taking: Deliberately imagine their point of view. Greater Good Magazine offers helpful practices.
Show Compassion: Small gestures—tone, posture, patience—speak loudly. Psychology Today covers this well.
Reflective Practice: After tough moments, jot notes about what helped and what to try next time.
Keep Learning: Explore emotional intelligence resources from respected leadership centers.
How to Display Empathy Skills on Your Resume
12. Time Management
Time management is planning and pacing your day—activities, transitions, prep, and recovery—so students get a rich mix without the rush.
Why It's Important
It maximizes engagement, reduces stress, and keeps the program dependable.
How to Improve Time Management Skills
Prioritize: Separate urgent from important. Use an Eisenhower-style grid to decide what gets attention now versus later.
Set Clear Goals: Define success for each block. SMART goals make outcomes concrete.
Plan the Flow: Build in setup, movement breaks, and cleanup. Transitions count too.
Work in Focused Bursts: Short, intense planning sprints (Pomodoro-style) beat scattered multitasking.
Delegate Wisely: Share roles with co-counselors or volunteers. Empower student helpers when appropriate.
Set Boundaries: Clarify availability with families and staff to prevent overcommitment. Protect prep time.
Review and Adjust: Weekly reflections reveal where time leaks. Patch one leak at a time.
How to Display Time Management Skills on Your Resume
