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Specialist professionals not classified elsewhere

How to become a Career Counsellor

Also called: Student Counsellor, Employment Counsellor, Workplace Counsellor

Advises and guides people on choosing a job, planning their working life and developing and improving their work skills.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say university is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

No particular qualifications or level of education are needed to start. However, to call yourself a career consultant you need a national qualification. You can use the title after passing the Career Consultant Exam or the national trade skills test (ginou kentei) in career consulting (Grade 1 or 2) and registering on the official list. To sit the Career Consultant Exam you need at least three years of work experience or must complete a career consultant training course. After passing, you must take a course and renew the qualification every five years. Grade 2 of the career consulting skills test requires at least three years of work experience. Grade 1 requires at least three more years of experience after gaining Grade 2, or at least eight years of experience in total. Because you advise people on choosing a job and the way of life linked to it, you need a wide range of knowledge, including labour market information, employment schemes and ways of developing skills. The work helps people with one of the most important choices in life, their job, so you must stay close to clients and keep learning and acting ethically so you can always give sound advice. With experience, some people work as freelance career counsellors or career consultants.

Ways in

Pay · Job openings · AI and this job

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Career Counsellor?

No particular qualifications or level of education are needed to start. However, to call yourself a career consultant you need a national qualification. You can use the title after passing the Career Consultant Exam or the national trade skills test (ginou kentei) in career consulting (Grade 1 or 2) and registering on the official list. To sit the Career Consultant Exam you need at least three years of work experience or must complete a career consultant training course. After passing, you must take a course and renew the qualification every five years. Grade 2 of the career consulting skills test requires at least three years of work experience. Grade 1 requires at least three more years of experience after gaining Grade 2, or at least eight years of experience in total. Because you advise people on choosing a job and the way of life linked to it, you need a wide range of knowledge, including labour market information, employment schemes and ways of developing skills. The work helps people with one of the most important choices in life, their job, so you must stay close to clients and keep learning and acting ethically so you can always give sound advice. With experience, some people work as freelance career counsellors or career consultants.

How much does a Career Counsellor earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥5,833,100 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Specialist professionals not classified elsewhere, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become a Career Counsellor?

Usually. In this job's census occupation group, 67% of workers are university graduates.

Will AI change the work of a Career Counsellor?

Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026