NJ Civil Service Navigator

Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor Family

Career series with 7 positions across 2 levels

Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor groups 7 related titles into a 2-level career ladder.

Entry is typically through Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor 1, advancing through the ladder toward Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor 2 and, from there, into supervisory roles. Pay across the family spans $63,663 to $122,832, around the 48th percentile of all civil service job families by top pay. State payroll records show 375 people across the family's titles, most concentrated at Labor.

Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor is closely related to Counselor and Substance Abuse Counselor.

7
Positions
2
Career Levels
1
Specializations
Salary Range: $63,663 - $122,832/year

Specializations

Deaf Language Specialist

Positions in This Family

What the Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor family covers

Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor covers 7 title codes arranged into 2 levels of responsibility. Every title in it is a state title, so the employer is a state department, commission or authority rather than a county or municipality.

Case-carrying titles are the largest civilian block in New Jersey government outside clerical work. They run through the Department of Children and Families, Human Services, county welfare and social services boards, and the guardianship and child support programs. The families are usually built as clean numbered ladders because caseload complexity is what separates one rung from the next, not a change of profession. A social work degree is common at the professional levels, though many of the specialist and technician titles admit experience instead.

The ladder, ordered by pay

The Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor rungs, listed from the best paid down. Here the numbering happens to agree with the pay order, which is not guaranteed elsewhere in New Jersey's plan.

The distance from the bottom of Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor 1 to the top of Supervising Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor is $59,169, an increase of about 93% over the entry minimum.

What each title does

Reading the definitions side by side is the quickest way to see what changes as you move through the family.

Requirements across the family

Across the 7 titles we have parsed, the education requirements read as a master's degree on 7 of them. Stated experience runs from 2 years at the lowest rung to 3 at the highest, which is the main thing separating one level from the next.

On how the jobs are filled: 4 are competitive, filled from an eligible list after an open competitive or promotional examination and 3 are non-competitive, appointed on proof of the stated qualifications rather than by examination.

Who actually employs these titles

State payroll records show 375 people working under 5 of this family's titles, spread across 4 agencies. Labor alone accounts for about 77% of them.

  • Labor — 287 employees
  • Human Services — 69 employees
  • Health and Senior Services — 12 employees
  • Military and Veterans Affairs — 7 employees

Median actual pay varies across the family, from $67,170 for Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor 1 up to $111,094 for Supervising Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor. Those are medians of what people are really paid, not schedule minimums and maximums.

State payroll only, deduplicated by payroll title; local employers file separately, so a family with local codes looks smaller here than it is. How this is counted.

How the pay is set

Titles in this family are paid on the A-P-R-S salary schedule. See every step in that schedule. Bargaining is handled by CWA. Union contracts and rights are collected here.

Where these jobs exist

These are state titles, hired by New Jersey departments, commissions and boards through the Civil Service Commission's announcement and eligible list process rather than by an ordinary job posting. How state hiring works, and which agencies employ what.

Related titles elsewhere in the plan

Other classifications built on the same terms as Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor. Worth checking if this family has no current opening.

Families next to this one

New Jersey's classification plan links families by shared terminology and by the routes people actually take between them. These sit closest to Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor.

Common questions about Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor jobs

How many Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor titles are there in New Jersey civil service?

The Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor family holds 7 title codes arranged across 2 levels. Each code is a separate classification with its own published specification, requirements and salary treatment.

What does a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor earn in New Jersey?

Published salary data for this family runs from $63,663 at the bottom of Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor 1 to $122,832 at the top of Supervising Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor. Those are schedule figures. Where the title appears on the state payroll, actual median pay is listed on the page above.

Do you need to take an exam to become a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor?

Yes for most of the family. 4 of the 7 titles are in the competitive division, which means appointment comes from an eligible list built by an open competitive or promotional examination.

What qualifications does a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor need?

The most common education requirement in this family is a master's degree, named on 7 of the 7 titles. Stated experience ranges from 2 to 3 years depending on the rung. Read the individual specification for the exact wording, including any experience substitution.

Which agencies employ Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor staff?

State payroll records show 375 people in this family across 4 agencies, with Labor the largest at 287. Local government employers are not covered by that extract.