School Counselor Job Description Template

School Counselor

[Intro Paragraph] The most successful job listings get started with a few sentences introducing prospective counselors to your school or district and highlighting your unique teaching culture and educational environment. This is your opportunity to sell yourself to job seekers by painting them a picture of what it is like to work at your school. Whether you’re writing an elementary school counselor job description, middle school counselor job description, or high school counselor job description, be sure to include specifics about the role and students they’ll be working with.

School Counselor Job Responsibilities:

• Advises and counsels students regarding academic, educational, and short-term social and emotional problems.
• Remains universally accessible and makes an effort to know every student for whom they are responsible.
• Provides individual student planning and responsive services to support students and their families regarding academic matters.
• Teaches guidance classes and provides guidance counseling to students through planned activities in small group or classroom settings to convey educational, social, and important school information, and offers workshops/seminars for parents.
• Consults, facilitates, and maintains communication with parents, teachers, administrators, and pertinent agents on specific student and parent academic and educational matters including academic modifications and/or accommodations.
• Provides feedback and recommends appropriate action and solutions to individual student’s academic and educational needs and abilities.
• Participates on a Student Success Team, identifies students who may need targeted or intensive services, and coordinates with behavioral health specialists.
• Assists students/parents in understanding school policies and procedures.
• Provides brief counseling to address social and emotional concerns and appropriately refers students to behavioral health specialists.
• Communicates, coordinates, and collaborates with behavioral health specialists on developing and implementing student supports.
• Supports and attends appropriate student activities and events.

[Work Hours & Benefits] Another chance to sell potential applicants on your school is your working hours and benefits. Use this space to describe things like overtime or year-round pay, as well as benefits that set you apart, like tuition or continuing education credits, or childcare reimbursements.

School Counselor Qualifications/Skills:

• Desire and ability to work with students at the specified age level with diverse backgrounds and levels of ability toward accomplishing their educational goals.
• Ability to organize tasks and manage time to meet many and varied deadlines and communicate effectively with students, parents, school administrators and other staff, including the ability to discuss topics which may be sensitive.
• Working familiarity with student assessment tools, especially in evaluating and interpreting standardized test results.
• Knowledge of educational software.

Education, Experience, and Licensing Requirements:

• Master’s Degree in Counseling/Guidance, Education, or Social Work
• Minimum of 1 year of school counseling or teaching experience
• Understanding and familiarity with computer applications and word processing functions

[Call to Action] You’ve got counselors familiar with your school and specific job requirements — now you need a compelling call to action so they know exactly how to apply. Tell them who to contact for information; how and where to submit an application, resume, and other supporting documents; or to simply click the “apply” button at the top of the ad.