Example Job Description
Counselor
A counselor who advances a comprehensive school counseling program spanning academic planning, social-emotional development, college and career readiness, access, advocacy, and crisis response.
Interview Planning Resource
Possible Interview Q&A: Counselor
How to use this resource: Select questions that measure competencies established through the district’s current job analysis. Ask candidates the same predetermined questions under comparable conditions and evaluate responses against the same job-related criteria.
The indicators below describe evidence a strong response may contain; they are not required scripts or the only acceptable answers.
- In the Counselor role, how would you respond when a student shares information indicating possible imminent harm?
Strong response indicators: Defines the purpose, scope, governing requirement, timeline, responsible owners, dependencies, controls, communication, contingencies, and evidence of completion. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for a comprehensive school counseling program spanning academic planning, social-emotional development, college and career readiness, access, advocacy, and crisis response.
- In the Counselor role, how do you explain confidentiality and its limits to students and families?
Strong response indicators: Verifies authoritative information, protects the affected person and data, follows approved procedures, involves responsible owners, documents facts, and confirms resolution. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for a comprehensive school counseling program spanning academic planning, social-emotional development, college and career readiness, access, advocacy, and crisis response.
- In the Counselor role, describe how you would build an equitable annual counseling program.
Strong response indicators: Uses systematic diagnosis, representative evidence, root-cause analysis, controlled correction, reconciliation, documentation, and monitoring for recurrence. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for a comprehensive school counseling program spanning academic planning, social-emotional development, college and career readiness, access, advocacy, and crisis response.
- In the Counselor role, a senior may be missing a graduation requirement. What would you do?
Strong response indicators: Applies least privilege, minimum necessary access, secure channels, appropriate approval, auditability, retention, and prompt escalation of uncertainty or risk. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for a comprehensive school counseling program spanning academic planning, social-emotional development, college and career readiness, access, advocacy, and crisis response.
- In the Counselor role, how would you support a student whose academic difficulty may have multiple causes?
Strong response indicators: Communicates the evidence, affected population, operational consequence, uncertainty, available choices, recommended action, accountable owners, and follow-up without unnecessary jargon. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for a comprehensive school counseling program spanning academic planning, social-emotional development, college and career readiness, access, advocacy, and crisis response.
- In the Counselor role, a family requests a schedule change that conflicts with graduation or program requirements. How would you proceed?
Strong response indicators: Builds sustainable ownership through clear definitions, role-specific training, useful quality reports, feedback loops, documentation, support, and verification that improvement persists. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for a comprehensive school counseling program spanning academic planning, social-emotional development, college and career readiness, access, advocacy, and crisis response.
- In the Counselor role, how would you coordinate a referral to an outside provider?
Strong response indicators: Defines the purpose, scope, governing requirement, timeline, responsible owners, dependencies, controls, communication, contingencies, and evidence of completion. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for a comprehensive school counseling program spanning academic planning, social-emotional development, college and career readiness, access, advocacy, and crisis response.
- In the Counselor role, what information belongs in a counseling record, and what should be limited?
Strong response indicators: Verifies authoritative information, protects the affected person and data, follows approved procedures, involves responsible owners, documents facts, and confirms resolution. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for a comprehensive school counseling program spanning academic planning, social-emotional development, college and career readiness, access, advocacy, and crisis response.
- In the Counselor role, how would you identify inequitable access to advanced coursework or college planning?
Strong response indicators: Uses systematic diagnosis, representative evidence, root-cause analysis, controlled correction, reconciliation, documentation, and monitoring for recurrence. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for a comprehensive school counseling program spanning academic planning, social-emotional development, college and career readiness, access, advocacy, and crisis response.
- In the Counselor role, how would you manage a large caseload while preserving urgent access?
Strong response indicators: Applies least privilege, minimum necessary access, secure channels, appropriate approval, auditability, retention, and prompt escalation of uncertainty or risk. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for a comprehensive school counseling program spanning academic planning, social-emotional development, college and career readiness, access, advocacy, and crisis response.
- In the Counselor role, how would you collaborate in an IEP, Section 504, or student-support meeting?
Strong response indicators: Communicates the evidence, affected population, operational consequence, uncertainty, available choices, recommended action, accountable owners, and follow-up without unnecessary jargon. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for a comprehensive school counseling program spanning academic planning, social-emotional development, college and career readiness, access, advocacy, and crisis response.
- In the Counselor role, what would you prioritize during your first 90 days?
Strong response indicators: Builds sustainable ownership through clear definitions, role-specific training, useful quality reports, feedback loops, documentation, support, and verification that improvement persists. Connects the response to the position’s specific responsibility for a comprehensive school counseling program spanning academic planning, social-emotional development, college and career readiness, access, advocacy, and crisis response.
Position Description
Under the direction of the appropriate district administrator, the Counselor perform and coordinate advanced work supporting a comprehensive school counseling program spanning academic planning, social-emotional development, college and career readiness, access, advocacy, and crisis response.
The position applies comprehensive school counseling, academic planning, social-emotional support, college and career readiness, student advocacy, and crisis response across student information, scheduling, graduation-tracking, learning, assessment, college and career, case-management, communication, referral, and secure documentation systems. It establishes or follows clear ownership, validation, security, documentation, review, and escalation practices appropriate to the role’s assigned authority.
The Counselor collaborates with students, families, teachers, school leaders, psychologists, social workers, nurses, special education teams, multilingual learner staff, community providers, colleges, and district offices. The role is accountable for specialized operations, configuration, analysis, troubleshooting, documentation, and user support while protecting confidential information and keeping local decisions traceable.
Reports To
Insert your school district’s specific reporting relationship here.
Required Education and Credentials
Required
- Master’s degree from an accredited college or university in school counseling, counseling, psychology, education, or a closely related field.
- Valid California Pupil Personnel Services Credential with a specialization in School Counseling, or eligibility to obtain and maintain the credential as required for assignment.
- Successful completion of all district-required employment clearances and mandated training.
Preferred
- Additional graduate preparation or certification related to college and career counseling, mental health, restorative practices, crisis response, or educational leadership.
- Current professional learning in culturally responsive counseling, multilingual family engagement, disability inclusion, and trauma-informed practice.
- Training in student data, graduation tracking, privacy, accessibility, and ethical use of technology in counseling.
Required / Desired Experience
Required Experience
- Two or more years of progressively responsible experience in K-12 education, student information, data, technology, compliance, research, records, or a closely related function.
- Experience with a comprehensive school counseling program spanning academic planning, social-emotional development, college and career readiness, access, advocacy, and crisis response.
- Experience interpreting requirements, procedures, definitions, reports, system information, or technical documentation relevant to assigned work.
- Experience coordinating or completing deadline-driven work with careful documentation and quality control.
- Experience handling confidential information and communicating with users or stakeholders.
Desired Experience
- Experience with student information, scheduling, graduation-tracking, learning, assessment, college and career, case-management, communication, referral, and secure documentation systems.
- Experience partnering with students, families, teachers, school leaders, psychologists, social workers, nurses, special education teams, multilingual learner staff, community providers, colleges, and district offices.
- Experience in specialized operations, configuration, analysis, troubleshooting, documentation, and user support.
- Experience using SQL, advanced spreadsheets, scripting, workflow tools, APIs, secure file transfer, or visualization tools when relevant to assigned duties.
- Experience developing accessible training, technical documentation, process maps, data dictionaries, or continuity materials.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Planning, Operations, and Service Delivery
- Deliver a comprehensive, developmentally appropriate counseling program aligned with student needs, school goals, ethical standards, and available resources.
- Provide individual and group academic, social-emotional, college, and career counseling within professional scope and established referral protocols.
- Review credits, graduation progress, course plans, assessments, student goals, and barriers and coordinate timely supports and transitions.
- Respond to student safety, crisis, abuse, neglect, harassment, mental-health, and other urgent concerns using mandated procedures and multidisciplinary teams.
- Engage families and coordinate referrals, interventions, accommodations, and community resources while maintaining appropriate consent and confidentiality.
Data Quality, Controls, and Documentation
- Maintain timely, objective, minimum-necessary counseling and referral records consistent with law, ethics, district policy, and professional scope.
- Use multiple sources of evidence to identify access gaps, participation patterns, unmet needs, and program effectiveness without stigmatizing students.
- Explain the limits of confidentiality and escalate safety concerns, mandated reports, and matters requiring licensed clinical or administrative authority.
- Review schedules, credits, graduation requirements, applications, recommendations, and student records for accuracy before consequential decisions.
- Protect counseling notes, student disclosures, disability information, immigration-related information, and family circumstances from unauthorized access.
Counselor-Specific Leadership and Support
- Own or support the assigned portfolio for a comprehensive school counseling program spanning academic planning, social-emotional development, college and career readiness, access, advocacy, and crisis response, with responsibilities clearly matched to the position’s authority and classification.
- Develop role-specific calendars, service expectations, status reporting, support channels, and escalation paths.
- Coordinate decisions with responsible data owners, program leaders, technical custodians, reviewers, and approving officials.
- Provide accessible training, guidance, communications, and technical assistance tailored to user responsibilities.
- Analyze recurring errors, incidents, requests, and process delays and recommend sustainable improvements.
Security, Improvement, and Continuity
- Protect personally identifiable and confidential information in systems, files, reports, email, tickets, meetings, training, and support activity.
- Test consequential changes using representative cases, documented expectations, peer or owner review, and post-change validation.
- Use automation only with appropriate access, versioning, logging, exception handling, review, and recovery procedures.
- Maintain current standard operating procedures, cross-training, critical contacts, dependencies, backup coverage, and recovery steps.
- Perform other related duties consistent with the position’s purpose and classification.
Required Skills and Abilities
Knowledge of
- Comprehensive school counseling, academic planning, social-emotional support, college and career readiness, student advocacy, and crisis response.
- Student information, scheduling, graduation-tracking, learning, assessment, college and career, case-management, communication, referral, and secure documentation systems.
- Data governance, source ownership, data quality, internal controls, change management, documentation, and continuous improvement.
- Student privacy, confidentiality, role-based access, secure transmission, records management, incident escalation, and responsible use.
- Project coordination, customer service, adult learning, accessible communication, and support practices appropriate to assigned work.
Ability to
- Interpret detailed requirements and translate them into accurate procedures, system actions, reports, guidance, or decisions.
- Trace discrepancies through source records, processes, configurations, mappings, transformations, and outputs.
- Manage competing priorities and fixed deadlines with transparent status, documentation, review, and escalation.
- Communicate clearly with technical, program, school, leadership, family, vendor, or agency audiences as appropriate.
- Exercise discretion, preserve confidentiality, recognize limits of authority, and escalate material risk promptly.
- Learn evolving requirements and technologies and improve processes without weakening controls or continuity.
Work Environment
- Work is performed primarily in district offices, schools, service locations, meetings, training environments, and other computer-based professional settings.
- The position requires sustained computer use and detailed review of records, systems, files, reports, requests, and technical or procedural documentation.
- Work involves frequent interaction with students, families, teachers, school leaders, psychologists, social workers, nurses, special education teams, multilingual learner staff, community providers, colleges, and district offices.
- Workload may increase substantially during annual cycles, reporting windows, implementations, releases, audits, incidents, school transitions, or other critical deadlines.
- The employee may encounter frequent interruptions, confidential matters, ambiguous records, failed processes, competing priorities, and urgent requests.
- The position requires secure handling of personally identifiable student, family, or staff information.
Other Requirements
- Successfully complete required criminal-record, fingerprint, and employment clearances.
- Complete a tuberculosis risk assessment and any examination required by applicable law or district policy.
- Complete annual mandated-reporter training and fulfill all legally applicable reporting responsibilities.
- Complete district-required cybersecurity, student-privacy, safety, nondiscrimination, records, and workplace training.
- Maintain professional confidentiality and comply with district policies governing records, information security, acceptable technology use, and data access.
- Travel between district offices, schools, service locations, meetings, and professional-development activities as assigned.
- Possess a valid California driver’s license and maintain insurability when driving is an essential function of the position.
- Occasionally work early-morning, evening, weekend, or extended hours during critical operational, reporting, testing, implementation, or incident periods.
- Regularly sit, stand, walk, speak, hear, read, and operate computers and standard office equipment.
- Use hands and fingers for keyboarding and handling documents; maintain visual attention while reviewing detailed records and computer displays.
- Occasionally lift, carry, or move records, devices, equipment, or supplies weighing up to 25 pounds.
- Perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.