Operational Counselor Interview Questions & Answers:

1. Why do you want to work with us as Counselor?

I have always been impressed by the name of XYZ College and have heard a lot about how you deliver quality education with matchless standards, which is why I would like to join your winning team.

2. What goals do you have for this position?

Stability, to meet specific objectives, to offer educational opportunities to student s and their families, to represent the mission of the school.

3. Are you passionate about this career?

I am passionate about this career because I enjoy communicating to others the possibilities of a great career and what they can look forward to in their future ahead of them. I thrive on seeing the excitement that I can bring to others with effective communication and making sure that the potential student is confident in their decision.

4. Tell me how do you deal with conflict?

Well, being an admirer of the cooperative model by Deutsch, I usually negotiate with the individual until he or she is willing to cooperate. In advanced cases I occasionally take the competitive approach which I feel is sometimes needed to bring up the candidate's level of interest.

5. Why do you want a career as an Admissions Counselor?

I worked with students for many years and get a kick out of helping them. I also enjoyed meeting with their parents and helping them with questions about college.

6. Prepare a 5-10 minute presentation that you would deliver to a group of first-year students. Role-play how you would conduct a resume review during an appointment. Bring something to show the committee evidence of your greatest professional strength.?

Only one university asked me these hands-on questions, but they were the most fun to answer because they allowed me to truly demonstrate my strengths and skills, rather than just talking about them. For these hands-on questions, I drew heavily from the knowledge and experience that I had gained in my career services internship, and I even brainstormed with my internship supervisors about how I could best showcase my strengths.

7. What are your views on group counseling? How do you handle confidentiality issues while group counseling?

I am a big fan of group counseling and I believe it is a very effective counseling technique, however, after every group session, the counselor typically offers one to one sessions if requested. Matters of confidential nature can easily be handled via such individual sessions.

8. What ideas do you have for reaching out to first-year students?
How would you engage faculty with the work that we do in Career Services?
How might you streamline the appointment-scheduling process in our office?

These "what-if" questions asked me to imagine what kind of innovation I might bring to the position. They were the most difficult for me because they forced me to put my ideas out on a limb with only limited knowledge of what the department and position was like. I found that research was my most important ally in imagining how I would contribute to a position I didn't yet have. I scoured university and department websites for every piece of information I could find about their work and values. That gave me the information I needed to articulate how I could contribute.

9. What experience do you have delivering presentations or workshops?
Tell us about your experiences working with diverse students.
What would you do if you had worked with a student for a few sessions, but he or she never completed the out-of-session homework that you assigned?
What techniques have you used to conduct labor market research?
What are the first steps you take when advising students on their career path?

Experience-based questions asked me to consider how my previous experience related to the current position, and they formed the bulk of my interview questions. Just like I teach my students, I prepared for these questions by creating STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) stories about every task on the job description. To be clear, I did not write out my example stories word-for-word - at least not after that first interview - but I did write bullet points so that I wouldn't forget the key details.

10. Delivery of Comprehensive School Counseling Program Based Interview Questions:

► What is your experience with implementation of the school counseling core curriculum?
► How would you approach individual student planning?
► How do you develop a positive relationship with students in individual counseling? Small group counseling?
► How would you handle a large group of students having attendance problems?
► What experiences have you had with developing transition plans?
► Describe how you would implement small group counseling/classroom lessons?
► What might your professional development plan look like?