College Counselor (Full-Time Bay Area)

About This Job

As a Collegewise counselor youll work with 40 studentsmost of whom are juniors and seniorsto help them find and apply to the right colleges for them. Youll be the trusted guide who transforms what can feel like an overwhelming journey into an exciting process of discovery. Youll build 1:1 relationships and counsel students outside of school hours and occasionally on weekends (during the busy fall season).

Building your local market is a core part of this role. The Bay Area is a growing market for Collegewise which means youll play an active role in establishing Collegewise as the trusted resource for college counseling in the community. This means speaking at local high schools and community events developing relationships with school counselors and directors networking within the community and finding creative ways to connect with families who would benefit from our services. Were not asking you to be a full-time marketer but we are asking you to be an active ambassador for Collegewise in the Bay Areaand well provide training resources and support to help you succeed.

Youll be helping kids and parents and working with smart passionate coworkers who have absolutely no reverence for US News & World Report college rankings.

Every college counselor who joins us completes an initial training (30-40 hours in total) led by our Learning & Development Team followed by mentoring support and ongoing professional development to help you elevate your counseling and grow in your career here. Even our most veteran counselors dont coast on experience. We all want to keep getting better all the time.

Ambition with heart. Strategy with soul.

You definitely wouldnt be crossing over to the for-profit dark side here. We have an excellent reputation with both high school counselors and admissions officers. We present at NACAC local ACACs and at high schools and community events. We partner with community-based organizations to directly support their students and increase college access. We tell the truth we treat people right we recycle and we have at least five confirmed vegetarians on the team. Were biased but really this is a pretty great place to work.

Who Were Looking For (You)

• Youre someone whod rather be challenged by something important than phone it in for something mundane. You want to commit to a calling that matters to you and you have high expectations of yourself your job and your employer.
• You understand parents and their high school-aged students. And youve run in the circles youre seeking to serve as a high school counselor/director or a professional whos worked closely with those populations. Well give special consideration to applicants who have already forged trusted relationships with high school communities in the Bay Area.
• Youre inspirednot intimidatedby the prospect of finding families who want to engage with a college counseling service like ours. Youre genuinely excited about building Collegewises presence in the Bay Areaspeaking at schools connecting with counselors attending community events and becoming a visible trusted resource for college planning.
• Youre a continuous learner who believes that college counseling is a craft that needs to be nurtured and put to the very best use to help kids. Youre not intimidated about being expected to achieve results.
• You win people over easily and earn trust quickly. Whether youre working on a project with a coworker meeting with a student about a college list presenting to a room full of families at a high school event or talking to a concerned parent on the phone people enjoy and benefit from their interactions with you.
• Most importantly you believe in the vision of Collegewise. You want to empower students to identify and reach their goals (for college and beyond). You want to be a supportive guide to those students and their families.. Youre passionate about what Collegewise stands for and our drive to help as many families as possible transform their journey to college.

Work Life at Collegewise
Weve worked hard to create the company wed want to work for with a culture that draws smart fascinating professionals united by a desire to do the best work of our careers. For more information about our benefits and our approach to work check out our Careers page.

Salary
Most of our counselors begin their careers here earning between $65000 - $75000/year. There is always room for growth in both salary and responsibility and we take care to clearly explain the pathways to both to all of our counselors.

One of the more significant factors we consider in determining a starting salary is how inclined families will be to enroll with you. Families choose a private counselor based largely on trust: do they trust you with this important process And for online counselorsunless a family has been referred by someone who vouches for youtheyll use your unique experience as a proxy for that trust. Our training ensures real counseling quality always lies behind whatever factors families choose to evaluate (their criteria arent always a proxy for counseling skills). But trust is the X factor the skill we cant train and the asset that takes time to build. So we reward those applicants whove earned it and we support those who want the opportunity to do so.

We try to approach starting salary discussions as a fair and reasonable conversation between an organization and a professional whove decided they are right for each other. Our goal Make it work for both of us without having to overly flex our negotiating muscles. And start this run together with the mutual trust and respect we both deserve.

Start Date
Were hoping our new counselors can start between March and June but were flexible for the right people.

We want to hear from you
If youre excited about this opportunity but unsure if youre the right fit we hope youll take a shot. There is no such thing as a perfect applicant (or a perfect job for that matter). And we promise to give a fair and thorough read to every applicant who takes the time to submit a thoughtful application to us.

Collegewise is stronger because of the different perspectives backgrounds and experiences our team brings. Were committed to building a place where everyone can do their best workand we actively work toward that through our IEA Committee our resources for students from all backgrounds and our everyday practices. If that matters to you too wed love to meet you.

How to Apply

Instead of a traditional cover letter please choose 3 of the following questions to answer (150-250 words is a helpful guideline but use as much or as little space as you need). Were most interested in learning about your counseling philosophy skills and experiencesthe things that will set you (and your students) up for success.

Application Questions (choose 3):

1. Collegewise counselors guide students through the entire college application process which means building trust and relationships over time. Tell us about a situation where you built a meaningful relationship with a student that directly impacted their outcome.
2. Working with high schoolers means balancing student needs with family expectations and sometimes they dont align. Tell us about a time you had to manage a difficult conversation or disagreement with a parent or stakeholder. How did you handle the situation and what was the outcome
3. Wisers love learning and we invest in professional development. How do you approach your own professional growth or learning
4. Why college counseling and why Collegewise Tell us what draws you to this work and our team specifically.
5. What is your typical caseload and how do you productively manage your time
6. Tell us about how youve formed meaningful connections within the Bay Area community or outline the strategy youd take to do so.

Please submit your resume and responses through our Careers page. Every single applicant will receive a response from us and we do our very best to reply within 10 days.

Questions
Feel free to email us at (please no phone calls). We promise to respond to you quickly.

Thanks for reading! Wed love to hear from you but if we dont we hope you find the perfect professional fit someplace else.