Admissions Counselor Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of an admissions counselor. Feel free to use our admissions counselor job description template to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as an admissions counselor.
Who is an Admissions Counselor?
Admission on one hand is defined as the process of admitting one or being allowed into an establishment for a particular period. A counselor, on the other hand, is a person who is trained to listen and hearken to people who have problems or wish to achieve something, direct them, and give them advice. An Admissions counselor, therefore, is a trained personnel who listens to students of a particular school or applicants of that school, directs them, and advises them on school affairs.
The admissions counselor aids in the promotion of an academic institution by assisting students as they apply and making inquiries about a particular institution. This set of people take part in the admission processes of schools and colleges and are also decision-makers when it comes to students’ affairs. They also represent their various schools at students’ admission and welfare events. Admissions counselor helps in attracting students to the school they represent, thereby increasing the admission rate and hence, income for the school management.
As an admissions counselor, you are always going to meet with students, both old and new; you are also going to assess their academic prowess and extra-curricular activities, give them detailed and additional information about the school, and help them too with all admission processes including choice of course and payment procedure. Students are at times more comfortable relating their complaints and problems to the admissions counselor, and they are happy when they get useful pieces of advice from him/her. New students are also fulfilled and more comfortable when they are contacted by admissions counselors either via emails, SMS, or calls to direct them properly on the admission they seek, or to give them more details on the course they chose to apply for. Without the admissions counselor, an academic institution would not be building a strong relationship between the students and school management; this is because the admissions counselor relates to the management, issues, complaints, and feedback from the students, both existing and applicants, this serves as an avenue for improvement and promotion.
Admissions Counselor Job Description
Below are the admissions counselor job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write an admissions counselor job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The job of an admissions counselor is not an easy one as it requires a lot of duties, tasks, and even research; this is why some academic institutions employ the services of more than one admissions counselor. There are so many benefits of being an admissions counselor, the job description is as follows:
- Assist students in colleges and universities in their readiness for the admission process.
- Help students with advice on their choice of course.
- Recruit the right and qualified students to an academic institution.
- Attend and organize academic events, especially on recruitment and student affairs.
- Handle interviews for fresh applicants and prospective students.
- Contribute towards organizing events to recruit and conserve students.
- Examine applications of applicants and give them directions on the right place to go in search for guidance on the course to study, or rather give the needed guidance, to give them the chance to choose a better career after they graduate.
- Give detailed and further explanations to the prospective student on gaining financial aid, discounts, scholarships, and so many other necessary details.
- Confront prospective students and answer their questions about the institution, courses, departments, and opportunities lying therein.
- Render tour services to new students around the campus when tour guides are unavailable.
- Certify that the data of new students are recorded and entered into the students’ database by the appropriate staff.
- Certify that international applicants have the necessary documents and paperwork required for admission into the institution and to verify them.
- Help organize travels to communities, technical schools, and so on, to promote the institution.
- Highlight and publish the benefits of the institution to attract students locally and internationally.
- Assist the management in decision-making processes.
- Develop an active alumni forum to assist students whose alma mater is the school you represent, and help students find good opportunities and find financial aid.
- Have an updated knowledge of the institution, its legislation, trends, policies, and academic standards.
- Create an admission guideline to help future recruitment plans and efforts.
These are the duties and jobs of an admissions counselor. Nevertheless, your employer can relieve you of some of these duties, or employ the services of more admission counselors and as such make the workload easier to bear.
Qualifications
The role of an admissions counselor in an academic institution is so important that an institution would hardly do without them. There is a lot of academic competition going on recently, as regards the numerical strength of institutions, and as such, schools go all the way to employ professional and good admissions counselors to help with admission and school advertisement processes. This implies that there is an increase in demand for the aforementioned career. But then, to gain employment or become successful as an admissions counselor, there are necessary qualifications that you should obtain. Acquisition of these qualifications gives you a better chance of striving among others, as an admissions counselor. These qualifications include:
- A bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, or an associate degree in education or any related field.
- 0-1 year experience for novices and beginners’ entry positions. And 2+ years for advanced applicants.
- Valid driver’s license alongside a clean and clear driving record.
- Knowledge of PowerPoint presentations, spreadsheets, and other Microsoft tools.
- Verified experience speaking and working with teens and youths.
- Capability to do extra work during administrative emergencies.
- Should be willing to travel when needed.
- Ability to build and maintain long-lasting relationships.
- Long period sitting on desks and familiarity with the computer.
- Experience working in an academic institution even if not as an admissions counselor, and attunement to university or college programs, scholarships, etc.
- Ability to stay organized and carry out multiple tasks.
- Willingness to provide support and assistance to young ones in making important academic decisions.
Essential Skills
An admissions counselor is a very important person in the educational sector; colleges and universities included, especially academic institutions with rigorous admission procedures and qualifications guidelines. To become an admissions counselor, you would need to acquire certain skills which would assist you in rendering professional services to the institution you work in, and to the students, you work on. These skills include the following:
- Effective listening.
- Good oral skills.
- Social Insight.
- Reading apprehension.
- Service-Oriented.
- Writing skills.
- Critical thinking capability.
- Learning ability.
- Coordination
- Alluring
- Teaching skills.
- Problem-solving.
- Decision-making and judging ability.
- Negotiation
- Time management.
- Basic computer skills like typing, presentations, and spreadsheets.
- Recruiting skills.
- Social media involvement.
- Mentoring
- Simplication
These skills are interwoven and complement each other. This is to say, that they work together to birth a professional and successful admissions counselor. As a professional, you should have effective listening skill which involves paying utmost attention to a person; in this case, a student. Not just paying attention but also understanding the point of view of the student. This skill is accompanied by good oral and verbal skills which entail the adequate use of words to convey information to a student. The students should not feel intimidated by the way you talk to them, but rather feel secure.
Students at times may react in ways not pleasing to you, but this should not make you sad or angry; you should try to understand why they acted the way they did or spoke in the manner they did; this skill is referred to as social insight or perceptiveness. You should also be able to read properly as some of the time you might need to read out documents to students.
Furthermore, you also need to have the spirit of service, be willing to serve and assist students in their difficulties, with cheerfulness and humility, and should be open to learning and acquiring new knowledge and getting fresh ideas even from students. You should be able to negotiate properly and also have the persuasive skill to enable you to convince the student to take a particular action.
Finally, there is so much workload on an admissions counselor and it is possible to omit and maybe forget some assignments or tasks. Therefore, as an admissions counselor, you should have an organizational skill that helps you organize and take proper accounts of things happening or to happen.
How to Become an Admissions Counselor
An Admissions Counselor is an important staff in the educational settings, they help publicize the various institutions where they work, and they also work with other employed personnel to enable a smooth admission process. For you to become an admissions counselor there are a few necessary steps involved:
- Obtain a bachelor’s degree: So many institutions especially universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education require a bachelor’s degree. The career of an admissions counselor does not require a degree in a particular field of study but you should obtain a degree in a more relating course. Such courses may include educational studies, English language courses, psychology, business, sociology, philosophy, and many others. These courses can at least help build your interpersonal relationship and communication skills.
- Complete an Admissions Training/Internship: After you must have obtained a bachelor’s degree, seek a suitable admissions internship opportunity. Internships can provide you with great job opportunities even while undergoing your degree course. You can start by finding space in your school’s admission department, which will, in turn, provide you with better internship opportunities. Going for an internship would give you the best experience you need to become a professional and successful admissions counselor. You can also search for part-time jobs in small startups to work as a customer service agent, as some admissions counselor job description requires customer service experience.
- Acquire necessary skills: There are necessary skills needed to become an admissions counselor. These skills are required by employers to employ you. Skills like writing skills, communication skills, social skills, computer skills, and so on.
- Hunt for employment: Immediately after your graduation, you can begin seeking employment if you want to become an admissions counselor. You can begin by seeking to know if your alma mater has any openings, especially if you had your internship with them since you have already built a relationship with the employees and staff. If not, you can begin applying for jobs in any educational setting or institution where there are openings, even where there are none. The experience gained from working as an admissions counselor can pave way for greater opportunities like an associate director of admissions.
- Enroll in professional organizations: This is just for development purposes. These organizations make provisions for resources needed for training and research. They can also provide networking opportunities with fellow industries.
Where to Work as an Admissions Counselor
As an Admissions Counselor, you are certain to get a job or become self-employed; this is because of the competitive nature of the educational sector at the moment. Every school wants to have the highest number of applicants and students and so come up with so many strategies to achieve this goal, thereby, resulting in the employment of good and qualified admissions counselors to make this happen. Therefore, as an admissions counselor, you should try as much as possible to acquire all the necessary skills and gain the necessary qualifications to stand a chance of being employed. As an admissions counselor, your work can be done online and/or offline, and even remotely.
An admissions counselor can work in a variety of educational settings, including colleges, elementary and high schools, universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and any other academic Institution. They spend most of their time making research on how to better the admission processes of the institution they work in and also gathering information on who is probably to apply for admission to their school. They keep in contact with the prospective students all through the admissions process.
Admissions Counselor Salary Scale
The location and strength (numerical and financial) of an academic institution affects the salary paid to its various admissions counselor. Other factors like level of experience and qualifications on the side of the employee determine the amount of salary received.
The average salary of an admissions counselor in the United States is $51,000 annually but makes the most in San Francisco, where they earn approximately $76,690. An individual working as an Admissions counselor in Nigeria typically earns about ₦320,000 per month. Salaries range from ₦162,000 to ₦490,000 and then earns ₦1,944,000 to ₦5,880,000 annually. This could involve accommodation, transportation, and other benefits.
