Position Description – Career and Personal Counselor

POSITION DESCRIPTION
Position Title:	Career and Personal Counselor	FLSA Status: Exempt
Reports to:	Director of Student Development
Department:	Student Development (Student and Enrollment Services)
Date Prepared:	June 2005

BASIC FUNCTION

The Career and Personal Counselor provides direct clinical services to students, emphasizing the psychological, emotional, physical, relational, academic, vocational, and social development of the college population. This therapeutic, holistic approach is integrated into services in order to promote student success and retention through the coordination and delivery of programs which focus on the personal developmental needs of college students. Career development is also emphasized in that the Career and Personal Counselor works with undeclared students to help foster career exploration and decision making processes to help students achieve their maximum educational and career potential.

NATURE & SCOPE

The Career and Personal Counselor reports to the Director of Student Development. While the incumbent manages projects, no direct supervision of other employees is required. Although certain results are expected of the position, the incumbent is allowed to determine how best to accomplish them. This can include developing new procedures, if necessary.

The Career and Personal Counselor must be a superior communicator, a characteristic inherent to the counseling profession. In order to help solve problems and make a difference in the lives of clients, the incumbent must be able to listen and understand a variety of viewpoints. The incumbent must also be able to work with people from various background situations.

In addition, the Career and Personal Counselor must be an organized yet flexible person. With a variety of duties, organization is essential. Keeping an organized schedule of appointments makes consultation more efficient. However, a large number of walk-in students can cause the schedule to change, and the incumbent must work to deal with each case in an effective, resourceful manner.

The incumbent must work to develop relationships with not only students but also faculty and staff from all areas of campus. These relationships help to refer students needing services to the incumbent. Moreover, the incumbent may recommend that a student use the services of other departments as part of treatment. These relationships also aid the incumbent in the role of Chair of the Undeclared Division. The incumbent must notify faculty of changes in the process of advising undeclared students.

Furthermore, the Career and Personal Counselor must keep an updated knowledge base of trends in the employment market. In helping students decide on academic and career plans, this information is critical. Knowledge of the best employment opportunities also helps in job placement. Forging relationships with employers is also important.

Position Description – Career and Personal Counselor

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES

Ø Provides psychological assessments and treatment using clinical skills and experience in working with students who have emotional, behavioral, developmental, relational, or physical disorders

Ø Provides comprehensive career development and planning services to undeclared students through the use of computer-based career planning programs, assessments, interviews, interest inventories, and personality testing

Ø Provides job placement services to students and assists with career fairs

Ø Administers university-wide testing programs (Regents’ tests, CLEP, SAT, ISAT, ACT, CAT, TSE, MELAB, Dantes, and others)

Ø Provides workshop and outreach presentations

Ø Chairs Undeclared Division

Ø Assists with new student orientation

Ø Teaches freshman orientation class

BUDGETARY RESPONSIBILITIES

The Career and Personal Counselor has no responsibility regarding budgetary issues.

SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

This position requires an advanced degree and three to five years of experience in the field. Certifications required include the following: Licensed Professional Counselor, National Certified Counselor, Crisis Response Management, American Counseling Association, American College Counselors Association, and Georgia College Counselors Association. Familiarity with Microsoft Office is also required.