******* emarston1 *******

July032011

Hey!

Just wondering if you had any pointers or tips for me for the interview! I would really appricieate your insight!

Thanks!

emarston1

It's funny because I just had one of my friends interviewing for an admissions counselor position in New York and she picked my brain about it so this is bascially what I told her:

When I was helping her I asked my boss who's the Dean of Admissions at our school what she looks for when hiring an admissions counselor and this is what she said: someone who's organized, has excellent time management skills, is outgoing, articulate, seems trustworthy and honest, independent but also can work in a team environment. We host/plan a lot of events so she looks for event planning experience as well. She appreciates people who have done research on the school to know what kinds of programs are offered, what their applicant pool generally looks like, basic history of the school, etc.

In general, admissions officers are very outgoing by nature. You have to be able to talk to anyone and keep a conversation going. It's about building relationships with people and getting them to both like you and trust you.

Depending on what your particular job entails, I would say organization and time management are the most important skills.  My boss told me after I was hired that the reason she picked me was because I mentioned that my closet was organized and she knew that anyone who kept their closet organized was never going to have an application filed incorrectly.

I'm not sure what your credentials are but she wanted someone who was interested in higher education and thought it was important.  But she didn't necessarily want someone who wanted to go to that particular school because at least in my area of education a lot of people try to become admissions counselors so they can learn the tricks of the trade and then get admitted themselves.

We also travel extensively in the fall so willingness/ability to travel is very important.  For example, in October I was on the road more days than I was home and I'm not even one of the big travelers in the office.

July032011

Thank you Thank You a million times THANK YOU!!!!!!!

emarston1

You're very welcome.  Good luck!!!