Admissions Counselor Resume Examples & Templates
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Admissions counselors assist students through the admissions process for a school or college, handling paperwork, networking with candidates, reviewing applications, performing administrative activities, and arranging campus tours and information sessions. For this role, you’ll be expected to have strong interpersonal, organizational, and communication skills.
To prepare a perfect resume for an admissions counselor role, follow our resume examples and tips.
Get inspiration from 800+ resume samples and explore our 40+ resume templates to find the best one for you.
Admissions counselor example (text version)
Name: GINA HANSON
Address: City, State, Zip Code
Phone: 000-000-0000
E-Mail: email@email.com
Energetic Admissions Counselor bringing fresh experience in college and career counseling. Adept at coaching and counseling students throughout transition from high school to college. Excellent interpersonal and organizational abilities with in-depth knowledge of application and admissions processes
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
Communication
Company Name, City, State
- Interacted with vendors, contractors and professional services personnel to receive orders, direct activities and communicate instructions.
- Handle incoming and outgoing mail and email while copying, filing,
and maintaining paper or electronic documents. - Inform other employees of visitors’ arrivals or cancellations and
entered customer data or sent correspondences.
Student Services
Company Name, City, State
- Schedule and conduct interviews pursue qualified candidates for
enrollment and determine appropriateness of candidates for admission
based upon career goal compatibility. - Conduct all activities in accordance with the highest ethical standards.
Adhere to all state and federal accreditation and College rules and
regulations regarding student recruitment. - Accurately and completely portray college educational programs,
expected outcomes, student services, and financial consideration to
students, parents, and educators. Accurately forecast projected new
students on a start to start basis for the management team.
Clerical Expertise
Company Name, City, State
- Oversaw inventory activities, including materials monitoring, ordering
or requisition and supply stocking or re-stocking. - Routed incoming mail and messages to relevant personnel without
delay. - Managed office inventory by restocking supplies and placing purchase
orders to maintain adequate stock levels.
SKILLS
- Organization
- Time management
- Multi-line telephone systems
- Customer service and client relations
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Proficient in MS Office Suite
- College counseling
- Professional development training
WORK HISTORY
March 2019 to Current
Admissions Counselor
April 2016 to January 2019
Administration Assistant
July 2013 to October 2015
Office Clerk
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science
Educational Administration,City, State
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Admissions Counselor Resume FAQ
1.What are some skills you should emphasize for an admissions counselor position?
Technical skills: | Soft skills: |
Administration and management | Service-oriented |
Personnel and human resources | Problem-solving |
In-depth program knowledge | Time management |
Funding and benefit verification | Effective communication skills |
Admitting protocols | Team player |
Documentation | Detail-oriented |
Career counseling | Multitasking |
Networking and collaboration strategies | Diplomacy |
Individual and group counseling | Sound judgment |
Event planning | Confidentiality |
Online research | Positive attitude |
Proficiency in required software (e.g., Salesforce, Microsoft Office) | |
Schedule management | |
Employee training and development | |
Management of personal resources |
Technical Skills: |
Administration and management |
Personnel and human resources |
In-depth program knowledge |
Funding and benefit verification |
Admitting protocols |
Documentation |
Career counseling |
Networking and collaboration strategies |
Individual and group counseling |
Event planning |
Online research |
Proficiency in required software (e.g., Salesforce, Microsoft Office) |
Schedule management |
Employee training and development |
Management of personal resources |
Soft skills: |
Service-oriented |
Problem-solving |
Time management |
Effective communication skills |
Team player |
Detail-oriented |
Multitasking |
Diplomacy |
Sound judgment |
Confidentiality |
Positive attitude |
2. How should you format your resume?
Using the right resume format is key to displaying your credentials to best effect. If you have extensive experience in the education field, use a chronological resume format that highlights your work experience and career progress. A combination resume format also works if you want to strike more of a balance between work history and your key skills. If you’re new to this profession, provide a detailed rundown of the relevant skills and training you already have with a functional resume format.
3. How should you craft your resume if you are looking to take the next step in your career?
Look to gain experience in the following areas, and add them to your resume:
- Experience managing and organizing school or college fairs.
- Examples of how you’ve overseen information sessions and other events to educate parents, students and other counselors.
- Projects where you’ve improved admissions processes, or led admissions teams to positive outcomes.
- Projects where you’ve collaborated with senior management on strategic planning.
4. How should you use action verbs in your resume?
To energize your accomplishments and responsibilities, use strong action verbs to describe them. For example, writing “Launched and maintained two websites that improved the institution’s social media presence” creates a more powerful image than using wishy-washy language like “Was responsible for two websites that improved the institution’s social media presence.” Other action verbs you can use include organized, maintained, analyzed, communicated, supervised, developed, scheduled, launched or prepared.
5. How should you customize your resume?
No job is exactly the same as another — not even two admissions counselor jobs. Create different versions of your resume for different job openings, updating your summary, skills, and work experience sections to feature experiences and qualifications that best fit the specific job you’re applying to. Just follow our tips above on keywords, and follow the guidance in our article How to Create a Targeted Resume.
Do’s and Don’ts for Your Resume
- DO proofread your resume. The admissions process depends on accuracy and good judgment — and a resume that contains silly errors is neither. Review your resume before you send it in, making sure all grammatical and spelling errors are taken care of, and your information is accurate and up to date. For extra help, create a resume using our resume builder, and we’ll do the checking for you.
- DO add relevant soft skills. As a counselor, relating well to others and bringing an effective approach to work is important — feature soft skills that reinforce your abilities in these areas, such as strong motivational skills, effective time management, public speaking ability and a positive demeanor. For more suggestions on soft skills, visit our Top Resume Skills page.
- DO keep your resume concise. Since hiring managers spend only a few seconds on average to review your resume, it’s important to keep your document short and crisp. Limit your work history section to the last ten years, and stick to highlighting skills and achievements that directly relate to the job you want. Use punchy bullet points and phrases instead of long sentences. The goal: a document that’s two pages long at most.
- DON’T use fancy graphics or layouts. Instead of trying to make your resume stand out with extravagant fonts and graphics, focus instead on having the right content that satisfies employers’ needs. A document cluttered up with unusual elements can often confuse hiring managers, or worse yet, confuse the applicant tracking systems (ATS) employers use to scan resumes. A clean, straightforward, professional resume template for your resume is the best choice, every time.
- DON’T forget to quantify your accomplishments. Stating you’re good at a certain task is one thing — describing your achievements in terms of numbers does a better job of presenting your capabilities. For example, “Increased student enrollment” doesn’t say nearly as much as “Challenged to increase enrollment by 15%, exceeded goals by increasing enrollment by 60%.”
- DON’T forget to use relevant keywords. We mentioned (ats) above — to get past an ATS scan, your resume needs to have the right keywords. Scan the job posting and take note of important phrases that spell out what the job needs (e.g., “Conduct phone, chat, and emailed-based communication with prospective students,” or “Knowledge of word processing, spreadsheet, and database applications”). Then come up with your own skills and experiences that match these needs, and add them to your resume. For example, you could mention a work experience where you communicated with prospective students, or list “Proficiency with Microsoft Office and Oracle RDBMS” as a skill. For more keyword tips, visit our article How to Use Keywords Effectively.
Top 4 Characteristics of a Best-in-Class Admissions Counselor Resume
Summary
Describe your best skills, qualities and work experience in a few sentences, featuring strengths that match what the employer needs. For example: “Enthusiastic, friendly and hardworking admissions counselor with 5+ years of experience in private college settings.”
Skills
To get the right skills for this section, browse the job description and take note of the skills the employer is looking for. Include professional skills such as in-depth knowledge of academic programs, administrative skills, and scholarships and financial aid expertise, and soft (or intangible) skills such as time management, good communication skills and decision-making.
Work History
Instead of just laundry-listing daily tasks, focus on major responsibilities and accomplishments, describing them in quick bullet points. For example: “Oversaw graduate admissions processes, including hiring, training, and supervision of six junior members.”
Education
Highlight your highest academic qualifications, along with name and location of the institution where you received your credit. Add any special courses, training, or licenses you have, such as completion of a certificate program in College Admissions and Career Planning.