Mission ImPossible: Finding a Counseling Job in a Down Market By: Daisy Astorga (School Counseling, Class of 2011) During

this time last year, I remember how nervous, anxious, and frustrated I felt. I was about to complete my program, and I had no idea how things were going to turn out once May rolled around. Although I had a part-time position as an Academic Advisor for the USC TRiO Program, I knew that I wanted to expand my experience with student outreach and begin my professional career within the school system. My position with USC TRiO provided me experience working within an urban setting, assisting low-income first generation students, and guiding them for their K-12 journeyas well as preparing them for higher education. I felt ready to work full-time at a local high school, but with the economic downturn, I knew the odds were against me. Ideally, I wanted to go back to my community in Compton and help revamp their counseling program; in reality, however, there were no jobs available within the Compton Unified School District, let alone LAUSD. One semester away from graduation, despite my fear of the job market, I started to work on my resume and create my cover letter. I began to seek out people who would write strong letters of recommendation for me. Typically one needs three letters of recommendations, but I decided to request letters from five individuals, so that I could select the strongest references. When requesting the letters, I explained what I had hoped the letter would convey about me (such as my previous experience in education), and why I felt I was an ideal candidate for a prospective school counseling position. I also requested my recommenders to send me both an electronic copy and a hard copy of the letters. (Some job applications required hard copies of the recommendations, while others accepted electronic versions with the online application.) I decided to send the letters that spoke to my counseling skills: one from my School Counseling Curriculum Coordinator, one from my current supervisor at the outreach program at USC, and one from a fieldwork site supervisor. Meanwhile, I started to search for jobs through EDJOIN, and on the website of every school district within a 20 mile radius. I knew each application I submitted was a long shot, but kept applying anyway. Months into my job hunt, I realized that I had limited my search to public schools, and hadnt yet received a single call back. Ultimately, my hope was to obtain a position within a district since I carry a soft spot for inner city schools. However, once I opened up to alternatives such as community colleges, charter school systems, and nonprofits, I knew that I could make the same impact that I was hoping for

within the public sector. I added HigherEdJobs to my job search and soon found several openings that were in need of counselors. Within two weeks of graduation, I had two job interviews. Both were from charter school systems that were expanding locations in the LA area. Once I confirmed the interviews, I proceeded to research both schools to gather information, such as student population, location, graduation rates, and mission. I searched for possible interview questions and practiced with friends to see whether I was fully able to answer them. The first interview took a couple of hours and consisted of meeting with many of the key players (Principal, Assistant Principal, Dean, and Counselor) from the school site on an individual basis to explain how I would fit their school and meet their needs. The questions varied from person to person, but ultimately they wanted to determine what role I would take to improve their academic success at their site. The other was a short group interview with questions on a variety of topics: my educational philosophy, changes I would bring for improvement, and knowledge of the charter school system. Soon after, I was offered jobs in both school systems! However, I immediately knew which school to choose based on the connection I felt with it. Dont get me wrong, I was grateful for both offers, but somehow I saw myself more at one than the other (whether it was intuition, gut feeling, or positive Vibes, Im not sure). I quickly accepted the offer from Aspire Pacific Academy as their new Academic College Counselor! I think I yelled, YES! before they even completed their offer. Based on my experience, I know firsthand just how frustrating it may be for a student within this job marketthe concerns of loan repayment, and conflicting thoughts of whether or not graduate school was the best decisionbut I recommend that you reflect on your reasons for pursuing a higher education and the impact you wanted to make as an educator. Careers in counseling dont necessarily always have to come from the public sector: they can also come from other alternative options, such as private or online schools, as well as the charter school system. Making positive change in students lives can be possible in this economic climate, but will require a willingness to explore the array of opportunities within the education field.