Guidance Counselor Interview Questions & Answers


Guidance Counselors are certified professionals employed by schools or academic institutions to assist and advise students about academic and personal decisions. They provide private counseling to students, assess the ability and potential in students, and coordinate with fellow professionals on student matters.

Whether you're a job seeker preparing to be interviewed for the role of Guidance Counselor or an employer preparing to interview candidates for Guidance Counselor position, these Guidance Counselor interview questions will help you prepare yourself for the job interview session.

Guidance Counselor Interview Questions

Below are a list of some skill-based Guidance Counselor interview questions.

  1. Why did you choose to become a guidance counselor?
  2. What experiences do you have that make you more qualified as a guidance counselor than others?
  3. How do you think a guidance counselor supports a school's overall mission and values? 
  4. Do you have experience working with children?
  5. Which professional licenses or certifications do you have?
  6. What skills or attributes do you think are most important for a school counselor to have?
  7. How have your listening skills led to a positive outcome for a student?
  8. Do you have any experience working in the classroom?
  9. How do you go about gaining the trust of the students with whom you work? 
  10. How have you successfully managed a difficult behavioral problem?
  11. How can a guidance counselor help promote and maintain equity in a school?
  12. What methods do you use to evaluate and analyze students’ assessments?
  13. How can a school guidance counselor collaborate with teachers, parents, administrators, and other counselors to help the students?
  14. How do you like to communicate with parents? How frequently?
  15. Do you have experience working with disadvantaged children?
  16. Can you discuss your experience helping students who have been victims of bullying?
  17. What procedure would you use if a student reported abuse by a parent or teacher? 
  18. What actions would you take if one of your students told you she was pregnant? 
  19. What would you do if a student shared with you their suicide plans?
  20. If one of your students wanted to drop out of school, what would you do? 
  21. If a conflict occurs between a student and a teacher, whose side do you take? 
  22. Have you ever had to mediate problems between a student and a teacher?
  23. How would you mediate conflict between students?
  24. Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond the call of duty to help a student. What was the outcome? 
  25. Do you have experience working with the special education population?
  26. How do you handle an interaction with a difficult or disruptive student?
  27. Have you ever encountered an angry or difficult parent? If so, how did you deal with them? 
  28. How do you feel about the paperwork associated with being a school guidance counselor? 
  29. Unfortunately, guidance counselors are often subjected to a great deal of criticism. How do you handle this?
  30. How can a counselor be a leader in the school?
  31. Are you willing and able to perform additional duties for the school, like coaching?
  32. Do you speak any other languages?
  33. How do you see the role of data and metrics in the guidance counseling program?
  34. If hired, how do you plan to evaluate your performance in our school to improve the guidance counseling program?

 

Guidance Counselor Interview Questions and Answers

Every interview is different and the questions may vary. However, there are lots of general questions that get asked at every interview.

Below are some common questions you'd expect during Guidance Counselor interviews. Click on each question to see how to answer them.

  1. Why Do You Want To Leave Your Current Job?
  2. What is Your Greatest Strength?
  3. Tell Me About Yourself
  4. Why Do You Want This Job?
  5. Are You a Leader or a Follower?
  6. What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?
  7. What is Your Salary Expectation?
  8. Do You Have Any Questions for Us?
  9. Why Should We Hire You?
  10. What is Your Greatest Weakness?