How to hire a school counseling internship

How to hire a school counseling internship, step by step

Here's a step-by-step school counseling internship hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a school counseling internship job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new school counseling internship
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a school counseling internship do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a school counseling internship, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A school counseling internship's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, school counseling interns from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   The following list breaks down different types of school counseling interns and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of School Counseling Internship	Description	Hourly rate
   School Counseling Internship	School counselors help students develop academic and social skills and succeed in school. Career counselors assist people with the process of making career decisions by helping them develop skills or choose a career or educational program.	$11-29
   Academic Adviser	An academic adviser is responsible for managing the students' educational goals and future career aspirations by encouraging them to join scholastic activities, conducting one-on-one discussions to identify their challenges and areas of improvement, and developing educational plans to address possible difficulties. Academic advisers also monitor the students' interests and abilities for a career setting, track the students' progress, and create engaging activities to observe the students' personal and social behavior... Show more	$16-29
   Peer Mentor	A peer mentor is an individual who builds a relationship with another person or mentee who is new to the career or at the same level. Peer mentors must serve as a social role model and educate mentees on various resources and services... Show more	$10-17

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Crisis Intervention
   • Mental Health
   • IEP
   • Group Therapy
   • Professional Development
   • Conflict Resolution
   • RTI
   • Kindergarten
   • PowerPoint
   • Community Resources
   • Anger Management
   • K-12
   • Financial Aid
   • Study

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage open houses, recruitment, and conduct interviews for GED student enrollment.
   • Draft memoranda, subpoenas and demands for arbitration.
   • Attend parent/teacher conferences, PLT, SST, and student service meetings.
   • Assist in the billing office to include filing of insurance claims, corrections and appeals.
   • Provide prevention education, individual and small group counseling, and crisis management and intervention grades k-12.
   • Serve as a team member in special education and academic performance meetings (PPT , 504, SST, SAM).

   More school counseling internship duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your school counseling internship job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A school counseling internship salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a school counseling internship in Idaho may be lower than in California, and an entry-level school counseling internship usually earns less than a senior-level school counseling internship. Additionally, a school counseling internship with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average school counseling internship salary

   $38,525yearly

   $18.52 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level school counseling internship salary

   $23,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 26, 2025

   Average school counseling internship salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$61,030	$29
   2	District of Columbia	$51,275	$25
   3	New York	$48,180	$23
   4	Delaware	$44,453	$21
   5	Texas	$43,913	$21
   6	Arizona	$43,366	$21
   7	Oregon	$43,058	$21
   8	Minnesota	$40,473	$19
   9	Georgia	$36,924	$18
   10	Colorado	$35,383	$17
   11	North Carolina	$33,851	$16
   12	South Dakota	$33,480	$16
   13	Illinois	$30,394	$15

   Average school counseling internship salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	HP	$87,774	$42.20
   2	Naperville School District 203	$59,029	$28.38	5
   3	Aspire Public Schools	$54,792	$26.34	16
   4	KIPP Northern California Public Schools	$54,605	$26.25	40
   5	Chicago Public Schools	$54,308	$26.11	7
   6	Friendship Public Charter School	$53,201	$25.58	16
   7	KIPP SoCal Public Schools	$53,133	$25.54	5
   8	Noblesville Schools	$52,336	$25.16
   9	Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory	$52,261	$25.13	1
   10	Nordson	$51,519	$24.77
   11	Robbinsdale Area Schools	$50,449	$24.25	16
   12	North Monterey County Unified School District	$50,325	$24.19
   13	COMPTON UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT	$50,250	$24.16	11
   14	World Wildlife Fund	$50,211	$24.14
   15	Peoria Unified School District	$49,724	$23.91	22
   16	Township High School District 113	$48,756	$23.44	15
   17	C.W. Matthews Contracting Co.	$48,626	$23.38
   18	Syracuse University	$47,490	$22.83
   19	Grandville Public Schools	$47,214	$22.70	6
   20	International Rescue Committee	$47,182	$22.68

4. Writing a school counseling internship job description

   A job description for a school counseling internship role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a school counseling internship job description:

   School counseling internship job description example

   Friendship Public Charter School operates a thriving network of college preparatory public charter schools. Headquartered in Washington, DC. Friendship serves 4,500+ students in preschool to grade 12 and guides a growing network of alumni to college completion annually. 80% of students come from low-income households. 98% are African American or Latino. The mission of Friendship Public Charter School (FPCS) is to prepare students to become ethical, literate, well-rounded and self-sufficient citizens by providing a world-class education that motivates students to reach high academic standards, to enjoy learning, to achieve success, and to contribute actively to their communities.
   
   Friendship Public Charter Schools (FPCS) offers a unique training opportunity as it is one of the largest public charter schools nation-wide. There are seven campuses that currently make up FPCS. FPCS allows students to have a wide variety of experiences working with inner city youth and their families. The program aims to train culture-relevant practitioner-scientists. FPCS offers students an opportunity to bring the science of psychology to bear on bettering the lives of minority youth and the under-served community. By paying particular attention to how individual and community variables impact the mental health stability of individuals, students gain valuable experiences regarding the lives of the students and families that they service. Students are afforded a multitude of learning opportunities such as, but not limited to, participation in Staff Multi-Disciplinary Team Meetings, Individual and Group Therapy, Assessment Experience, Staff Trainings, Research, Program Development, and Clinical Rounds.
   
   The Psychology Internship program offered at FPCS prepares its students to function as culturally sensitive, competent psychologists. The primary focuses are human concerns and the amelioration of those factors in the urban community which negatively impact the educational and psychological experiences of children and youth. In particular students are expected to be able to (1) think critically, (2) analyze and solve problems, (3) make ethical decisions, (4) assume leadership roles in the community and (5) demonstrate knowledge, sensitivity, and skill in working with special needs and diverse populations.
   
   The FPCS Training Program is divided into Assessment and Therapy track. Students alternate between the Assessment and the Therapy Track each semester. Each track lasts the whole semester.
   
   Intern candidates should be registered, full-time students at an accredited college or university.
   This is an unpaid position.
   
   Effective November 1, 2021, all adult employees, contractors, interns, and volunteers working in person in a public, public charter, independent, private, or parochial school in the District of Columbia, and all adult employees, contractors, interns, and volunteers working in person in a child care facility regulated by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education, shall have received a full course of a vaccination against COVID-19 unless they have been granted an exemption from such vaccination pursuant to, and are compliant with the requirements of, Section IV of this Order."
   
   External Company URL: www.friendshipschools.org
   
   Street: 1400 1st Street , NW

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find school counseling interns for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any school counseling interns they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level school counseling interns with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your school counseling internship job on Zippia to find and recruit school counseling internship candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with school counseling internship candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new school counseling internship

   Once you have selected a candidate for the school counseling internship position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new school counseling internship first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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