What influenced you to be a school counselor?
The interviewer is interested in learning about your personal motivations and experiences that led you to pursue a career in school counseling. They may want to ensure you have a genuine passion for helping students and supporting their academic and emotional growth. This question is important because being a school counselor requires a great deal of empathy, patience, and interpersonal skills.
"My passion for children is what initially inspired me to be a school counsellor. I love being surrounded by children and I want to be able to help them as they go through school life. Eventually, I learned that being a school counsellor requires more than just loving children. And so I decided to pursue that as a career hoping that I'll learn more ways to be of service to the youth."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
I knew that I always wanted to work with children. My undergraduate degree was in psychology. After I graduated, I worked as a case manager for the local mental health center. While I was there, I worked with students from many different schools and wanted to be in a more consistent position to make more of an impact. I also worked with school counselors and loved how the students relied on them.
Rachelle's Feedback
Being in a more consistent position is excellent reasoning for the change of focus. This is a nice, clear answer that, once again, really shows off your passion for making a difference in the lives of children.
Anonymous Answer
There are a few reasons that influenced my decision to be a school counselor. One of those reasons is when I used to teach primary 2, I had a few students at my school who warranted social/emotional support. I remember helping those students by giving them coping skills to deal with what they were going through and they also trusted to share personal information with me which was fulfilling. That was when I decided to become a school counselor. Making a positive impact on students' social/emotional growth is meaningful.
Jaymie's Feedback
Excellent job! Your passion for the job is clear in your response.
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