School Counselor
Cover Letter Example

As a guidance counselor, you’re responsible for setting students up for academic and career success.

To convince administrators that you’re worth hiring, you need a school counselor cover letter that demonstrates both your experience as well as your passion for the profession.

A compelling cover letter paired with a well-crafted school counselor resume will improve your chances of landing a job at your ideal school. Here are four tips to guide you through the writing process:

1. Measure your success

While not every aspect of a successful school counselors’ work can be measured with hard numbers, you should quantify your achievements where you can.

Highlighting your experience with hard numbers is a great way to demonstrate the measurable impact of your counseling and show that you know how to make an impact.

Below are three examples of how to quantify your work as a school counselor:

“Increased college application rates by 15% after introducing a training program for senior students on how to complete scholarship and general acceptance applications”

“Provided immediate crisis counseling and ongoing support for 200+ students following a school tragedy”

“During my time at Walton High School, the number of students seeking out individual and group counseling services focusing on career and academic development rose by 20%”

2. Let your personality shine through

While your resume should outline your academic and professional experience in concise bullet points, your cover letter is your chance to show off the personal qualities that make you a great fit for a role as a school counselor.

Use this opportunity to delve into the reasons why you chose to dedicate your career to helping youth reach their goals. Hiring managers are more likely to invite you to an interview if you display genuine enthusiasm for the job.

If you’re having a hard time generating ideas on what to include in your cover letter, here are some questions to help you get started:

• What impact have you made in the lives of the students you have worked with?
• Do you have experience working with students with mental and/or physical disabilities?
• Are you a strong advocate for underprivileged youth?
• Where are the students you have worked with now?
• Have you provided crisis counseling to students after a tragedy?
• What counseling techniques do you use on a daily basis?

The answers to these questions demonstrate your unique, personal counseling brand. Showcasing this information in your cover letter will help differentiate you from other candidates.

Here’s a good example of how to add a personal touch to a cover letter:

“I am dedicated to cultivating supportive, stimulating, and inclusive environments that allow high school students to reach their fullest potential.”

The candidate explains what motivates them to do the job —  to help high school students reach their fullest potential —  and how they transform that motivation into action by cultivating supportive, stimulating, and inclusive environments.

Additionally, more ideas can be gained from looking at any special education teacher cover letters that your colleagues might be willing to share with you so that you can frame your experiences with disabled and special needs students.

3. Use the job description for inspiration

The job description is your greatest resource for writing an outstanding cover letter. It details the skills and qualities hiring managers are looking for in a candidate. Scan the job posting for keywords and phrases to integrate into your cover letter to convey your understanding of the specific needs of each school you apply to.

Moreover, this process will arm your application against an applicant tracking system (ATS). An ATS is a software that scans cover letters and resumes in order to identify keywords and phrases specified by a hiring manager. If the system indicates your application has a high enough frequency of these target words, then it’s passed along to the hiring manager to review — otherwise, it gets rejected.

4. Close you school counselor cover letter with a call to action

Once you’ve finished the body paragraphs of your cover letter, all that’s left to do is tie it all together with a strong conclusion. The concluding paragraph of your cover letter is your last chance to leave a lasting impression on prospective employers.

In the final paragraph of your cover letter, you should :

• Thank the hiring manager for their time and consideration
• Reiterate your enthusiasm at the job opportunity
• Politely request an interview

Here’s a good example of how to end a cover letter:

“Thank you for your time and for considering my candidacy for the position. I look forward to further discussing how I can be an advocate for youth at Fairview High School in the near future.”

This example works because it includes a call to action while giving a glimpse into the candidate’s main reason for applying: a desire to become an advocate for students at the school.