Career Center

Assistant Director of College Counseling

The Hill School Mission:  The Hill School prepares young people from across the country and around the world for college, careers, and life. Within a family school environment and a rigorous liberal arts curriculum, we challenge our young people to work hard; think and reason; be fulfilled; serve the common good; and be prepared to lead as citizens of the world, uniquely guided by our motto, “Whatsoever Things Are True.”

Department:         College Counseling Office

Position Title:      Assistant Director of College Counseling

Reports To:            Co-Directors of College Counseling

Status:                     Exempt, 12-month Residential, Faculty 

Position Summary

The College Counseling Office is seeking a full-time Assistant Director of College Counseling for the 2023-24 school year. We are looking for an experienced, energetic, and collegial team player who enjoys working with students and adults in a collaborative and inclusive academic environment. This individual will work to provide students and their families with information and assistance to navigate the college search and application process.

Responsibilities and Qualifications

The primary focus of the Assistant Director of College Counseling includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Work with 32-35 students per class each year.
• Assist students and their families through all aspects of the college counseling process, such as creating and finalizing college lists, reviewing essays, and writing personalized letters of recommendation.
• Collaborate closely with the full College Counseling team to provide a comprehensive program.
• Contribute to the planning and execution of educational programming and workshops for students and families.
• Teach College Seminar classes during winter term.
• Meet with college representatives during their on-campus and/or virtual visits to The Hill School.
• Communicate and network with college admissions counselors and financial aid representatives to provide accurate, up-to-date information for student applicants and their families, including counselor calls.
• Actively seek professional growth by traveling to college and university campuses, meeting with college admissions counselors, and participating in conferences as deemed necessary.
• Experience and demonstrated success working with diverse student communities is preferred but not required.
• Serve as an academic adviser for five to eight students.
• Participate in duties as assigned (administrative, coaching, residential or the equivalent) as a member of The Hill School’s day and boarding school community.
• Other duties as assigned.

The ideal candidate should have the following qualifications:

• Have three to five years of experience working in a college counseling department or selective college admissions field.
• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Experience working in an admissions office of a highly selective school, strongly recommended.
• Familiarity with and a desire to continue to learn about a wide range of colleges and universities in the United States and abroad.
• Understanding and commitment to the value of an independent, residential school within our society, particularly The Hill School and its family-related values.
• Exceptional communication skills, i.e., written, verbal, presentation, etc., and organizational skills.
• Strong technical capabilities, including Cialfo, Microsoft Office platforms, etc.
• Ability to collaborate and a natural orientation towards a team approach in an office of 6+ college counselors to reach common goals.
• Flexibility and the capacity to adapt to the dynamic and ever-evolving college admissions landscape.

Attitude and Demeanor

• Publicly support the mission and vision of The Hill School in a positive and professional manner.
• Work as a dynamic team member in a professional collaborative environment.
• Energetic and organized enough to thrive in an extremely fast-paced environment while collaborating with a growing team to produce great work.
• Ability to wear many hats, learn new things every day, and have the ability to switch from a variety of roles with ease and excitement.
• Communicate effectively with warmth, sensitivity, humor, and understanding as they deal with administrative colleagues, teachers, students, alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and program associates.
• Possess a “service attitude” - willingness to be flexible to meet the needs of the department and School.

About The Hill School

Since its founding in 1851 and for 168 years, The Hill School has provided a traditional liberal arts education to its students. Although The Hill’s curriculum continues to evolve, we have never strayed very far from a proven, rigorous blend of humanities, classics and modern languages, social sciences, mathematics, science, and the arts. For our students, we have prioritized broad knowledge in our steadfast belief that this comprehensive foundation best prepares students for “college, careers, and life.” The Hill School also has begun implementing an ambitious STEM curriculum, which includes one of the most extensive secondary school engineering programs in the nation. We have bolstered our fine arts programs with courses in digital media, video production, design technology, rapid prototyping and fabrication, and design thinking. And, we are offering pre-professional, co-curricular programs in business and entrepreneurship. Over the coming years, we will continue to affirm what we already do very well while honing curricular and co-curricular programs such as leadership training, service learning, experiential education, and interdisciplinary studies. We will find improve...d ways to teach all Hill students 21st century skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration and leading, agility and adaptability, initiative and entrepreneurship, effective oral and written communication, accessing and analyzing data, and curiosity and imagination. We are working with our Faculty and Staff to become both the most traditional and the most innovative boarding school in the country, simultaneously. The Hill was founded as The Family Boarding School and when you visit campus, you might note that we are still a bit traditional, despite our emphasis on innovation! We follow a dress code, our students regularly sit down with faculty members for family-style meals, we gather twice a week at Chapel for thoughtful reflection; many of our students study Latin and Greek; and we pride ourselves on a student-written Honor Code and demanding code of conduct. We enjoy historic and blossoming traditions such as 130-year-old athletics rivalries, revered a cappella vocal groups, school-wide service projects, community team-building events, small group meetings with caring faculty advisers, and a very special jump in the Dell pond after graduation! Over the next three to five years, the Hill School is set to achieve several accomplishments sure to leave their mark on the School’s history. The School’s Advancement Office is a 25 person-strong organization driven to achieve the goals set forth in the current “Strength of All” capital campaign which is entering its fourth year of the five- to seven-year campaign. The capital campaign will fund many efforts, including a significant increase in our financial aid and faculty compensation endowment. In 2018-2019, we expanded the seating capacity of our historic dining hall and completely renovated our food service and preparation areas used by our food service contractor, Sodexo. In 2019-2020, the School will construct the Quadrivium Center (a STEM facility) where our science, engineering, computer science and mathematics classes will be housed. The School has developed property adjacent to our main campus by recently erecting beautiful new homes for our faculty in our East Faculty Village. This Faculty Housing expansion is likely to continue with additional property available for housing construction to ensure The Hill School offers the very best of this important housing benefit to our residential faculty. One of our most ambitious goals is to be a driving force in the economic revitalization of Pottstown and our immediate neighborhood and through our Hobart’s Run Community Development program and participation in Pottstown CARES, we are finding traction in ways both small and large.

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