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MissionImPossible:FindingaCounselingJobinaDownMarketDuringthistimelastyear,Irememberhownervous,anxious,andfrustratedIfelt. Iwasaboutto

completemyprogram,andIhadnoideahowthingsweregoingtoturnoutonceMayrolledaround.

AlthoughIhadaparttimepositionasanAcademicAdvisorfortheUSCTRiOProgram,IknewthatI

wantedtoexpandmyexperiencewithstudentoutreachandbeginmyprofessionalcareerwithinthe

schoolsystem. MypositionwithUSCTRiOprovidedmeexperienceworkingwithinanurbansetting,

assistinglowincomefirstgenerationstudents,andguidingthemfortheirK12journeyaswellas

preparingthemforhighereducation.Ifeltreadytoworkfulltimeatalocalhighschool,butwiththe

economicdownturn,Iknewtheoddswereagainstme. Ideally,Iwantedtogobacktomycommunityin

Comptonandhelprevamptheircounselingprogram;inreality,however,therewerenojobsavailable

withintheComptonUnifiedSchoolDistrict,letaloneLAUSD.

Onesemesterawayfromgraduation,despitemyfearofthejobmarket,Istartedtoworkonmyresume

andcreatemycoverletter. Ibegantoseekoutpeoplewhowouldwritestronglettersof

recommendationforme. Typicallyoneneedsthreelettersofrecommendations,butIdecidedto

requestlettersfromfiveindividuals,sothatIcouldselectthestrongestreferences. Whenrequesting

theletters,IexplainedwhatIhadhopedtheletterwouldconveyaboutme(suchasmyprevious

experienceineducation),andwhyIfeltIwasanidealcandidateforaprospectiveschoolcounseling

position.Ialsorequestedmyrecommenderstosendmebothanelectroniccopyandahardcopyofthe

letters.(Some

job

applications

required

hard

copies

of

the

recommendations,

while

others

accepted

electronicversionswiththeonlineapplication.) Idecidedtosendthelettersthatspoketomy

counselingskills:onefrommySchoolCounselingCurriculumCoordinator,onefrommycurrent

supervisorattheoutreachprogramatUSC,andonefromafieldworksitesupervisor.

Meanwhile,IstartedtosearchforjobsthroughEDJOIN,andonthewebsiteofeveryschooldistrict

withina20mileradius. IkneweachapplicationIsubmittedwasalongshot,butkeptapplyinganyway.

Monthsintomyjobhunt,IrealizedthatIhadlimitedmysearchtopublicschools,andhadntyet

receivedasingle

call

back.

Ultimately,

my

hope

was

to

obtain

aposition

within

adistrict

since

Icarry

a

softspotforinnercityschools.However,onceIopeneduptoalternativessuchascommunitycolleges,

charterschoolsystems,andnonprofits,IknewthatIcouldmakethesameimpactthatIwashopingfor

withinthepublicsector.IaddedHigherEdJobstomyjobsearchandsoonfoundseveralopeningsthat

wereinneedofcounselors.

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Withintwoweeksofgraduation,Ihadtwojobinterviews. Bothwerefromcharterschoolsystemsthat

wereexpandinglocationsintheLAarea.OnceIconfirmedtheinterviews,Iproceededtoresearchboth

schoolstogatherinformation,suchasstudentpopulation,location,graduationrates,andmission. I

searchedforpossibleinterviewquestionsandpracticedwithfriendstoseewhetherIwasfullyableto

answerthem. Thefirstinterviewtookacoupleofhoursandconsistedofmeetingwithmanyofthekey

players(Principal,AssistantPrincipal,Dean,andCounselor)fromtheschoolsiteonanindividualbasisto

explainhowIwouldfittheirschoolandmeettheirneeds.Thequestionsvariedfrompersontoperson,

butultimatelytheywantedtodeterminewhatroleIwouldtaketoimprovetheiracademicsuccessat

theirsite. Theotherwasashortgroupinterviewwithquestionsonavarietyoftopics:myeducational

philosophy,changesIwouldbringforimprovement,andknowledgeofthecharterschoolsystem.

Soonafter,Iwasofferedjobsinbothschoolsystems!However,Iimmediatelyknewwhichschoolto

choosebased

on

the

connection

Ifelt

with

it.

Dont

get

me

wrong,

Iwas

grateful

for

both

offers,

but

somehowIsawmyselfmoreatonethantheother(whetheritwasintuition,gutfeeling,orpositive

Vibes,Imnotsure). IquicklyacceptedtheofferfromAspirePacificAcademyastheirnewAcademic

CollegeCounselor!IthinkIyelled,YES!beforetheyevencompletedtheiroffer.

Basedonmyexperience,Iknowfirsthandjusthowfrustratingitmaybeforastudentwithinthisjob

markettheconcernsofloanrepayment,andconflictingthoughtsofwhetherornotgraduateschool

wasthebestdecisionbutIrecommendthatyoureflectonyourreasonsforpursuingahigher

educationand

the

impact

you

wanted

to

make

as

an

educator.

Careers

in

counseling

dont

necessarily

alwayshavetocomefromthepublicsector:theycanalsocomefromotheralternativeoptions,suchas

privateoronlineschools,aswellasthecharterschoolsystem. Makingpositivechangeinstudentslives

canbepossibleinthiseconomicclimate,butwillrequireawillingnesstoexplorethearrayof

opportunitieswithintheeducationfield.

DaisyAstorga,M.Ed.

SchoolCounseling,Classof2011

dastorga@usc.edu