What It’s Like Being An Enrollment Counselor

Working as an Enrollment Counselor can be an incredibly satisfying job. 

Okay, I guess I can’t quite say that as I have only been an Enrollment Counselor now for two full days. But so far, I can honestly say that I am really glad that I made the switch from my previous job in the health and fitness industry to become an Enrollment Counselor in higher education. 

While I always knew that I wanted to help others achieve their goals, I never actually thought that I would be doing something in higher education. 

After getting my undergraduate degree, the thought of going back to school to get my master’s degree was the last thing that I ever saw myself doing. 

Now, not only is it my plan to go back to school to get my master’s degree, but I am also helping others to do the same. 

Oh, how the times have changed.

What A Day In The Life of An Enrollment Counselor Looks Like

Now again, I just started my new job, so if I were to share with you what my day currently looks like, it would consist of a lot of boring paperwork and watching other people do meaningful work. 

To save both you and me the boredom, I want to share with you what it’s like being an Enrollment Counselor from the outside looking in.

Getting In the Office

As my co-workers get into the office in the morning, one of the first things that all of them do is to check their emails from the night before to see if any prospects came in overnight. When I say prospects, I mean learners who are showing interest in the university in which I am working for. 

If a prospect requested more information overnight, the enrollment counselor that the prospect was assigned to will then call the learner to get some more information. This information consists of education goals, previous education, what the learner’s dream job looks like, and how many courses they wish to take at once. 

Once the enrollment counselor gets a better understanding of what the learner is looking for, then the enrollment counselor will either direct the learner towards the degree that would best them, or the enrollment counselor will help the learner to start the application process immediately. 

Throughout the Day

On average, enrollment counselors are working with up to 40-50 different learners at any given time. Sometimes, depending on the time of the year, this number can be far greater.

Over the course of the day, enrollment counselors are following up with learners who have already enrolled just to make sure that the learner doesn’t have any further questions, they will continue to follow up with potential prospects and see how the learner is feeling about continuing their education, and they will continue to work with enrolled learners for the first two weeks of classes.

What I Like About Being an Enrollment Counselor

What I really like about being an Enrollment Counselor is that it’s not a pushy sales job by any means like so many people think of it to be.

While the purpose of the enrollment counselor is to help get learners enrolled with the university, we are also there to just help answer any questions that learners might have.

If a learner is not a good fit for the program, enrollment counselors will dive deep into questions to get a better understanding of what the learner is looking for, and will then give advice as to what programs will best suit the learner.

If a learner isn’t a fit for the university as a whole, enrollment counselors aren’t afraid to tell learners that as well. We are truly just there to help the learner in any way that we can.

When it comes to the university that I work for, one of the things that we pride ourselves on is transparency with our learners and potential learners.

If somebody doesn’t seem like they are going to be a good fit, we want to be as transparent as possible with them to ensure that we aren’t setting them up for failure. Neither the learner or the university wants that.

Contrary to popular belief, most colleges and universities aren’t paid on a commission scale. We do have a number of students that we are supposed to get enrolled, but we are not paid on whether we meet that number or not. We are paid on efficiency, the ability to enroll quality learners, and how we represent the university.

This makes it so that we, as enrollment counselors, are always looking out for what’s best for the learner instead of just viewing every learner as an opportunity to get a paycheck. I’m not saying that a commission job is bad or anything, but when you are dealing with somebody else’s future, I can’t say that I would recommend it.

Final Thoughts

Being an enrollment counselor isn’t for everyone. In fact, there isn’t one job out there for everyone.

Personally, though, I do feel that this job is for me.

I take pride in helping people to create change in their lives, and in becoming an enrollment counselor in higher education, I feel that I am able to do just that.

I hope that this gave you some insight as to what a day looks like as an enrollment counselor, and who knows, maybe it even helped to change your perception.

Michael Bonnell

Yesterday’s post: The Happiness Of Pursuit: A Unbiased Book Review And Summary