Staff 4 min read Updated October 2026
Onboarding a new counselor: from day one to the end of the month
A new counselor thrown into a solo shift in the first week learns fast, but learns the wrong things, and often doesn’t last. Good onboarding doesn’t take much time. It takes order: what they need to know, from whom and when.
1. Before they arrive
Day one starts a week earlier. A counselor who arrives to find they have no user account, nobody knows who will guide them and their first shift is at night understands what lies ahead.
What to prepare
- A user account with permissions for the group they’ll work with, and only that group.
- An experienced counselor who will guide them through the first month, and knows it in advance.
- A shift schedule for the first two weeks, all day shifts alongside another counselor.
- One page with the important phone numbers: the person in charge of the shift, the head of boarding, the clinic, the gate.
- The list of students in the group, with photos, and what matters about each one.
2. Day one: five things, not fifty
Nobody can learn every procedure on day one. Choose what they must know for their very first shift, and leave the rest for the following weeks.
- Who to call when something is wrong, at any hour.
- How to report attendance, and what to do when a student is missing.
- How exits work: who approves, and what to check before a student leaves.
- What to write during the shift, and where.
- What’s not allowed: the rules that aren’t up for debate, for example on safety, privacy and physical contact.
3. The first two weeks: shadow shifts
In the first two weeks the new counselor doesn’t work alone. They work alongside an experienced counselor and gradually take on more responsibility. The shadowing is planned in advance, not left to the goodwill of whoever happens to be on shift.
| Stage | What the new counselor does |
|---|
| Days 1–3 | Watches and asks. Joins attendance reporting, the handover and conversations with students. |
| Days 4–7 | Reports attendance and writes notes themselves, and the experienced counselor reviews them. |
| Week 2 | Runs part of the shift, with the experienced counselor available. A first night shift, if any, with support. |
| End of week 2 | A short conversation: what’s clear, what’s still confusing, whether they’re ready for a solo shift. |
4. Permissions: what’s needed, and no more
A new counselor needs to see their own students, not the whole institution. Broad permissions given “for now” stay forever and expose sensitive information to people who don’t need it.
- Access to the group they work with, its students’ files and its reports.
- Medical or therapeutic information only if the role requires it, according to the institution’s policy.
- When they move to another group or leave, permissions change the same day.
5. End of the month: a feedback conversation
At the end of the first month, the head of boarding or the coordinator holds a conversation with them. The goal isn’t only to assess them but also to hear from them: a new counselor sees things the veterans no longer notice.
Questions for the feedback conversation
Template to copyWhat was hardest in the first month?
When did you feel you didn’t know what to do, and who did you turn to?
What would you change in the onboarding of the next counselor?
Which student is hardest for you, and how can we help?
What do you need from us next month?
Common mistakes
- A solo night shift in the first week.
- Onboarding where everyone on the staff “explains a bit”, with no single guide.
- Permissions for the whole institution because it’s quicker.
- Twenty procedures on day one, and nothing in the weeks after.
- A feedback conversation that never happens, until the counselor announces they’re leaving.
Want to see how a new counselor gets permissions for their own group only, and sees what they need from day one? We’ll show you in a demo.
