Guidance Counselor (School Guidance Counselor) Job in Salters, SC

Vacancy No. WIL-2025-0053 Department Justice, Bureau of Prisons/Federal Prison System
Salary $73,939.00 to $96,116.00 Grade 11 to 11
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 8/28/2025 Close Date 9/19/2025
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Status Candidates
Locations:
Salters, SC


Summary

Corrections professionals who foster a humane and secure environment and ensure public safety by preparing individuals for successful reentry into our communities.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

• BOP Employees nationwide • DOJ Surplus and Displaced (CTAP) Employees in the local commuting area. • Duty Location: FCI Williamsburg, SC

Duties

Functions as a School Counselor within the secure confines of a Bureau of Prisons (BOP), federal correctional facility.

Acts as the primary liaison between the Education department, Unit Team, as well as other departments, to provide counseling and direction of the educational process for offenders.

Provides the necessary skills, abilities, training, and experience to counsel offenders through the educational process in a successful manner, including those requiring special services.

Promotes positive social-emotional-behavioral supports for offenders while ensuring necessary accommodations, interventions, and modifications are implemented as needed.

Helps to create a safe, proactive educational experience, strengthens community partnerships and improves Bureau-wide accountability.

Along with all other correctional institution employees, incumbent is charged with responsibility for maintaining security of the institution. The staff correctional responsibilities precede all others required by this position and are performed on a regular and recurring basis.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • U.S. Citizenship is Required.
  • See Special Conditions of Employment Section.

The Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provides eligible surplus and displaced competitive service employees in the Department of Justice with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. If your Department of Justice component has notified you in writing that you are a surplus or displaced employee eligible for CTAP eligibility, you may receive selection priority if: 1) this vacancy is within your CTAP eligibility; 2) you apply under the instructions in this announcement; and 3) you are found well qualified for this vacancy. To be well qualified, you must satisfy all qualification requirements for the vacant position and score 85 or better on established ranking criteria. You must provide a copy of your written notification of CTAP eligibility with your application. Additional information about CTAP eligibility is at: Click Here

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

Degree: that included or was supplemented by at least 24 semester hours appropriate to the position to be filled in one or a combination of the areas described below. At least one course must have been from (1) or (2) below. For guidance counselor positions, a college or university-sponsored practicum in counseling is also required.

  1. Test and measurement: Study of the selection, evaluation, administration, scoring, interpretation, and uses of group and individual aptitude, proficiency, interest, and other tests.
  2. Adult education: Study of the adult as a learner, teaching-learning theories for adults, models and procedures for planning, designing, managing, and evaluating adult learning activities.
  3. Educational program administration: Study of the foundation and methods in organizing for adult and continuing education programs.
  4. Curriculum development or design: Study of the principles and techniques for development of curricula for adult or vocational education programs.
  5. Teaching methods: Study of teaching strategies and learning styles of the adult learner.
  6. Guidance and counseling: Study of the purposes and methods in counseling and guidance, the role of the counselor in various settings, approaches to counseling, and the uses of tests in the counseling situation.
  7. Career planning: Study of career development, learning activities, systems, approaches, program coordination, use of educational and community resources, and vocational counseling systems..
  8. Occupational information: Study of theories of occupational choice and vocational development and their application to the guidance process. Identification and utilization of various types of occupational information and resources.

AND

In addition to having the above Basic Requirements, applicants must also meet the following:

Education:

Three years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree OR Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree.

OR

Experience:

One year of specialized experience equivalent in difficulty and complexity to the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression. To be creditable, this experience must have equipped the applicant with the particular qualifications to perform successfully the duties of the position and must typically be in or related to the position to be filled.

Some examples of this qualifying experience could be:

  • Experience in serving as a school counselor and delivering evidence-based school counseling practices to students while independently creating school counseling lesson plans, instructional materials, student worksheets, and progress monitoring charts and graphs as well as documenting all student progress for learning and social-emotional-behavioral indices.
  • Experience in serving as lead school counselor and supervising graduate practicum students in their completion of required university program assignments.
  • Experience in developing and delivering in-service training to fellow school counselors on the four sets of school counseling standards as defined by the American School Counselors Association (ASCA).
  • Experience in developing and delivering in-service training to school faculty and staff on American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Student Standards: Mindsets & Behaviors for Student Success.
  • Experience administering, scoring and interpreting criterion-referenced and standardized academics test, followed by developing intervention strategies to address individual academic and social-emotional-behavioral needs of students.

OR

Combination of Education and Experience:

Combinations of successfully completed graduate level education and specialized experience may be used to meet total experience requirements. Only graduate level education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be combined with experience. This experience must have equipped you with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the major duties of this position as described above.

If applicable, credit will be given for paid and unpaid experience. To receive proper credit, you must show the actual time (such as the number of hours worked per week) spent in activities.

**Your eligibility for consideration will be based on your responses to the questions in the application.**

Education

See Qualifications Section for education requirements, if applicable.

ONLY if education is a requirement/substitution for specialized experience, applicant MUST upload legible transcripts as verification of educational requirement. Transcripts MUST be uploaded and electronically linked from USAJOBS at the time you apply and MUST include identifying information to include School Name, Student Name, Degree and Date Awarded (if applicable). All academic degrees and coursework must be completed at a college or university that has obtained accreditation or pre-accreditation status from an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. For a list of schools that meet this criteria, Click Here.

Foreign Education: For information regarding foreign education requirements, please see Foreign Diploma and Credit Recognition at the U.S. Department of Education website: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications.

If you are selected for this position and qualified based on education (i.e. basic education requirement and/or substitution of education), you will be required to provide an OFFICIAL transcript prior to your first day on duty.

Additional information

This position IS included in the bargaining unit.

In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 3307, a maximum entry age of 36 has been established for initial appointment to a position in a Bureau of Prisons institution.

The representative rate for this position is $81,331 per annum ($38.97 per hour).

Special Conditions of Employment Section:

Appointment is subject to satisfactory completion of a urinalysis, physical, and background investigation. All applicants are subject to National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and credit checks.

All applicants not currently working in an institution will be required to complete a qualification inquiry regarding convictions of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence in order to be authorized to carry a firearm.

The Core Value Assessment (CVA) is an in-person assessment that must be facilitated at a Bureau of Prisons Human Resource Servicing office. On the day of the scheduled interview, a CVA will be administered. The applicant assessment must be completed within a 70 minute time period and a passing score of 68 must be obtained. Further employment consideration will not be extended if the applicant fails to complete the examination or fails to achieve a passing score. Note: The Core Value Assessment will not be administered to current BOP employees.

Successful completion of the "Introduction to Correctional Techniques," three-week training course at Glynco, Georgia is required.

The addresses listed on the USAJOBS account/resume must be the primary residence at the time of application. You may be required to provide proof of residence.

Additional selections may be made if vacancies occur within the life of the certificate.

Although competitive and non-competitive applications are being accepted, the selecting official may elect to have only one group reviewed.

As the federal agency whose mission is to ensure the fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans, the Department of Justice is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. To build and retain a workforce that reflects the diverse experiences and perspectives of the American people, we welcome applicants from the many communities, identities, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, abilities, religions, and cultures of the United States who share our commitment to public service.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

  • your performance and conduct;
  • the needs and interests of the agency;
  • whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
  • whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Exceptions may apply. See 5 CFR part 11.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

If your composite score exceeds the average score for this job, your resume and supporting documentation will be compared to your online assessment responses and utilized to determine whether you meet the job qualifications listed in this announcement.  If your selections are not supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job. If you are found to be among the top candidates, you will be referred to the selecting official for employment consideration.

There are several parts of the application process that affect the overall evaluation of your application:

  • Your resume, which is part of your USAJOBS profile;
  • Your responses to the eligibility questions;
  • Your responses to the online assessment;
  • Your supporting documentation, if required.

Time-in-Grade: Federal employees must meet time-in-grade requirements for consideration. You must meet all qualification requirements upon the closing date of this announcement.

If you applied to more than one grade level, BE ADVISED that you may be selected at ANY grade level for which you applied and are found qualified (i.e., if the job is announced at the 9/11 grade levels and you apply for the GS/GL-9 and the GS-11,and you are found qualified at BOTH grade levels, you may be selected at either grade level).

What Competencies/Knowledge, Skills and Abilities are Required for this Position?

The following Competencies/Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA's) are required:

  • Oral Communication
  • Writing
  • Planning and Evaluating
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Teaching Others

You may preview questions for this vacancy.

Required Documents

Failure to provide legible required documents and/or follow the prescribed format often results in removal from consideration.  If uploading documentation, do not identify/save your documents utilizing a special character such as %, #, @, etc. Documentation should be identified/saved as VA Letter, DD-214, or Transcripts.

  • Resume: Resume showing relevant experience (cover letter optional). Experience that would not normally be part of the Federal employee's position is creditable when documented by satisfactory evidence of qualifying experience (e.g., a memorandum from the manager, Human Resource Manager, SF-52, etc.).
  • To receive credit for experience contained in an application, the experience must be documented:
    • Reflecting start date and end date in month/year format (MM/YYYY) AND
    • Include the number of hours worked per week.
  • SF-50: Current or former Federal employees NOT employed by the Bureau of Prisons MUST submit a copy of their SF-50 Form which shows competitive service appointment, tenure group, and salary. If you have promotion potential in your current position, please provide proof. If you are applying for a higher grade, and your experience was gained at a Federal agency other than the Bureau of Prisons, you MUST provide the SF-50 Form which verifies the length of time you have been in your highest grade and supports your claim for time in grade.
  • Employees applying with an interchange agreement must provide proof of their permanent appointment.
  • Current federal employees NOT employed by the BOP and former federal employees MUST submit a copy of their latest yearly performance appraisal/evaluation.
  • CTAP, Click Here, if applicable.
  • College transcript: includes the School Name, Student Name, Degree, and Date Awarded (if applicable).
    • NOTE: If you are selected, official transcript(s) will be required prior to your first day.

For more help, visit USAJOBS Help Center - What should I include in my resume?

We cannot be held responsible for incompatible software, delays in mail service, applicant application errors, etc.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

You must apply through the online application system at www.USAJOBS.gov. Follow the prompts to register, answer a few questions and submit all required documents.

NOTE:  Submission of a resume alone is not a complete application. This position may require the completion of additional forms and/or supplemental materials as described under the Required Documents section. Please carefully review the complete job announcement and the "How to Apply" instructions. Failure to provide the required information and/or materials will result in your application not being considered for employment.

Required supporting documentation must be electronically uploaded or transferred from USAJOBS (uploaded).

All required supporting documentation MUST be received by the Consolidated Staffing Unit by 11:59 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, on the closing date of the vacancy announcement.  You MUST include the vacancy announcement number on your supporting documentation.

NOTE: Failure to follow these application procedures will result in the applicant losing consideration for this position.

Paper applications: If applying online is impossible, please contact the Consolidated Staffing Unit at the telephone number listed below, prior to the closing date of the announcement for the alternate application procedure.

Contact for Assistance in Applying On-Line:
DOJ, Federal Bureau of Prisons
Consolidated Staffing Unit
346 Marine Forces Drive
Grand Prairie, TX  75051
E-Mail:  BOP-HRM-HRSC-ConsolidatedStaffingUnit-S@bop.gov
Phone:  972-352-4200

Agency contact information

ESM
Address
JUSTICE, BUREAU OF PRISONS
Consolidated Staffing Unit
346 Marine Forces Drive
Grand Prairie, Texas 75051
United States

Next steps

We will notify you of the outcome after each step of the application process has been completed. Normally, Selecting Officials will make a selection within 90-days. When deemed necessary, the selection process may be extended up to 180-days from the date the certificate(s), (Exception, Best Qualified Lists) is/are generated to make a selection.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.