What are the responsibilities and job description for the PT Front Desk Receptionist for the Career Planning & Counseling Center position at Mt. Hood Community College?
For best consideration, please submit application materials by May 17, 2026.
The current work schedule for this position is as follows:
Job Summary:
Serves as a lead front-desk receptionist for the Career Planning & Counseling Center (CPCC), a high-traffic, student-facing center that includes counseling, career services, student employment, and community standards & care. Acts as the first point of contact for students, visitors, employers, and college staff/faculty entering or contacting the Center, including individuals who may arrive in distress or in crisis. Provides initial triage, reception, scheduling, referral, and administrative support for Center services, while maintaining a welcoming, calm, trauma-informed, and professional front desk presence. Works closely with CPCC faculty, staff, and student employees.
Essential Duties:
Additional Duties:
Work is performed fully in person in a busy student services office. The work environment is frequently active, noisy, interruption-prone, and includes regular face-to-face interaction with students and visitors, including individuals who may be upset, distressed, or in crisis. Position requires frequent computer use, phone communication, front desk coverage, and the ability to shift quickly among competing priorities.
The current work schedule for this position is as follows:
- Monday: 8:45 a.m. – 5 p.m.
- Wednesday: 12:00p.m.– 5 p.m.
- Friday: 8:45 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Job Summary:
Serves as a lead front-desk receptionist for the Career Planning & Counseling Center (CPCC), a high-traffic, student-facing center that includes counseling, career services, student employment, and community standards & care. Acts as the first point of contact for students, visitors, employers, and college staff/faculty entering or contacting the Center, including individuals who may arrive in distress or in crisis. Provides initial triage, reception, scheduling, referral, and administrative support for Center services, while maintaining a welcoming, calm, trauma-informed, and professional front desk presence. Works closely with CPCC faculty, staff, and student employees.
Essential Duties:
- Opens and closes the Center; helps maintain a clean, welcoming, and functional Center environment; monitors shared spaces and equipment; coordinates supply needs; and identifies, submits, and follows up on work orders or facilities-related concerns.
- Provides in-person front desk reception to students, employees, employers, and community members seeking services across counseling, career services, student employment, and community standards & care. Performs intake and triage support, including real-time written and verbal coordination with counselors and staff through established internal communication tools to support same-day student needs, staff availability, warm handoffs, and timely response to students in distress.
- Responds to students and visitors who may present in distress, crisis, or conflict using trauma-informed, student-centered, and de-escalation practices.
- Schedules and coordinates appointments, including counselor appointments and community standards & care meetings or hearings, along with other Center appointments, events, and services.
- Provides general administrative and operational support across all Center functions, including assistance to the student employment and career development teams, and maintains working knowledge of services, programming, and tools in order to appropriately respond to inquiries and make referrals.
- Provides administrative and operational support to the dean and Center staff, including correspondence, scheduling support, research, data entry, compiling and analyzing Center data, and preparing reports related to service usage, client demographics, and continuous improvement.
Additional Duties:
- Performs all other related duties as assigned.
- High school diploma/GED and completion of at least six (6) college-level credits from an accredited postsecondary institution.
- Basic skills in Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and Teams.
- One (1) year of experience providing receptionist, customer service, intake, or administrative support in a high-contact office or service environment.
- Experience or training in de-escalation, trauma-informed communication, crisis response, or related customer/student support practices.
Equivalent combinations of education and experience may be considered.
- Associate’s degree in social service, counseling, psychology, education, business administration, or related field.
- Bilingual skills with fluency in English and Spanish, Slavic languages, Vietnamese, or other language that meets community needs.
- Experience working in a counseling center, behavioral health setting, student services environment, or other high-contact helping setting.
- Experience scheduling appointments in electronic calendar or case management systems, including Outlook, Titanium Schedule, or similar platforms.
- Experience supporting student conduct, care, case management, or related student support processes.
- Familiarity with student employment, career services, or platforms such as Handshake.
- Ability to manage multiple competing priorities with professionalism, sound judgment, and attention to detail.
- Ability to communicate ideas clearly and concisely; organizes and explains information in relatable terms and carefully adjusts the explanation to the audience, listens and gets clarification, when necessary, responds informatively to questions, and reflects the intention of the Career Planning and Counseling Center (CPCC) and College policies.
- Ability to demonstrate an understanding of and sensitivity to the diverse academic, socio-economic, ethnic, cultural, disability, religious background, and sexual orientation of community college students, faculty, and staff.
- Ability to observe safety and security procedures and report potentially unsafe conditions.
- Ability to protect the confidentiality of student educational records in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Oregon law, and college policies.
- Ability to use a variety of software for word processing, data management, reporting, messaging, presenting, and electronic media
- Ability to adapt to and learn new technology.
- Ability to demonstrate accuracy, thoroughness, and reliability; works shows organization and completeness; pays attention to detail; manages multiple tasks with accuracy and efficiency.
- Knowledge of interpersonal skills using tact, patience, and courtesy.
- Maintains a positive attitude and contributes to a collaborative and diverse team environment.
- Demonstrated knowledge of office practices, procedures and equipment.
Work is performed fully in person in a busy student services office. The work environment is frequently active, noisy, interruption-prone, and includes regular face-to-face interaction with students and visitors, including individuals who may be upset, distressed, or in crisis. Position requires frequent computer use, phone communication, front desk coverage, and the ability to shift quickly among competing priorities.
Salary Placement
Initial salary placement will be within the posted range or pay rate of the position, and is based on applicable education and/or years of relevant full-time equivalent experience at the sole discretion of the College and in accordance with all applicable state and federal laws. Please include all relevant education and full and part-time experience (including unpaid and volunteer experience) in your application that you want the College to review towards potential placement. Hired employees will not have an opportunity to update past education and/or experience or appeal initial placement after the time of hire.