What does an academic adviser do?
An academic adviser is responsible for managing the students' educational goals and future career aspirations by encouraging them to join scholastic activities, conducting one-on-one discussions to identify their challenges and areas of improvement, and developing educational plans to address possible difficulties. Academic advisers also monitor the students' interests and abilities for a career setting, track the students' progress, and create engaging activities to observe the students' personal and social behavior. An academic adviser must have excellent communication skills and extensive knowledge of teaching principles and disciplines to handle different personalities.
Academic adviser responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real academic adviser resumes:
- Coach and mentore students in determining optimal course of study to achieve specific career performance goals and certifications.
- Interpret student records such as transcripts and IEP's.
- Collect and analyze data for behaviors and IEP objectives.
- Direct a team of four ESL teachers, implement school policies, teaching schedules, and activities clubs.
- Organize all freshman and parent oreintation programs, assist in the freshman experience class, advise all undeclare students.
- Create PowerPoint presentations used for curriculum development.
- Establish SEVIS information management and institutional compliance programs.
- Provide academic advisement to all freshman and sophomore undeclare majors.
- Coordinate with program coordinators on community and college sponsor events.
- Prepare orientation seminar and develop program policies including a comprehensive student handbook.
- Develop articulation agreements among colleges and universities for dual enrollment of district students.
- Design and introduce a new lead strategy for prospective students and Salesforce documentation.
- Stream-Line month-end meeting to determine which service coordinators are experiencing issues without resolutions.
- Assist director in content development of seminar syllabuses and teaching responsibilities for the seminars.
- Pioneer innovative marketing, recruitment, student service, alumni development and mentoring programs.
Academic adviser skills and personality traits
We calculated that 9% of Academic Advisers are proficient in Customer Service, Student Services, and Financial Aid. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Interpersonal skills, and Listening skills.
We break down the percentage of Academic Advisers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 9%
Spearheaded department-wide initiative to improve customer service by conducting focus groups, analyzing responses, and presenting recommendations to department leaders.
- Student Services, 8%
Maintain a cooperative and collaborative relationship with academic departments and all components responsible for student services.
- Financial Aid, 7%
Provided information regarding student account information to include financial aid, third party billing and other necessary student account information.
- Professional Development, 6%
Developed advising related programs and implemented best practices that fostered student learning, professional development, and responsibility.
- Support Services, 5%
Leveraged institutional knowledge of internal resources to quickly refer students to the appropriate educational support services and resolved student academic issues.
- Excellent Interpersonal, 5%
Core Qualifications Excellent interpersonal and oral communication skills.
Most academic advisers use their skills in "customer service," "student services," and "financial aid" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential academic adviser responsibilities here:
Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an academic adviser to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "school and career counselors and advisors interpret student records, schoolwide data, and assessments to match interests and abilities with potential careers. ." Academic advisers often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "identify the educational and career options appropriate for each student and assists with the analysis of each option. "
Interpersonal skills. Another essential skill to perform academic adviser duties is interpersonal skills. Academic advisers responsibilities require that "school and career counselors and advisors must be able to work with people of all backgrounds and personalities." Academic advisers also use interpersonal skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "possessed interpersonal skills which contributed to successful student interactions resulting in increased student retention by seven percent. "
Listening skills. This is an important skill for academic advisers to perform their duties. For an example of how academic adviser responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "school and career counselors and advisors need to give full attention to students and clients in order to understand their problems." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an academic adviser: "communicated with individual students and families as needed, to provide academic support. ".
Speaking skills. academic adviser responsibilities often require "speaking skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "school and career counselors and advisors must communicate effectively with clients and students." This resume example shows what academic advisers do with speaking skills on a typical day: "presented with a colleague at usf tampa 17th annual council on academic advising professional development conference 2013 advising students in transition. "
The three companies that hire the most academic advisers are:
- Nelnet130 academic advisers jobs
- University of Houston13 academic advisers jobs
- PSEA12 academic advisers jobs
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Compare different academic advisers
Academic adviser vs. Job coach
A job coach is responsible for evaluating people's skills and qualifications, advising them with career paths, helping with their aspirations, and promote employment opportunities. Job coaches help the clients build self-confidence and explore their maximum potentials to develop their professional growth. They provide counseling, understanding the clients' strengths and weaknesses, analyzing clients' personal goals, and guiding clients through job interviews and assessments. A job coach must have excellent communication, listening, and analytical skills to handle their clients' challenges and match their interests for the best career suited for them.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, academic adviser responsibilities require skills like "student services," "financial aid," "professional development," and "excellent interpersonal." Meanwhile a typical job coach has skills in areas such as "developmental disabilities," "cpr," "rehabilitation," and "mental health." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Job coaches really shine in the education industry with an average salary of $38,362. Comparatively, academic advisers tend to make the most money in the government industry with an average salary of $52,873.The education levels that job coaches earn slightly differ from academic advisers. In particular, job coaches are 17.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an academic adviser. Additionally, they're 2.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Academic adviser vs. Evaluator
An evaluator is responsible for assessing a speakers' speech, identifying areas of improvement, and providing constructive feedback to hone their communication skills and boost their self-confidence. Evaluators analyze speech delivery, including unnecessary fillers and mannerisms that may distract the audience from the speaker's presentation. They also identify the speakers' strengths and weaknesses in presenting to the public, suggesting recommendations on speech content and structure. An evaluator must have excellent communication and observation skills, especially on highlighting the key aspects that would affect the connection between the speaker and the audience.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that academic adviser responsibilities requires skills like "student services," "financial aid," "support services," and "excellent interpersonal." But an evaluator might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "patients," "social work," "rehabilitation," and "substance abuse."
Evaluators earn a higher average salary than academic advisers. But evaluators earn the highest pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $56,245. Additionally, academic advisers earn the highest salaries in the government with average pay of $52,873 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Evaluators tend to reach similar levels of education than academic advisers. In fact, they're 3.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Academic adviser vs. Peer mentor
A peer mentor is an individual who builds a relationship with another person or mentee who is new to the career or at the same level. Peer mentors must serve as a social role model and educate mentees on various resources and services. They coordinate and facilitate social programs and training and discuss any mentee concerns with the top management. Peer mentors are also required to maintain confidentiality with any shared information between mentors and mentees.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an academic adviser is likely to be skilled in "customer service," "excellent interpersonal," "student development," and "academic programs," while a typical peer mentor is skilled in "mental health," "role model," "peer support," and "training sessions."
Peer mentors earn the highest salary when working in the non profits industry, where they receive an average salary of $30,162. Comparatively, academic advisers have the highest earning potential in the government industry, with an average salary of $52,873.Most peer mentors achieve a lower degree level compared to academic advisers. For example, they're 20.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Academic adviser vs. School counseling internship
A school counseling internship is a student program where an intern is assigned to help school counselors deal with students' social and emotional development or educational needs. School counseling interns must aid their school counselors in developing a comprehensive school counseling program and adjusting schedules for their students. They help maintain student records and monitor their students' graduation status while guiding all students on caseload. School counseling interns also organize school-to-career guidance activities or bi-annual interactive training sessions for faculty members.
Types of academic adviser
Updated January 8, 2025
