What is a Career Advisor?

As a Career Advisor, you will give advice and guidance services to those who need help making choices about their working lives. Clients include young people, adults, unemployed, career changers, and students in colleges. You need to help clients explore career options and teach them how to search for a job, write a resume, and administer career assessments. As a Career Advisor, you will give advice and guidance services to those who need help making choices about their working lives.

Clients include young people, adults, unemployed, career changers, and students in colleges. You need to help clients explore career options and teach them how to search for a job, write a resume, and administer career assessments. You will also need to conduct career advisement sessions for students and respond to student questions about career development, exploration, and placement. You will help students with job searches and show them how to research industry trends. You will also assist in organizing advisory board activities, orientations, and graduation functions. The median salary you can expect as a Career Advisor is $44,000. It is a rewarding and highly needed career.

What Does a Career Advisor Do

There are certain skills that many career advisors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed interpersonal skills, listening skills and speaking skills.

Learn more about what a Career Advisor does

How To Become a Career Advisor

If you're interested in becoming a career advisor, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 61.9% of career advisors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 16.5% of career advisors have master's degrees. Even though most career advisors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Career Advisor
Top Career Advisor Jobs Near You

Career Advisor Career Paths

As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a career advisor can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as case manager, progress to a title such as owner and then eventually end up with the title center director.

Career Advisor

Average Salary for a Career Advisor

Career Advisors in America make an average salary of $40,067 per year or $19 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $52,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $30,000 per year.
Average Career Advisor Salary
$40,067 Yearly
$19.26 hourly
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What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Career Advisor

There are several types of career advisor, including:

Admissions Coordinator

Role:

The primary duty of an admissions coordinator is to help with client queries and admissions procedures. He/She is responsible for the admissions and onboarding processes of an organization. The admission coordinator organizes and records information into databases. He/She works with the admissions team to plan and organize events and the likes. To fulfill this task, you will perform inquiries about application and enrollment from the public. Also, you will design brochures and advertisements to promote the organization and coordinate tours.

Employers require a bachelor's degree in business administration or any related discipline with a minimum of three years of experience in a similar role. They also expect proficiency in Microsoft Office and admissions software. You must be experienced in typing and capturing data.

Apart from this, you must also possess communication, organization, multitasking, customer service, flexibility, and teamwork skills. Plus, you must be able to work in a fast-paced environment.

Admissions Coordinators earn about $41,640 in a year-their salary ranges from $31,000 to $55,000.

  • Average Salary: $38,117
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Admissions Advisor

Role:

Admissions advisors are responsible for providing information and encouragement to future students. As a part of the college or university staff, their job is to organize recruitment events to inform students and their families on everything they need to know about admission processes, application requirements, financial aid possibilities, and enrolment.

To get a job as an admissions advisor, you will need a bachelor's degree in marketing, sales, or a related field. You might consider yourself working for the institution where you were studying. In this case, taking on student jobs while you are enrolled, like working as a resident assistant or campus tour guide, would really boost your chances of getting hired.

Essentially, your job will be to promote the university or college you work for, so communications skills will be your most important asset. Building a relationship with prospective students will be essential, so if you prefer working in the solitude of your office, this might not be the position for you.

  • Average Salary: $54,192
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Student Advisor

Role:

Student advising builds a strong relationship. It's the key to a student being successful in school or college. If a student isn't doing academically well and struggles to make the right academic, degree, or course decisions, they may need an expert student advisor. A student advisor is not just the person who calls you in if you're getting bad grades or hands you a schedule. Their influence is greater than that.

Student advisors advocate for students progressing through their higher education. They help them in a wide range of ways as they explore their career choices. Helping students with attendance problems, school adjustment, academic skills, scheduling, and timetables are all a part of their job. Student advisors guide students on their educational goals and learning processes to support their development and growth.

Schools, colleges, and universities employ student advisors to help students perform better in their academic life. A typical professional academic advisor earns $19.16 per hour, on average. Earn at least a bachelor's degree in psychology or business to get hired as a student advisor.

  • Average Salary: $41,418
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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States With The Most Career Advisor Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active career advisor jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where career advisors earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Career Advisor Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California1,779$52,548
2Texas1,201$40,997
3Florida973$38,536
4Illinois685$33,011
5New York670$39,570
6Wisconsin552$32,884
7Virginia532$45,038
8Pennsylvania532$38,129
9Michigan458$31,903
10Minnesota443$35,757
11Arizona426$37,944
12North Carolina409$35,367
13Georgia396$41,248
14Ohio382$35,619
15Colorado378$38,350
16Missouri368$37,887
17Connecticut364$38,307
18New Jersey355$41,758
19Massachusetts351$46,790
20Washington333$42,188
21Utah313$33,783
22Tennessee310$37,884
23Maryland302$43,228
24Indiana249$30,296
25Alabama216$38,170
26Louisiana167$37,569
27Oregon159$35,735
28Kentucky144$32,087
29Iowa141$38,152
30South Carolina140$38,410
31Nevada131$41,489
32Mississippi106$32,961
33Nebraska98$40,594
34North Dakota96$33,615
35New Mexico91$37,747
36Rhode Island82$33,199
37New Hampshire77$31,585
38Maine70$32,247
39Idaho68$31,853
40Delaware67$36,088
41Wyoming66$35,339
42Hawaii55$37,785
43Alaska49$40,416
44West Virginia48$31,793
45South Dakota48$29,608
46Vermont33$35,470
47Arkansas15$37,076
48Oklahoma9$35,566
49Kansas9$34,533
50Montana6$35,099

Career Advisor Education

Career Advisor Majors

Business
22.2 %
Psychology
14.2 %
Communication
7.1 %

Career Advisor Degrees

Bachelors

61.9 %

Masters

16.5 %

Associate

11.5 %

Top Colleges for Career Advisors

1. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

2. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

3. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,740

Enrollment

5,567

4. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

5. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

6. SUNY at Albany

Albany, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,011

Enrollment

13,434

7. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

8. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,798

Enrollment

31,503

9. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

10. SUNY College at Oswego

Oswego, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,440

Enrollment

7,039

Top Skills For a Career Advisor

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 12.2% of career advisors listed customer service on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and listening skills are important as well.

  • Customer Service, 12.2%
  • Career Development, 9.5%
  • Professional Development, 6.7%
  • Social Work, 5.6%
  • Career Services, 5.5%
  • Other Skills, 60.5%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Career Advisor Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Career Advisor templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Career Advisor resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Career Advisor diversity

Career Advisor Gender Distribution

Female
Female
66%
Male
Male
34%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among career advisors, 65.9% of them are women, while 34.1% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among career advisors is White, which makes up 67.0% of all career advisors.

  • The most common foreign language among career advisors is Spanish at 60.9%.

Online Courses For Career Advisor That You May Like

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Best States For a Career Advisor

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a career advisor. The best states for people in this position are California, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Maryland. Career advisors make the most in California with an average salary of $52,548. Whereas in Massachusetts and Virginia, they would average $46,790 and $45,038, respectively. While career advisors would only make an average of $43,228 in Maryland, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. California

Total Career Advisor Jobs: 1,779
Highest 10% Earn:
$70,000
Location Quotient:
1.15

$52,548

Avg. Salary

View 1,779 Career Advisor Jobs In CA

2. Nevada

Total Career Advisor Jobs: 131
Highest 10% Earn:
$52,000
Location Quotient:
1.19

$41,489

Avg. Salary

View 131 Career Advisor Jobs In NV

3. Virginia

Total Career Advisor Jobs: 532
Highest 10% Earn:
$60,000
Location Quotient:
1.07

$45,038

Avg. Salary

View 532 Career Advisor Jobs In VA
Full List Of Best States For Career Advisors

How Do Career Advisors Rate Their Jobs?

3/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Career Advisor Reviews

3.0
Mar 2019
Pros

Guiding students toward rewarding careers.

Cons

I am employed by the Georgia Institute of Technology and Career Development Advisors are paid much lower than Corporate Relations Managers even though we do similar jobs

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Top Career Advisor Employers

Most Common Employers For Career Advisor

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1NC.gov$43,980$21.1412
2Indiana State Police$43,713$21.0224
3Fulton County Y$42,562$20.4611
4Zeiders Enterprises$41,416$19.9111
5Arizona Center For Youth Resources - ACYR$40,990$19.719
6Texas Veterans Commission$40,712$19.5712
7Florida College$40,710$19.5711
8Transitional Services Association Inc$40,383$19.4118
9Workforce Essentials$40,370$19.4124
10ASA College$40,325$19.3910
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Updated April 6, 2023