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What does a career development specialist do?

Updated January 8, 2025
8 min read
Quoted expert
Shelley Sadin

A career development specialist helps clients accomplish their short and long-term career goals by providing guidance and counseling. They usually meet with clients to identify their needs and career goals, conduct skills assessments, and help them connect with potential employers. They may also assist job seekers by answering inquiries, helping them develop their resumes, training them for interviews, and assisting them in their pursuit of finding new jobs. Moreover, besides providing support, a career development specialist also helps clients build their confidence and resolve issues if any arise.

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Career development specialist responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real career development specialist resumes:

  • Lead advocacy efforts to increase employment opportunities for veterans by contacting hiring executives and encourage the hiring of disable veterans.
  • Lead advocacy efforts to increase employment opportunities for veterans by contacting hiring executives and encourage the hiring of disable veterans.
  • Develop IEP (individual employment plan) for case management and monitor customer progress during participation.

Career development specialist skills and personality traits

We calculated that 17% of Career Development Specialists are proficient in Professional Development, Community Resources, and Mock Interviews. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Creativity, and Instructional skills.

We break down the percentage of Career Development Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Professional Development, 17%

    Provided professional development skills training to students.

  • Community Resources, 9%

    Handled caseload of up to120 ex-offenders with individualized support for successful employment including personal and professional community resources.

  • Mock Interviews, 6%

    Interview training including basic skills, telephone interviewing, one-on-one interviewing, mock interviews, panel interviews, and behavioral interviewing.

  • Support Services, 5%

    Developed Individual Employment Plans; determined, developed and procured vocational and support services based on customer needs and choices.

  • Employment Services, 5%

    Facilitated customer access to training education, and employment services, as well as job-specific information.

  • Training Programs, 5%

    Provided career counseling, assessment, resume assistance, determined eligibility for federally funded training programs on a daily basis.

Most career development specialists use their skills in "professional development," "community resources," and "mock interviews" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential career development specialist responsibilities here:

Communication skills. One of the key soft skills for a career development specialist to have is communication skills. You can see how this relates to what career development specialists do because "training and development specialists must convey information clearly and facilitate learning to diverse audiences." Additionally, a career development specialist resume shows how career development specialists use communication skills: "use communication and available resources to promote quality outcomes for tanf clients. "

Creativity. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling career development specialist duties is creativity. The role rewards competence in this skill because "specialists should be resourceful when developing training materials." According to a career development specialist resume, here's how career development specialists can utilize creativity in their job responsibilities: "administered career assessments and interest inventories for students. "

Instructional skills. This is an important skill for career development specialists to perform their duties. For an example of how career development specialist responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "training and development specialists deliver employee training programs." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a career development specialist: "develop instructional materials and conduct in-service and community-based educational programs. ".

Analytical skills. career development specialist responsibilities often require "analytical skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "training and development specialists must evaluate training programs, methods, and materials and choose those that best fit each situation." This resume example shows what career development specialists do with analytical skills on a typical day: "presented professional development courses using blackboard software.maintained up-to-date records /contact notes for all student / grad contacts in database. "

Most common career development specialist skills

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Compare different career development specialists

Career development specialist vs. Training coordinator

A training coordinator is an individual who develops and conducts training programs for employees or volunteers. Training coordinators create printed and instructional materials as well as maintain an online library of training resources. Aside from conducting training, training coordinators need to assess employees' development and report their progress to the management. An organization also requires its training coordinators to obtain a bachelor's degree in Human Resource or related field and have excellent communication skills.

We looked at the average career development specialist salary and compared it with the wages of a training coordinator. Generally speaking, training coordinators are paid $46 lower than career development specialists per year.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both career development specialist and training coordinator positions are skilled in professional development, training programs, and hr.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, career development specialist responsibilities require skills like "community resources," "mock interviews," "support services," and "employment services." Meanwhile a typical training coordinator has skills in areas such as "customer service," "training materials," "patients," and "training sessions." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Training coordinators really shine in the technology industry with an average salary of $51,627. Comparatively, career development specialists tend to make the most money in the education industry with an average salary of $48,124.The education levels that training coordinators earn slightly differ from career development specialists. In particular, training coordinators are 7.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a career development specialist. Additionally, they're 0.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Career development specialist vs. Training consultant

A training consultant's job is to prepare, evaluate, and execute an organization's employee education programs. Their duties and responsibilities may include developing instructional materials, identifying knowledge and skills gaps, and organizing learning activities. Other duties include selecting educational methods such as online courses and on-the-job coaching, organizing management training, and assessing the impact of this training on employee performance. The skills and qualifications for this role include a bachelor's degree in human resources management or a relevant field, previous work experience as a training consultant, and knowledge of learning management software.

A career as a training consultant brings a higher average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a career development specialist. In fact, training consultants salary is $10,016 higher than the salary of career development specialists per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Career development specialists and training consultants both require similar skills like "professional development," "training programs," and "hr" to carry out their responsibilities.

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, career development specialist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "community resources," "mock interviews," "support services," and "employment services." Meanwhile, a training consultant has duties that require skills in areas such as "training materials," "training sessions," "project management," and "training courses." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Training consultants may earn a higher salary than career development specialists, but training consultants earn the most pay in the finance industry with an average salary of $67,693. On the other hand, career development specialists receive higher pay in the education industry, where they earn an average salary of $48,124.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Training consultants tend to reach similar levels of education than career development specialists. In fact, they're 1.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for career development specialists in the next 3-5 years?

Shelley SadinShelley Sadin LinkedIn profile

Associate Dean of Professional and Career Development, Quinnipiac University

We cannot predict this, given how rapidly technology is advancing. We can say that remote meetings have taken over. Zoom use has increased exponentially, and distant court proceedings in Connecticut are being held via Microsoft Teams. Graduates will generally need to adapt to new technologies as they are introduced to keep up with the people and businesses they hope to represent.

Career development specialist vs. Training facilitator

A training facilitator is responsible for managing the training sessions of employees in an organization, both for career advancement and process-related training. Training facilitators outline the training objectives, prepare the facility and resources, and ensure that all participants are present during the discussion. They also coordinate with the department heads for any progress updates and additional requirements for training purposes. A training facilitator must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in acting as a liaison between the management and the trainees for their inquiries, concerns, and feedback.

An average training facilitator eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of career development specialists. The difference in salaries amounts to training facilitators earning a $5,224 higher average salary than career development specialists.By looking over several career development specialists and training facilitators resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "professional development," "training programs," and "powerpoint." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a career development specialist is likely to be skilled in "community resources," "mock interviews," "support services," and "employment services," while a typical training facilitator is skilled in "training classes," "training materials," "training curriculum," and "training sessions."

Training facilitators make a very good living in the health care industry with an average annual salary of $65,725. On the other hand, career development specialists are paid the highest salary in the education industry, with average annual pay of $48,124.training facilitators typically earn similar educational levels compared to career development specialists. Specifically, they're 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Career development specialist vs. Facilitator

A facilitator is responsible for assisting a group event or program, ensuring that the participants coordinate well. Facilitators also monitor that the objectives of the event are smoothly delivered and organized. An effective facilitator requires having strong communication and leadership skills to manage the participants' concerns and inquiries, including active participation in group discussions and designing engaging activities and processes. Facilitators also assist with planning and finalizing the timetable and setting the specific house rules and regulations for everyone's compliance.

Facilitators average a lower salary than the annual salary of career development specialists. The difference is about $1,893 per year.According to resumes from career development specialists and facilitators, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "professional development," "community resources," and "training programs. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "mock interviews," "support services," "employment services," and "career fairs" are skills that commonly show up on career development specialist resumes. On the other hand, facilitators use skills like patients, customer service, facilitators, and social work on their resumes.In general, facilitators earn the most working in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $45,516. The highest-paying industry for a career development specialist is the education industry.In general, facilitators hold similar degree levels compared to career development specialists. Facilitators are 2.6% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of career development specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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