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What is a career services advisor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted experts
Shelley Sadin,
William Hill

Career services advisor advises their clients about their chosen career. As a career service advisor, you should be able to identify the inbuilt skills with which you will be able to give recommendations to improve the potential of being hired. You will help clients prepare resumes and with different job applications.

You will also connect clients to job opportunities that are related to their field or skills. Part of your job is to evaluate the client's background, training, and education to be able to give a suitable career path or education path for the client. However, you must be able to motivate and guide clients effectively.

Career Services Advisor motivates and guides an individual daily. Therefore, you must be a good listener, patient, and have empathy. Any degree of discipline is acceptable to be able to work as a career services advisor. Your personality, attitude, experience, and mental maturity are crucial. Lots of confidence and well-written communication skill is also important for the position.

You must be a critical thinker to be able to use logic and reasoning skills to identify strengths and weaknesses, and having problem-solving skill is recommended as well. An average of $57,000 yearly is the remuneration paid for the position.

What general advice would you give to a career services advisor?

Shelley SadinShelley Sadin LinkedIn profile

Associate Dean of Professional and Career Development, Quinnipiac University

Communicating clearly, both orally and in writing.
It is identifying and analyzing legal and factual issues with an open, thoughtful, and creative mind.
Working collaboratively with clients, colleagues, opponents, and others involved in a case to solve problems.
Being meticulously ethical and professional in all interactions. This includes treating everyone involved in a matter with respect, recognizing, and honoring their different backgrounds and perspectives.
Being self-disciplined, motivated, resilient, courageous, kind, and flexible.
ScoreCareer Services AdvisorUS Average
Salary
3.6

Avg. Salary $45,563

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level
9.0

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity
6.0
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.62%

Asian 3.74%

Black or African American 10.64%

Hispanic or Latino 14.20%

Unknown 3.76%

White 67.03%

Gender

female 72.14%

male 27.86%

Age - 41
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41
Stress level
9.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level
9.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance
5.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Career services advisor career paths

Key steps to become a career services advisor

  1. Explore career services advisor education requirements

    Most common career services advisor degrees

    Bachelor's

    62.1 %

    Associate

    15.7 %

    Master's

    12.3 %
  2. Start to develop specific career services advisor skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Career Services16.61%
    Alumni11.41%
    Customer Service11.36%
    Professional Development7.68%
    Data Entry5.37%
  3. Complete relevant career services advisor training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New career services advisors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a career services advisor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real career services advisor resumes.
  4. Research career services advisor duties and responsibilities

    • Assist graduating students and alumni in securing employment by developing industry relationships, communicating opportunities and providing guidance and resources.
    • Pursue employers for job opportunities on behalf of current students and alumni by conducting corporate development regularly and attending corporate visits.
    • Work with individuals and organizations to provide leadership development coaching and career counseling.
    • Exceed expectation of both program participants and company leadership when facilitating workshops and seminars.
  5. Prepare your career services advisor resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your career services advisor resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a career services advisor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose from 10+ customizable career services advisor resume templates

    Build a professional career services advisor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your career services advisor resume.
    Career Services Advisor Resume
    Career Services Advisor Resume
    Career Services Advisor Resume
    Career Services Advisor Resume
    Career Services Advisor Resume
    Career Services Advisor Resume
    Career Services Advisor Resume
    Career Services Advisor Resume
    Career Services Advisor Resume
  6. Apply for career services advisor jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a career services advisor job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first career services advisor job

Zippi

Are you a career services advisor?

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Average career services advisor salary

The average career services advisor salary in the United States is $45,563 per year or $22 per hour. Career services advisor salaries range between $29,000 and $69,000 per year.

Average career services advisor salary
$45,563 Yearly
$21.91 hourly

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How do career services advisors rate their job?

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Career services advisor reviews

profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2020
Pros

Helping students develop strategies for their futures and supporting career outcomes is very rewarding. Launching students into careers is very satisfying if you are altruistic and have a helper mentality.

Cons

As a Director at a state institution, I am involved in a lot of administrative duties: budgeting, hiring, training and developing, strategic planning, evaluating programming. These duties are demanding and are necessary for successful outcomes, but they are not as fun as supporting and helping students.


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2019
Pros

Interaction with motivated people. Helping people who want to work.

Cons

Negative people who want a job but dont want to work.


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2019
Pros

Helping people find their own paths, incorporating values and interests. I love it when people identify what they really want and get excited about working towards it.

Cons

I'm in private practice so there's always some task that needs doing: bookkeeping, marketing, etc. It's a lot but it's not unbearable.


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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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