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Job outlook for career services assistants in the United States
Are career services assistant jobs in demand?
Career services assistant job and salary trends over time
Career services assistant jobs over time
Career services assistant job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 454 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 455 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 461 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 447 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 437 | 0.00% |
Average career services assistant salary over time
Career services assistant salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $28,130 | $13.52 | +2.6% |
| 2025 | $27,426 | $13.19 | +3.9% |
| 2024 | $26,401 | $12.69 | +1.9% |
| 2023 | $25,908 | $12.46 | +4.1% |
| 2022 | $24,884 | $11.96 | +3.2% |
Career services assistant jobs by state
Most common states for career services assistants
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 206 | 30% |
| 2 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 1,182 | 21% |
| 3 | Alaska | 739,795 | 121 | 16% |
| 4 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 192 | 14% |
| 5 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 413 | 13% |
| 6 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 860 | 12% |
| 7 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 855 | 12% |
| 8 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 695 | 12% |
| 9 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 222 | 12% |
| 10 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 652 | 11% |
| 11 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 327 | 11% |
| 12 | West Virginia | 1,815,857 | 208 | 11% |
| 13 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 99 | 11% |
| 14 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 85 | 11% |
| 15 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 65 | 11% |
| 16 | Indiana | 6,666,818 | 696 | 10% |
| 17 | Missouri | 6,113,532 | 598 | 10% |
| 18 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 418 | 10% |
| 19 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 348 | 10% |
| 20 | Delaware | 961,939 | 101 | 10% |
Most common cities for career services assistants
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wesley Chapel | 1 | 2% | $22,835 |
| 2 | Boston | 1 | 0% | $24,868 |
Career Services Assistant job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of career services assistant experts
Wisconsin Business School
High Point University
Humboldt State University
Monmouth University
Butler University
Lycoming College
Quinnipiac University
What certifications/licenses/courses can have the biggest impact for Career Services Assistants?
Claire Jablonsky: We have a lot of students wanting to head into the creative side of marketing and thus are getting certificates (minors) in digital studies and graphic design. They are working on getting experience with Adobe, Photoshop, Lightroom and other programs that will give them the skills to work in advertising. On the analytical side, they are getting certificates in Google Analytics.
William (Bill) Gentry Ph.D.
Assistant Vice PresidentHigh Point University
Career and Professional Development
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Career Services Assistants?
William (Bill) Gentry Ph.D.: In my opinion, yes. The pandemic is a once-in-a-century occurrence, I don't see how something like that will not affect philosophy graduates, or all of us. But graduates during this time have shown resiliency and flexibility particularly in the past 12+ months, which are great skills to showcase for employers right now. For the world of work, some organizations will go back to the way it was a couple of years ago (fully in person in offices) and other organizations have seen that people can work from home (or anywhere) and will allow that fully or partially. Organizations may need to shift their mindset on how work gets done to match how graduates now and in the future want to work in order to attract the best talent. To be marketable, graduates should focus not just on their resiliency and flexibility, but also other essential life skills such as the ability to communicate well (in person, phone, video, email, messaging systems), to span boundaries (organizational functions, time zones, cultural), and their problem solving, teamwork, and collaborative skills to be seen as high potential employees for organizations who are working fully in person, fully remote, or a mix of the two.
What's a day at work look like for a Career Services Assistant?
William (Bill) Gentry Ph.D.: It depends on the organization. With more vaccines coming out and some clamoring to actually get out of their house and get back to being in an office, organizations will see that it is safer for people to come back to work, to fly to meetings, to be like it was a couple of years ago. In fact, some have already gone back to that. Other organizations have seen that people can indeed work from anywhere and production and work output still remain at a high level in quality or quantity, and they may allow virtual work in part or in full. Philosophy graduates need to be prepared for either of these. I and our office of Career and Professional Development encourage graduates to first think about what style they like best. In talking with graduates, I know some of them are burned out with video and miss being around people in person. For those graduates with that type of preference, we encourage them to be strategic and targeted in their approach to looking for jobs, ensuring that working in an office, around people, in person, should be a major priority when searching and applying for jobs. For other graduates who have enjoyed and become skilled at video meetings, like that type of interaction, and feel they want to work from home, they should make sure that any job they are applying to would allow the ability and flexibility to work from anywhere.
What will help Career Services Assistants increase their earning potential?
William (Bill) Gentry Ph.D.: Philosophy majors are employable in a variety of fields such as education, law, ethics, business, religious-affiliated areas, community services, government, and communications to name a few. A 538 article in 2015 showed that philosophy majors have the fourth-highest median earnings for those with only undergraduate degrees. The Winter 2020 National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) salary survey indicated philosophy majors have the highest mean and median salary across all humanities majors and is comparable to other majors as well. To increase their earning potential, we encourage our students to focus on life skills that can separate themselves from all the others who are applying to the job. How can you showcase pertinent life skills that philosophy majors are known for - such as resiliency, the flexibility and capacity for growth, analytical, organizational and research skills like idea generation, problem formulation and problem solving, persuasion, and communication skills - on your brand documents like your resume, cover letter, LinkedIn, or in interviews? Specifically, how can you display that you have learned and developed those skills inside and outside the classroom in strong bullet points on your resume or in your cover letter? How can you clearly articulate how you've displayed or enhanced those skills through your classwork, internships, jobs, volunteer work, or other experiences in answering interview questions like "Tell me about yourself" or "What are your strengths?" or "Tell me about a time you had to influence others?" A GPA will likely get your foot in the door, but the ability to demonstrate these important like skills on paper, online, and in person in networking and interviewing will show others that you will be successful not just on day one of the job, but be seen as a high potential in your fist year, five years, and beyond.
Loren Collins
Faculty support Coordinator for Service Learning and Career EducationHumboldt State University
Academic and Career Advising Center
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Career Services Assistant job market given the pandemic?
Loren Collins: Service sector, hospitality, and travel have been and will continue to be impacted negatively but we will see a huge boom in employment and growth coming at the end of the pandemic. People will trend back into higher education as we begin coming out of the pandemic and when more face-to-face opportunities are available at universities and community colleges. Typically in a recession this happens earlier, but the nature of the pandemic has probably delayed this effect.
As we exit the pandemic, I believe federal and state programs will focus on increasing the number of people entering all sorts of trades, leveraging the end of the pandemic and work programs to close an increasing gap in the number of people in the trades. Meaning a boom in logistics, management, and project management related jobs as well lots of focus on sustainability.
How have salaries changed over time for Career Services Assistants?
Loren Collins: In my field - and probably in many fields - I think the big trend has been not as much focus on salary and more the cost of retirement programs and healthcare. Landing a job with good retirement and great healthcare is not always easy and for many worth a trade for a slightly lower salary.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Career Services Assistant job market given the pandemic?
William Hill: Remote recruiting is here to stay. COVID showed employers that they don't need to come to campus, nor do they have to meet with students in person in order to hire them. It is a substantial time and money saver for businesses. Long after COVID is gone, employers will continue to use Zoom, WebEx and other remote platforms as part of their recruiting strategy. Even job fairs, long a staple of recruiting, are going remote.
What soft skills should all Career Services Assistants possess?
William Hill: Problem solving skills are essential in the workplace for new grads, especially now. They will find it increasingly difficult to engage more experienced co-workers for helpful problem solving advice in a virtual workspace. You can't just stroll over to someone's office for a quick chat anymore. They will be more often "on their own" when it comes to analyzing a challenge and crafting a solution. Verbal and written communication skills remain important in a workspace dominated by Zoom and email.
Julie Schrader
Sr. Associate DirectorButler University
Career and Professional Success
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Career Services Assistant job market given the pandemic?
Julie Schrader: I think some trends we will see are more remote work components of internships or jobs given the pandemic. Some organizations will hope to return to fully in-person, but I think there will be more flexibility provided to employees to work remotely or partially remote. I also think some organizations may reduce their physical footprints and move from larger buildings to smaller spaces if they plan to have a mix of in-person and remote workforce, which can impact the culture. We have seen the impact the pandemic has had in some industries such as sports, events, hospitality, and others that rely on in-person functions and components, and I think we'll see fewer, more competitive opportunities in those areas for a while. Networking has always been important but I see a greater emphasis being put on networking and building connections during this time of limited in-person interactions and a more competitive job seeker environment. Finally, I think we have been pleased to see that many organizations have been hiring at the same or similar rate during the pandemic as they were prior to it.
What certifications/licenses/courses can have the biggest impact for Career Services Assistants?
Julie Schrader: It would depend on the industry, but I think the following can be impactful and attractive to future employers:
- Language(s): In a global market, speaking another language can provide great value to an organization
- Creative: More for marketing and advertising areas, having courses or certifications in creative and graphic design tools
- Project Management: Many roles across industry sectors involve some aspect of project management
- Design Thinking: Problem-solving and critical thinking skills are highly sought by recruiters
- Salesforce/CRMs: We are seeing more organizations list this as a preferred/desired certification or knowledge area
What's a good job out of college for Career Services Assistants?
Julie Schrader: I don't define a job as "good" only if it matches a student's area of study. It is great if it does, but to me the definition of "good job" is that the individual is fulfilled and utilizing skills, strengths, and interests and the position matches their value set. A good job can be one that also provides some sense of financial stability. The hope is that during college, students are exploring and discovering various career paths and participating in experiential learning such as internships, co-ops, rotations, case studies, informational interviews, and more. As they learn more about potential career paths, they can start to narrow what they think they would enjoy. I believe that a good job out of college includes an opportunity to be mentored and supported, provides the opportunity for growth and training, and engages the individual's strengths and abilities to make a positive impact. I think of an example of a young graduate with a Finance degree who started in an entry-level finance role. He liked the position and the people, but wasn't sure he wanted to stay with the organization when he was offered a promotion to a sales role. He said he was working in finance because that was his degree and he thought that is what he should be doing. But he longed to be active and outdoors, and reminisced about his time studying abroad in Australia and surfing. He saw a surf camp manager position in the country of Norway and was deciding if he should apply. I encouraged him to go for it. He did. And he got it. He has since returned to the states and in a sales role now, but has no regrets. To me, that was a good job because he followed his heart.
What skills stand out on Career Services Assistant resumes?
Career Advisors of the CEAE : Applicants need to connect their skills and experience with what an employer is looking for. With that being said, flexibility, adaptability, and experience with various technology is increasingly important during a pandemic. Quantifiable achievements are always important as well as leadership, presentation/communication skills, and teamwork ability.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Career Services Assistants?
Shelley Sadin: We cannot predict whether the pandemic (financial disruption and other harmful effects) will endure.
But we can identify a couple of potential enduring upsides:
The pandemic has shown employers, including law firms, that lawyers can communicate and work remotely. This should open up many more remote job opportunities and increase students’ job searches' geographical scope.
The pandemic makes many students stop and think about what matters to them as they pursue their career paths. We always encourage students to be reflective and creative in their career pursuits. The uncertainty and changes in working conditions wrought by the pandemic have underscored the value to students of thinking intentionally about where they want to practice. What field of law -- or law-related field -- would be most rewarding for them?