How to hire a college adviser

How to hire a college adviser, step by step

Here's a step-by-step college adviser hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a college adviser job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new college adviser
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a college adviser do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The college adviser hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

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   Hiring the perfect college adviser also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   Here's a comparison of college adviser salaries for various roles:

   Type of College Adviser	Description	Hourly rate
   College Adviser	School counselors help students develop academic and social skills and succeed in school. Career counselors assist people with the process of making career decisions by helping them develop skills or choose a career or educational program.	$15-30
   Student Mentor	A student mentor is responsible for guiding the students on their educational and professional development by encouraging the students to reach their maximum potential, helping them with their study habits and academic concerns. Student mentors widen the social connection of the students by recommending them to join school activities and other educational organizations... Show more	$11-23
   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... Show more	$14-21

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Financial Aid Applications
   • Colleges
   • Professional Development
   • FAFSA
   • Admissions Process
   • School Administration
   • Post-Secondary Education
   • Career Exploration
   • Scholarship Applications
   • Local Schools
   • Financial Aid
   • Academic Performance
   • Career Planning
   • Academic Support

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage presentations, assemblies, and club meetings to offer services and emphasize the necessity of post-secondary study.
   • Help interview, evaluate, select and mentor AmeriCorps applicants.
   • Communicate with graduating seniors on a regular basis over the summer by phone, Facebook and in person.
   • Utilize a CRM database (Salesforce) to update student contacts and to help leadership team to better support students.
   • Maintain and update student database in Salesforce.
   • Work with supervisor to complete volunteer activities for AmeriCorps.

   More college adviser duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the college adviser job description is a good way to get more applicants. A college adviser salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a college adviser in Michigan may be lower than in Massachusetts, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level college adviser. Additionally, a college adviser with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average college adviser salary

   $46,038yearly

   $22.13 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level college adviser salary

   $33,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 30, 2026

   Average college adviser salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Massachusetts	$66,278	$32
   2	California	$60,533	$29
   3	New York	$57,744	$28
   4	Pennsylvania	$54,131	$26
   5	Washington	$52,069	$25
   6	Ohio	$51,117	$25
   7	Virginia	$49,437	$24
   8	Kansas	$48,913	$24
   9	Indiana	$46,031	$22
   10	Wisconsin	$45,932	$22
   11	Illinois	$45,421	$22
   12	Texas	$43,596	$21
   13	Utah	$42,557	$20
   14	North Carolina	$41,152	$20
   15	Tennessee	$40,378	$19
   16	Colorado	$39,283	$19
   17	Missouri	$39,022	$19
   18	Montana	$37,948	$18
   19	Michigan	$36,676	$18
   20	South Carolina	$35,214	$17

   Average college adviser salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	New York University	$62,109	$29.86	3
   2	Harlem Children's Zone	$60,589	$29.13	6
   3	Syracuse Academy of Science Charter School	$58,700	$28.22
   4	UMass Lowell	$56,548	$27.19	2
   5	North Shore Community College	$54,466	$26.19
   6	Tennessee Technological University	$53,949	$25.94	1
   7	University of Southern California	$53,223	$25.59	9
   8	University of California-Berkeley	$52,856	$25.41	2
   9	Wichita State University	$52,840	$25.40	6
   10	Franklin & Marshall College	$51,915	$24.96
   11	Bottom Line Services LLC	$50,716	$24.38	1
   12	PSEA	$50,677	$24.36	16
   13	Grand Valley State University	$50,256	$24.16	3
   14	Research Foundation of The City University of New York	$49,308	$23.71
   15	University Settlement	$48,769	$23.45	1
   16	Ivy Tech Community College	$48,423	$23.28	11
   17	BronxWorks	$46,781	$22.49
   18	University of Michigan	$46,738	$22.47	4
   19	University of Georgia Small Business Development Center	$46,340	$22.28	3
   20	University of Wisconsin System	$45,772	$22.01	2

4. Writing a college adviser job description

   A good college adviser job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a college adviser job description:

   College adviser job description example

   The KIPP Forward Team supports KIPP Chicago alumni in developing the tools and knowledge needed to attain a college degree. By offering a mix of programs and services designed to reach every student and family - from one-on-one student meetings, to financial aid counseling, academic advising, life skills training, mentoring, college guidance, and more - KIPP Forward provides KIPP Chicago Schools alumni with the tools for success in high school, college, and the competitive world beyond.
   
   Our KIPP Forward team is hiring a College Access Alumni Advisor for our KIPP Academy campus, located at 4818 W. Ohio in the Austin neighborhood on the west side. This is a mid-level position for an experienced professional. The College Access Alumni Advisor is critical to the success of serving a cohort of alumni ranging from 230 to 250 students per year. To ensure we fulfill our promise to support our KIPP alumni, our model begins during their freshman year of high school and continues through postsecondary plans. Our goal is to guide and equip our bright, motivated, first-generation students of color to and through college, career and beyond. Therefore, the College Access Alumni Advisor will be an individual who embraces innovation, structures, meaningful relationships, improvement, and goes above and beyond to ensure alumni remain on a path to successful careers and lives. The College Access Alumni Advisor will join a growing KIPP Forward team of High School Transition & Alumni Advisors.
   
   The role of the College Access Alumni Advisor includes, but is not limited to the following responsibilities:
   
   Caseload management: Our KIPP Forward team's goal is to maintain continual contact with our KIPP alumni to ensure we are supporting them to and through college, career and beyond. The College Access Alumni Advisor meets with students and families to ensure timely submission of all applications and financial aid. Accurately provides bi-weekly data reports and monitors progress towards prioritized goals in college match and student advising.
   
   Student Advising: Backwards plans outreach efforts to support student passion/purpose/plan, academics, social-emotional and financial challenges. Executes high school campus visits while also leveraging resources to support KIPP alumni in high school. Collaborates with internal and external stakeholders to support the needs of students.
   
   Relationship Building: Build positive and lasting relationships with students and families as well with high schools, colleges and scholarship organizations. Maintains consistent communication with students & families regarding college and financial aid options.
   
   College Access: Supports KIPP alumni and families through the college application and financial aid process, and accurately reports progress towards high school graduation and college match goals.
   Project Management: Completes annual event planning for class cohorts and manages special projects to support students through pre-college summer programs, scholarship opportunities, and any KIPP Foundation initiative.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find college advisers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your college adviser job on Zippia to find and recruit college adviser candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with college adviser candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new college adviser

   Once you've decided on a perfect college adviser candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a college adviser?