What does a mediator do?
Mediator responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real mediator resumes:
- Utilize strategic negotiation tactics and creative problem-solving skills to achieve amicable settlements.
- Observe arbitration, participate in negotiations contests, and conduct numerous presentations on specific areas of mediation.
- Mediate EEO disputes between the U.S.
- Serve as external mediator mediating EEO and non-EEO cases.
- Observe and conduct court order mediations in the fields of family law and foreclosure.
- Work with human rights and immigration cases and change of status for qualify clients.
- Facilitate mediations in contract issues, employment issues, probate cases, and small claims court.
- Observe hearings, trials, and arbitration of landlord-tenant, employer- employee, and defective goods and services disputes.
- Develop understanding of numerous consumer protection laws, prepare cases for counsel, perform document requests, loss analyses and negotiations.
- Coordinate and conduct arbitration hearings.
- Observe foreclosure and EEOC mediations conduct by professional mediators.
- Encourage negotiation in a variety of cases involving employment discrimination, co-worker conflicts, and landlord-tenant disputes.
- Deliver quality mediation service-delivery to members of the community by remaining open-mind, neutral and unbias to differences.
- Encourage negotiation in a variety of cases involving employment discrimination, co-worker conflicts, and landlord-tenant disputes.
Mediator skills and personality traits
We calculated that 39% of Mediators are proficient in Mediation, Settlement Agreements, and Mediation Services. They’re also known for soft skills such as Listening skills, Writing skills, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Mediators that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Mediation, 39%
Maintained appointment diary either manually or electronically Greeted persons entering and organized conference rooms for mediation, meetings, depositions etc.
- Settlement Agreements, 7%
Facilitated communication between parties to produce detailed mediated settlement agreements in a collaborative, professional, and respectful setting.
- Mediation Services, 6%
Assisted with securing community sponsor mediation services after grant expired.
- Conflict Resolution, 6%
Developed curriculum and co-taught a Conflict Resolution seminar through Texas Tech University's Business Administration Office of Continuing Education.
- Conflict Management, 4%
Aided disputants in finding and documenting agreement through dialogue and conflict management techniques.
- Consumer Complaints, 3%
Interviewed and corresponded directly with consumers and merchants to facilitate resolution of consumer complaints.
Common skills that a mediator uses to do their job include "mediation," "settlement agreements," and "mediation services." You can find details on the most important mediator responsibilities below.
Listening skills. One of the key soft skills for a mediator to have is listening skills. You can see how this relates to what mediators do because "arbitrators, mediators, and conciliators must pay close attention to what is being said in order for them to evaluate information." Additionally, a mediator resume shows how mediators use listening skills: "developed active listening skills from mediation class and mediation certificate class. "
Writing skills. Many mediator duties rely on writing skills. "arbitrators, mediators, and conciliators write recommendations or decisions relating to appeals or disputes," so a mediator will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways mediator responsibilities rely on writing skills: "facilitate court-ordered mediation in cook county civil court cases, writing agreements into legally binding documents. "
Interpersonal skills. This is an important skill for mediators to perform their duties. For an example of how mediator responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "arbitrators, mediators, and conciliators deal with disputing parties and must be able to facilitate discussion in a calm and respectful way." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a mediator: "conflict management: identified and resolved interpersonal and workplace disputes conflicts. ".
The three companies that hire the most mediators are:
- NC.gov1 mediators jobs
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Compare different mediators
Mediator vs. Conflict resolution professional
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between mediators and conflict resolution professional. For instance, mediator responsibilities require skills such as "mediation," "settlement agreements," "mediation services," and "conflict management." Whereas a conflict resolution professional is skilled in "epic," "professional billing," "financial statements," and "pos." This is part of what separates the two careers.
On average, conflict resolution professionals reach lower levels of education than mediators. Conflict resolution professionals are 5.4% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 9.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Mediator vs. Ombudsman
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, mediator responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "settlement agreements," "mediation services," "conflict management," and "consumer complaints." Meanwhile, an ombudsman has duties that require skills in areas such as "long-term care facilities," "medicaid," "long-term care residents," and "state agencies." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Ombudsmen tend to reach similar levels of education than mediators. In fact, they're 2.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 9.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for mediators in the next 3-5 years?
Brendan Holt
Mediator, Collaborative Divorce Attorney, Parenting Coordinator and Guardian Ad Litem, Holt Law
Mediator vs. Alternative dispute resolution coordinator
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from mediator resumes include skills like "settlement agreements," "mediation services," "conflict resolution," and "conflict management," whereas an alternative dispute resolution coordinator is more likely to list skills in "appeals," "external resources," "medicaid," and "healthcare. "
Most alternative dispute resolution coordinators achieve a similar degree level compared to mediators. For example, they're 1.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 10.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Mediator vs. Certified family mediator
Even though a few skill sets overlap between mediators and certified family mediators, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a mediator might have more use for skills like "conflict management," "consumer complaints," "child custody," and "child support." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of certified family mediators require skills like "child support cases," "family law," "civil cases," and "criminal cases. "
The average resume of certified family mediators showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to mediators. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 1.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 5.1%.Updated January 8, 2025
