How To Become An Ombudsman: What It Is and Career Path

What is an ombudsman and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an ombudsman. For example, did you know that they make an average of $35.34 an hour? That's $73,497 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 600 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreOmbudsmanUS Average

Salary

5.7

Avg. Salary $73,497

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.5

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 6.45%

Black or African American 5.63%

Hispanic or Latino 7.86%

Unknown 4.39%

White 75.37%

Gender

female 77.29%

male 22.71%

Age - 45

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 - 45

Stress level

7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.4

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an ombudsman

Explore ombudsman education requirements

Most common ombudsman degrees

Bachelor's

62.2 %

Master's

16.3 %

Associate

11.2 %

Start to develop specific ombudsman skills

Skills	Percentages
Mediation	14.27%
Long-Term Care Facilities	10.43%
Conflict Resolution	8.46%
Medicaid	6.65%
Long-Term Care Residents	5.35%

Complete relevant ombudsman training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New ombudsmen 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 an ombudsman based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real ombudsman resumes.

Research ombudsman duties and responsibilities

Facilitate development of veterans individual rehabilitation plans, which provide purpose, organization and empowerment to achieve life goals.
Mediate disputes between residents, families, and nursing home administration.
Organize family day meeting for those with soldiers and sailors on deployment.
Review serious issue cases to determine if the issues warrant OPM action.

Prepare your ombudsman resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your ombudsman 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 an ombudsman resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable ombudsman resume templates

Build a professional ombudsman 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 ombudsman resume.