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The differences between personal advocates and resident assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a personal advocate and a resident assistant. Additionally, a personal advocate has an average salary of $36,577, which is higher than the $29,971 average annual salary of a resident assistant.
The top three skills for a personal advocate include mental health, inbound calls and social work. The most important skills for a resident assistant are home health, CPR, and vital signs.
| Personal Advocate | Resident Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $36,577 | $29,971 |
| Hourly rate | $17.59 | $14.41 |
| Growth rate | 12% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 70,768 | 19,033 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
Personal advocates must have skills in communication, collaboration, and presentation. They also need a bachelor's or associate's degree in a health-related discipline, and their salary may range from $55K to over $100K per year depending on their degree. Personal advocates encourage and facilitate customer choices and support these choices in order to promote independence and personal growth.
Resident assistants help manage peers or younger students who live in a particular residence hall on campus. They are usually in charge of welcoming fellow students, providing residence hall tours, and helping students cope with their new environment. To help students become more at ease with their environment, resident assistants usually act as buddies. They answer inquiries that the students may have and act as the bridge between the students and the residence hall management. They assist with administrative activities in the residence hall, such as handing out forms for students and ensuring documents are correctly filled out.
Personal advocates and resident assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Personal Advocate | Resident Assistant | |
| Average salary | $36,577 | $29,971 |
| Salary range | Between $29,000 And $45,000 | Between $22,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | Roseville, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | Cigna | Mount St. Mary's University |
| Best paying industry | Insurance | Education |
There are a few differences between a personal advocate and a resident assistant in terms of educational background:
| Personal Advocate | Resident Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Psychology |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | SUNY at Binghamton |
Here are the differences between personal advocates' and resident assistants' demographics:
| Personal Advocate | Resident Assistant | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 14.0% Female, 86.0% | Male, 34.0% Female, 66.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.1% Asian, 6.1% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.7% | Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 6.7% White, 58.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |