What does a prevention specialist do?
Prevention specialists are professionals who are work with at-risk youth by conducting education about substance abuse and other high-risk activities. These specialists must plan and implement programs in schools or communities to encourage young adults to have a drug and alcohol-free lifestyle. They are required to work with families who are involved with child abuse and domestic violence while facilitating training for rape crisis workers. Prevention specialists must also provide education on mental health promotion by conducting assessments to individuals and families.
Prevention specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real prevention specialist resumes:
- Complete basic plumbing, electrical, carpentry and HVAC duties.
- Train in CPR and respond to any emergency calls.
- Schedule job routes using personal GPS and map books.
- Monitor, identify and evaluate risk factors on wires and ACH transfers
- Perform ink and electronic fingerprinting to meet DCJS and/or DoD requirements.
- Maintain roof, parking lot, lighting, plumbing, and electrical equipment.
- Collaborate with all departments to ensure compliance with TJC, OSHA, SHEA.
- Issue and follow up on DOD security violations for safes and close areas.
- File claims for unauthorize charges, ACH transactions, and ATM malfunction also refunding all associate fees.
- Used maps and engineering drawings to locate and mark bury utilities or determine no conflict with excavations.
- Track and maintain first aid boxes and fire extinguisher according to OSHA regulations and company policies and procedures.
- Research and evaluate any current or potential fraud risks present with completion of SAR reports, incoming calls and queue work.
- Follow progress of discharge patients to determine effectiveness of treatments.
- Provide education to patients regarding tuberculosis and its relation to HIV infection.
- Provide precise documentation and photographs relate to all complete locates.
Prevention specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 12% of Prevention Specialists are proficient in Social Work, Patients, and Mental Health. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Physical strength, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Prevention Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Social Work, 12%
Conducted professional seminars to social workers and other professionals about substance abuse and gang awareness.
- Patients, 11%
Coordinate and provide alcohol and other drug education/prevention materials with Vista Community Clinic patients and at community health fairs.
- Mental Health, 7%
Participated in field investigation with Environmental Health Studies Branch, assessing community urinary bio-markers after aerial pesticide spraying following Hurricane Isabel.
- Substance Abuse Prevention, 5%
Implemented substance abuse prevention awareness activities at various local community venues including public and charter schools and faith based organizations.
- Community Outreach, 4%
Worked closely with communities on engagement strategies and developing a Community Outreach Plan to raise HIV/AIDS prevention awareness within the community.
- Prevention Programs, 4%
Participated in a grant-funded program to develop and implement an underage alcohol prevention program as part of a state-wide initiative.
Most prevention specialists use their skills in "social work," "patients," and "mental health" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential prevention specialist responsibilities here:
Detail oriented. One of the key soft skills for a prevention specialist to have is detail oriented. You can see how this relates to what prevention specialists do because "fire inspectors must notice minutiae when inspecting sites for code violations or fire risks or for investigating the cause of a fire." Additionally, a prevention specialist resume shows how prevention specialists use detail oriented: "provided detailed tracking reports for approximately 20 with mental health diagnosis of adhd, mood, and learning disabilities, odd. "
Physical strength. Many prevention specialist duties rely on physical strength. "fire investigators may have to move debris at the site of a fire in order to get a more accurate understanding of the scene.," so a prevention specialist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways prevention specialist responsibilities rely on physical strength: "coordinate, implement and facilitate the science-based prevention program strengthening families. "
Communication skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of prevention specialists is communication skills. This skill is critical to many everyday prevention specialist duties, as "fire inspectors must clearly explain fire code violations to building and property managers." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "served as point of contact for some external communications including the buffalo bills community outreach"
The three companies that hire the most prevention specialists are:
- Amazon11 prevention specialists jobs
- UnityPoint Health10 prevention specialists jobs
- Fit For Work9 prevention specialists jobs
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Compare different prevention specialists
Prevention specialist vs. Fire lookout
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between prevention specialists and fire lookout. For instance, prevention specialist responsibilities require skills such as "social work," "patients," "mental health," and "substance abuse prevention." Whereas a fire lookout is skilled in "weather data," "fire hazards," "radio traffic," and "mile radius." This is part of what separates the two careers.
On average, fire lookouts reach similar levels of education than prevention specialists. Fire lookouts are 4.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.9% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Prevention specialist vs. Fire observer
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that prevention specialist responsibilities requires skills like "social work," "patients," "mental health," and "substance abuse prevention." But a fire observer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "sme," "fire training," "air support," and "cas."
In general, fire observers achieve lower levels of education than prevention specialists. They're 10.2% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Prevention specialist vs. Fire warden
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a prevention specialist is likely to be skilled in "social work," "patients," "mental health," and "substance abuse prevention," while a typical fire warden is skilled in "fire protection," "hazardous materials," "fire hazards," and "firefighting."
Fire wardens typically earn lower educational levels compared to prevention specialists. Specifically, they're 5.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Prevention specialist vs. Environmental protection fire control officer
Updated January 8, 2025
