What does a residential advisor do?
Residential advisors are responsible for coordinating activities in various residential buildings and facilities, such as group homes and dormitories. They perform various tasks that include ordering supplies, determining the need for maintenance and repair, and assigning rooms. Residential advisors may help residents with solving their problems or connect them to counseling services or resources. Also, they are responsible for providing first aid or seeking medical assistance in times of emergency, and mediating conflicts between residents. They are also expected to implement rules and regulations for the orderly and smooth operation of residential facilities.
Residential advisor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real residential advisor resumes:
- Engage, educate and empower participants to access community base resources in order to achieve greater self-determination, rehabilitation and recovery.
- Assist medical and clinical staff who cares for patients admit to a residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility.
- Help with activities of daily life, such as groceries shopping.
- Check mail, shopping for groceries and handling and maintaining individual's money.
- Provide training and administer first aid and emergency medical procedures, such as CPR.
- Lead staff member on cottage and assume cottage manager duties when RAS is not present.
- Insure that all fire exits are free from obstruction as required by FDNY and DHS.
- Certify to provide emergency first aid or CPR to clients and summon medical assistance when necessary.
- Serve as relief staff for the rover pool supervisor coordinatinting and scheduling staff for call-in and open shifts.
- Encourage compassion and empathy in assisting clients with issues present on a daily basis involving physical or emotional issues.
- Plan activities, daily logs, observe & record behaviors, filing, escort to Dr. appointments and ADL's.
- Patrol and monitor dormitories and center as required ensuring safety and proper behavior of students; resolving potential or occurring problems.
- Distribute DHS notifications to residents.
- Receive maximum evaluation and raise due to his integrity and dependability.
- Demonstrate dependability and loyalty by volunteering off-duty time to assist school with various activities
Residential advisor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Residential Advisors are proficient in Patrol, Substance Abuse, and Behavior Management. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Residential Advisors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patrol, 10%
Patrol halls, bathrooms, and dorm area for accurate account for that area.
- Substance Abuse, 8%
Provided supervision and guidance in solving substance abuse related problems of students enrolled.
- Behavior Management, 7%
Facilitate and implement state-wide programs that address behavioral issues, drug education, and behavior management.
- Intellectual Disabilities, 6%
Provided life-skills training and support to adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities, including extensive one-on-one coaching for enhanced independent living.
- Direct Care, 6%
Job Duties: Direct care of clients living in a residential treatment facility specializing in chemical dependency/psychiatric disorders.
- Independent Living, 5%
Provided individualized case management to maintain student success; career counseling, homework assistance, independent living skills.
"patrol," "substance abuse," and "behavior management" are among the most common skills that residential advisors use at work. You can find even more residential advisor responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a residential advisor to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "social and human service assistants talk with clients about the challenges in their lives and assist them in getting help." Additionally, a residential advisor resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "provide a positive role model for residents to follow in the areas of communications, decision-making, and problem solving. "
Compassion. Many residential advisor duties rely on compassion. "social and human service assistants often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations," so a residential advisor will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways residential advisor responsibilities rely on compassion: "work compassionately and responsibly with individuals diagnosed with developmental disabilities. "
Organizational skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of residential advisors is organizational skills. This skill is critical to many everyday residential advisor duties, as "social and human service assistants must often complete lots of paperwork and work with many different clients." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "execute programing activities, organized up to 300 residents into educational programs, gained organizational skills. "
Problem-solving skills. For certain residential advisor responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "problem-solving skills." The day-to-day duties of a residential advisor rely on this skill, as "social and human service assistants help clients find solutions to their problems." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what residential advisors do: "resolved conflicts and emergency situations followed with detailed reports to superiors. "
Time-management skills. A commonly-found skill in residential advisor job descriptions, "time-management skills" is essential to what residential advisors do. Residential advisor responsibilities rely on this skill because "social and human service assistants often work with many clients." You can also see how residential advisor duties rely on time-management skills in this resume example: "educated trainees on life skills: professionalism, independent living, emotional self-regulation, and time-management. "
Interpersonal skills. While "interpersonal skills" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to residential advisor responsibilities. Much of what a residential advisor does relies on this skill, seeing as "social and human service assistants must make their clients feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of residential advisors: "utilized cna, cpr, first aid, cpi, problem solving, delegation, and interpersonal skills. "
The three companies that hire the most residential advisors are:
- Trinity Health61 residential advisors jobs
- Management & Training39 residential advisors jobs
- Pico de Gallo
20 residential advisors jobs
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Compare different residential advisors
Residential advisor vs. Day camp counselor
The job of the camp counselors is to develop recreational plans and oversee camp activities in residential camps. Their duties and responsibilities include organizing camping trips, planning and scheduling group activities, and guiding children and teenagers in various outdoor activities such as swimming and hiking. They are expected to lead campers in emergency procedures and fire drills, explain safety rules and procedures, and provide emotional support to campers. Camp counselors are also responsible for assessing and responding to emergencies when they arise.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a residential advisor are more likely to require skills like "patrol," "independent living," "mental health," and "dependability." On the other hand, a job as a day camp counselor requires skills like "kids," "cleanliness," "pet," and "leadership." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Day camp counselors really shine in the education industry with an average salary of $34,530. Comparatively, residential advisors tend to make the most money in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $40,173.The education levels that day camp counselors earn slightly differ from residential advisors. In particular, day camp counselors are 2.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a residential advisor. Additionally, they're 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Residential advisor vs. Youth counselor
A Youth Counselor's role is to provide guidance and interact with children or teenagers in need of care and counseling. The duty of a Youth Counselor is diverse, and it highly depends on the organization or employer. However, the responsibilities mostly revolve around establishing rapport with the youngster while trying to work on their issues, ensuring their welfare by monitoring their emotional and physical state, coordinating with families or other facilities, suggesting treatments, and performing crisis intervention if necessary.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real residential advisor resumes. While residential advisor responsibilities can utilize skills like "patrol," "intellectual disabilities," "dependability," and "stress management," youth counselors use skills like "social work," "necessary paperwork," "behavioral issues," and "direct supervision."
On average, youth counselors earn a higher salary than residential advisors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, youth counselors earn the most pay in the professional industry with an average salary of $38,048. Whereas residential advisors have higher pay in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $40,173.youth counselors earn similar levels of education than residential advisors in general. They're 1.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Residential advisor vs. House parent
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a residential advisor is likely to be skilled in "patrol," "substance abuse," "intellectual disabilities," and "behavior modification," while a typical house parent is skilled in "foster care," "child care," "foster children," and "behavioral issues."
Most house parents achieve a similar degree level compared to residential advisors. For example, they're 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Residential advisor vs. Associate dean of person
Even though a few skill sets overlap between residential advisors and associate dean of people, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a residential advisor might have more use for skills like "patrol," "substance abuse," "behavior management," and "intellectual disabilities." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of associate dean of people require skills like "pos," "customer service," "sales floor," and "emergency calls. "
Associate dean of people reach similar levels of education compared to residential advisors, in general. The difference is that they're 3.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 4.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of residential advisor
Updated January 8, 2025
