How To Become A Residential Assistant: What It Is and Career Path

What is a residential assistant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

You would normally find residential assistants working in dormitories and campus communities. Their job is to oversee the living conditions of students/residents. They do this by carrying out regular surveillance checks, repairing and maintain facilities, and responding to queries and concerns from residents. Residential assistants also organize activities and programs that they consider to be beneficial to students, especially in adjusting to the new environment. It is your responsibility to ensure the safety and welfare of all residents by securing the environment and establishing ground rules and regulations. This makes it your job to also ensure that the policies and regulations of the establishment are adhered to. The most commonly required educational level for residential assistants is a bachelor's degree. Employers usually require work experience in similar fields. Excellent verbal and non-verbal communication skills, organizational skills, and crisis management are highly rated skills for candidates. The average residential assistant earns $27,000 yearly.

ScoreResidential AssistantUS Average

Salary

2.4

Avg. Salary $30,918

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.9

Growth rate 12%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.63%

Asian 7.15%

Black or African American 12.22%

Hispanic or Latino 16.16%

Unknown 4.68%

White 58.17%

Gender

female 65.62%

male 34.38%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

8.9

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a residential assistant

Explore residential assistant education requirements

Most common residential assistant degrees

Bachelor's

52.9 %

Associate

17.0 %

High School Diploma

16.1 %

Start to develop specific residential assistant skills

Skills	Percentages
Direct Care	13.13%
Developmental Disabilities	11.68%
Mental Health	9.33%
Meal Preparation	9.31%
Patients	7.79%

Complete relevant residential assistant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New residential assistants 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 a residential assistant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real residential assistant resumes.

Research residential assistant duties and responsibilities

Engage, educate and empower participants to access community base resources in order to achieve greater self-determination, rehabilitation and recovery.
Ensure the safety and well being of all inpatient residents, following standards learned in training, certify in CPR.
Assist children with disabilities with ADL's, activities, education, employment, medication administration and integration into the community.
Assist clients with ADL's including but not limit to brushing teeth, bed bath, shaving, nail care etc.

Prepare your residential assistant resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable residential assistant resume templates

Build a professional residential assistant 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 residential assistant resume.