What does a resource specialist do?
A resource specialist is responsible for teaching students with learning difficulties and special needs, providing them with comprehensive educational materials and learning strategies for academic success. Resource specialists follow a specific curriculum adhering to the personal and educational development of the students, recording their progress by administering evaluations through individual and group assessments. They also conduct one-on-one counseling for the students to identify their needs, hone in on their strengths, manage their weaknesses, and develop their career aspirations.
Resource specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real resource specialist resumes:
- Facilitate development of veterans individual rehabilitation plans, which provide purpose, organization and empowerment to achieve life goals.
- Provide ADL's for all the clients.
- Operate, troubleshoot, and provide basic maintenance for printers, copy and fax machines, phone system and PC's.
- Initiate new district-wide adoption of computerize IEP development.
- Work with CMS contractors to resolve necessary eligibility discrepancies.
- Search electronic subscription interface to monitor and troubleshoot access problems.
- Maintain knowledge of Medicare and Medicaid guidelines regarding eligibility requirements, coverage of services and conditions of participation.
- Assist individuals with applications for benefit programs including Illinois Medicaid, Medicare open enrollment, and prescription drug programs.
- Coordinate referrals to partial hospitalization programs or alternative levels of care by providing documentation to support patients' clinical needs.
- Collaborate with interdisciplinary team regarding a new hospital initiative to identify high risk patients and ensure proper follow up post hospitalization.
- Collaborate with team to provide intensive services such as food, shelter, and employment to educationally or economically disadvantage veterans.
- Collaborate with community leaders, organizations and public agencies to promote the CIS.
- Provide oversight to assure that non-profit agencies participating as sponsors in SFSP are compliant with all USDA regulations and policy memos.
- Complete daily documentation following Medicaid and HIPAA policy guidelines
- Major responsibilities include POS system configuration and maintenance.
Resource specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 16% of Resource Specialists are proficient in Patients, Customer Service, and Social Work. They’re also known for soft skills such as Critical-thinking skills, Leadership skills, and Time-management skills.
We break down the percentage of Resource Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 16%
Collaborated with interdisciplinary team regarding a new hospital initiative to identify high risk patients and ensure proper follow up post hospitalization.
- Customer Service, 13%
Provide customer service to claimant by offering absence information and answering questions regarding their rights and responsibilities.
- Social Work, 10%
Developed professional skills assisting a Masters-level social worker.
- Community Resources, 6%
Identified needs for additional social services and referred individuals to various private or public agencies and referrals to available community resources.
- Professional Development, 5%
Developed and on-demand professional development and daily support on software and hardware for Macintosh and Promethean technology.
- Mental Health, 3%
Provided discharge referrals and/or alternate placement in a mental health or substance abuse facility for further evaluation ensuring continuing care.
"patients," "customer service," and "social work" are among the most common skills that resource specialists use at work. You can find even more resource specialist responsibilities below, including:
Critical-thinking skills. The most essential soft skill for a resource specialist to carry out their responsibilities is critical-thinking skills. This skill is important for the role because "natural sciences managers must carefully evaluate the work of others." Additionally, a resource specialist resume shows how their duties depend on critical-thinking skills: "implemented a full spectrum of quality nursing care to a variety of patients utilizing nursing education and critical-thinking skills. "
Leadership skills. Many resource specialist duties rely on leadership skills. "natural sciences managers must be able to organize, direct, and motivate others," so a resource specialist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways resource specialist responsibilities rely on leadership skills: "facilitated classes in reading, remedial mathematics and english language, and leadership. "
Time-management skills. resource specialists are also known for time-management skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to resource specialist responsibilities, because "natural sciences managers must be able to perform multiple administrative, supervisory, and technical tasks while ensuring that projects remain on schedule." A resource specialist resume example shows how time-management skills is used in the workplace: "organized and maintained email inbox to meet deadlines as specified by management to meet company and customer service level agreements. "
Interpersonal skills. A big part of what resource specialists do relies on "interpersonal skills." You can see how essential it is to resource specialist responsibilities because "natural sciences managers lead research teams and therefore need to work well with others in order to reach common goals." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical resource specialist tasks: "enhance student's interpersonal skills or standards through individualized educational programs or iep's. "
Communication skills. A commonly-found skill in resource specialist job descriptions, "communication skills" is essential to what resource specialists do. Resource specialist responsibilities rely on this skill because "natural sciences managers must be able to communicate clearly with a variety of audiences, such as scientists, policymakers, and the public." You can also see how resource specialist duties rely on communication skills in this resume example: "maintain daily communication and coordination with the department of social services to place families in subsidized programs. "
Problem-solving skills. Another skill commonly found on resource specialist job descriptions is "problem-solving skills." It can come up quite often in resource specialist duties, since "natural sciences managers use scientific observation and analysis to find answers to complex technical questions." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day resource specialist responsibilities: "resolved concerns of customers calling in to customer service hotline of sc johnson. "
The three companies that hire the most resource specialists are:
- CDM Smith254 resource specialists jobs
- Deloitte195 resource specialists jobs
- Oregon Health & Science University17 resource specialists jobs
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Compare different resource specialists
Resource specialist vs. Senior hydrogeologist
A senior water resources engineer is an individual who is in-charged in supervising, planning, and implementing project management ideas for stormwater. His/Her or her roles also include establishing business relationships, analyzing the quality of water, and preparing contracts and project cost estimates. The core skills for the position include excellent leadership, communication, and time management skills and proficiency in project management and civil engineering. The job's education requirements include a degree in civil or environmental engineering.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between resource specialists and senior hydrogeologist. For instance, resource specialist responsibilities require skills such as "patients," "customer service," "social work," and "community resources." Whereas a senior hydrogeologist is skilled in "osha," "regulatory agencies," "groundwater flow," and "technical support." This is part of what separates the two careers.
The education levels that senior hydrogeologists earn slightly differ from resource specialists. In particular, senior hydrogeologists are 13.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a resource specialist. Additionally, they're 0.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Resource specialist vs. Senior water resources engineer
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that resource specialist responsibilities requires skills like "patients," "customer service," "social work," and "community resources." But a senior water resources engineer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "hec ras," "project management," "civil engineering," and "hec-ras."
Senior water resources engineers earn similar levels of education than resource specialists in general. They're 4.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for resource specialists in the next 3-5 years?
Yan Ciupak Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Northern Michigan University
Resource specialist vs. Water resources business segment leader
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, resource specialists are more likely to have skills like "patients," "customer service," "social work," and "community resources." But a water resources business segment leader is more likely to have skills like "management process," "product initiatives," "financial estimates," and "fema."
Most water resources business segment leaders achieve a higher degree level compared to resource specialists. For example, they're 24.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.8% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Resource specialist vs. Water resources program director
Even though a few skill sets overlap between resource specialists and water resources program directors, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a resource specialist might have more use for skills like "patients," "customer service," "social work," and "community resources." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of water resources program directors require skills like "care program," "environmental policy," "cwa," and "environmental quality. "
In general, water resources program directors hold higher degree levels compared to resource specialists. Water resources program directors are 8.4% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 4.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of resource specialist
Updated January 8, 2025
