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Student advisor skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Nicolle Zellner (on behalf of members of the CSWA),

Dr. Sally Childs

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical student advisor skills. We ranked the top skills for student advisors based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 16.2% of student advisor resumes contained customer service as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a student advisor needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 student advisor skills for your resume and career

1. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how student advisors use customer service:

Received national recognition award DeVry Legacy of Service for outstanding customer service and customer relationship management at Kansas City in 2009.
Developed curriculum and taught classes in personal and professional development, business communications, office procedures, and customer service.

2. Student Services

Here's how student advisors use student services:

Prepared and analyzed semester reports on student services usage for budgetary allocation.
Provide student services related information to new and currently enrolled students.

3. International Student

Here's how student advisors use international student:

Interviewed and advised prospective international students; guided applicants through the application process, reviewed admission files and made admission decisions.
Assisted Associate Director in managing a high-volume office that delivered immigration advising and provided services to 3000+ international students at ASU.

4. Support Services

Support services are services that support the organization internally and are usually non-revenue generating. Examples include, IT, admin, HR, etc.

Here's how student advisors use support services:

Maintained open communication, established and built relationships, and provided personalized support services to first generation college students.
Work collaboratively to implement successful student support services and strategies to improve student satisfaction, retention and graduation rate.

5. Financial Aid

Financial aid refers to cash released to an educational institution to help a student pay the school fee. The issuance of financial aid, whether scholarships, grants, or loans, aims to make access to education affordable to all students irrespective of their backgrounds.

Here's how student advisors use financial aid:

Provide academic and financial aid advisement to new and continuing students throughout their academic program until graduation.
Coordinated educational efforts with teachers and administrators Provided financial aid and scholarship information to parents.

6. Professional Development

Professional development means to have the essential training certification or education with the purpose of earning and having a successful career. Every job requires a different set of skills. However, new skills may be needed in the future. Professional development, in this regard, helps people to develop and polish the skills and become efficient workers.

Here's how student advisors use professional development:

Helped create a professional development mentoring program to assist incoming freshmen students with adjusting to college.
Conducted student mock interviews, performed resume critiques, and led professional development workshops

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7. SEVIS

Here's how student advisors use sevis:

Report F-1 student status in Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) to comply with federal requirements.
Updated and maintained student records in the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System (SEVIS) database.

8. Academic Support

Academic support is the assistance granted to students on top of the regular teaching in the classroom.

Here's how student advisors use academic support:

Advised students on college admission requirements and provided academic support using study skills.
Researched current literature regarding online supplemental material in physiology for academic support.

9. PowerPoint

Here's how student advisors use powerpoint:

Worked on special projects including updating and editing PowerPoint presentations, compiling metric and measurement reports.
Designed and implemented PowerPoint presentations about all humanities majors/minors.

10. Student Life

Student life refers to the way of living of a student in college, school, or any other educational institute. It involves managing friendships and other relationships, extracurricular and sports activities, and education.

Here's how student advisors use student life:

Researched, recommended, developed, and implemented departmental programs and activities in conjunction with Student Life and campus administration.
Advised and aided students in course registration, general education requirements, and student life information

11. Student Retention

Here's how student advisors use student retention:

Created and implemented new methods of communication to improve student retention.
Increased student retention by developing and maintaining student relationship.

12. DSO

Here's how student advisors use dso:

Serve as the Designated School Officer (DSO) responsible for interpreting and enforcing immigration regulations for all F-1 students.
Serve as alternate DSO Officer to assist with processing of F1 and J1 students.

13. Student Accounts

Here's how student advisors use student accounts:

Resolved accounts receivable balances on student accounts and communicating with students on collection efforts.
Identified potential bottlenecks while checking accuracy of student accounts and ledgers.

14. Federal Regulations

Federal regulations refer to the set of rules, both general and permanent that are published in the Federal Register by the agencies of the federal government and the executive departments. Federal regulations are the large body of rules that govern federal practice. Examples of these laws include taxes and financial regulation, discrimination law, wages law, and so on.

Here's how student advisors use federal regulations:

Ensured compliance with federal regulations and university policies.
Followed all Federal regulations and Universities polices.

15. F-1

Here's how student advisors use f-1:

Ensured compliance with government policies/regulations, applicable to F-1 student enrollments.
Review and determine eligibility of prospective students, grant admission and issue immigration documents necessary to maintain the F-1 student Visa.

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What skills help Student Advisors find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What type of skills will young student advisors need?

Nicolle Zellner (on behalf of members of the CSWA)

Chair, Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy - CSWA

I believe (hope) that the effects of the pandemic will be short-lived and that there will be a surge in job opportunities once a vaccine is available. Nevertheless, greater flexibility and versatility in skills are always useful. For example, astronomers who have analyzed large data sets or worked with machine learning algorithms will be in significant demand.

Interdisciplinary studies are also on the rise. New fields like astrobiology are rapidly growing, and there are ripe potentials for researchers with unique combinations of expertise or who can work with broad collaborations spanning disciplines.

With the growth of data, especially from large astronomical surveys, technical skills like computer programming and experience with data science tools and machine learning is increasingly useful. The ability to communicate complex ideas to a range of audiences is a necessity in most fields, and astronomers generally have great relevant experience with community outreach.

What soft skills should all student advisors possess?

Dr. Sally Childs

Faculty/Advisor Parks and Recreation Degree, Lake Superior State University

Some of the most essential skills that will be necessary for professionals in this field to be successful are frequently identified as "soft skills." These skills are often difficult to quantify. Regardless of the setting, professionals working in this field need to be very comfortable working with all people of all ages and abilities. Communication skills are essential; active listening, patience, tolerance, and being able to present a non-threatening, non-judgemental demeanor has a strong positive impact on being able to successfully respond to visitor/client needs and wants. Problem solving is essential. Being task oriented but concurrently, being able to easily deviate from routine is important. Professionals in this field frequently need to make decisions without having immediate access to supervisors. These people need to be very aware of agency goals, policies and protocols and be confident in their ability to independently represent these through their behavior and the behavior that they encourage/enforce in others. The "hard skills" that are required will depend in part on the particular job/agency/setting. Computer and IT skills will be essential for everyone, although there certainly will be a fair amount of latitude regarding the degree of expertise required. Basic construction skills; plumbing, framing, concrete, and electrical will be an asset for anyone working in a park or an area that has been even moderately developed for outdoor recreation purposes. Mechanical skills, everything from small engine repair all the way to vehicle upkeep and maintenance will also be a skill set which is in demand. A basic understanding of the requirements for maintaining a healthy resource base; forestry, watersheds, ecosystems, wildlife habitat, will also be necessary for professionals managing everything from campgrounds to wilderness areas. Many Parks have a strong historical and or cultural component. Facilitation and Interpretation skills will be needed if the professional chooses this portion of the Parks and Recreation continuum. If the professional is intent on becoming an instructor or guide, then whatever technical skills are associated with "best practices" in that particular activity will be essential. It is also likely that they would be expected to be credentialed in Wilderness First Aid, and other backcountry "survival and safety" skills. Law enforcement skills are also in demand in parks and recreation settings.

Do you want to know more?

List of student advisor skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a student advisor resume and required skills for a student advisor to have include:

Customer Service
Student Services
International Student
Support Services
Financial Aid
Professional Development
SEVIS
Academic Support
PowerPoint
Student Life
Student Retention
DSO
Student Accounts
Federal Regulations
F-1
Course Selection
Student Organizations

FERPA
Course Registration
Community Resources
Student Issues
Academic Programs
Front Desk
USCIS
Immigration Regulations
Title IV
Conflict Resolution
Career Planning
I-20
Academic Policies
Community Services
Student Body
Academic Probation
Student Inquiries

Educational Programs
Student Attendance
J-1
Mathematics
Academic Issues
Student Satisfaction
OPT
Student Government
Academic Performance
Outbound Calls
DHS
Crisis Intervention
Social Justice
FAFSA
ESL
Academic Plan

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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