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What does a student development advisor do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read

The role of a student development advisor involves giving advice to students. Student development advisors aid and guide students in defining and developing realistic educational career plans. They prepare their schedules every quarter of the school year while monitoring the progress of their graduation. The advisors are expected to be knowledgeable, timely, and organized, positive, and encouraging. Also, they serve as students' role models who aim for their success in academics.

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Student development advisor responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real student development advisor resumes:

  • Design, document, develop, test, install, support and automate ETL applications.
  • Manage UAFS's F-1/J-1 student visa SEVIS compliance as DSO/ARO, ensuring all documentation is in order prior to students arriving.
  • Design interactive websites using HTML with CSS for styling and JavaScript for adding working functionality.
  • Apply HTML and CSS fundamentals and best practices.
  • Include images using Google API.
  • Utilize CSS to design web pages.
  • Develop android reflections to get the silent installation of the apk feature.
  • Implement conversion logic to convert the XML content to the HTML content for better rendering.
  • Design a windows developer guide through which user will be able to develop windows applications from the scratch.
  • Work as a student developer under the GIS department on an internal web-base project utilizing AngularJS and PHP.
  • Involve in building, configuring, deploying abd's to application and testing team in windows and UNIX environment.
  • Help setup automatic deployment hooks as well as a Jenkins CI server to push the development team towards continuous integration.
  • Handle daily operations, NodeJS which can entail anything from client relations to working on AngularJS the project at hand.
  • Develop the message transfer-communication channel in Java.
  • Develop young alumni marketing and solicitation plan that increase participation.

Student development advisor skills and personality traits

We calculated that 21% of Student Development Advisors are proficient in C++, Java, and API. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Interpersonal skills, and Listening skills.

We break down the percentage of Student Development Advisors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • C++, 21%

    Developed seismic data IO libraries as one of the base development components for C and C++ programmers.

  • Java, 16%

    Performed Regression Testing on new enhancements/modifications by creating scripts in Java on Selenium.

  • API, 6%

    Developed custom API to integrate data and charting functionality into web applications.

  • Python, 6%

    Designed and implemented the early stages of a Python application to automate the scheduling and assignment of courses to classrooms.

  • Application Development, 5%

    Expanded upon quality assurance and laboratory experience by attending challenging courses in computer application development and advanced Windows tools.

  • JavaScript, 3%

    Created a personal portfolio and blog website using C#, MVC5 and JavaScript.

Most student development advisors use their skills in "c++," "java," and "api" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential student development advisor responsibilities here:

Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a student development advisor to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "school and career counselors and advisors interpret student records, schoolwide data, and assessments to match interests and abilities with potential careers. ." Student development advisors often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "worked with databases using xml, xslt, java and sql. "

Interpersonal skills. Another essential skill to perform student development advisor duties is interpersonal skills. Student development advisors responsibilities require that "school and career counselors and advisors must be able to work with people of all backgrounds and personalities." Student development advisors also use interpersonal skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "developed strong organizational skills gained thorough understanding in event planning and handling liability forms strong interpersonal communication skills"

Listening skills. This is an important skill for student development advisors to perform their duties. For an example of how student development advisor responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "school and career counselors and advisors need to give full attention to students and clients in order to understand their problems." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a student development advisor: "designed and developed web applications developed java applications and .net applications (with angularjs) communicated and worked closely with clients".

Speaking skills. A big part of what student development advisors do relies on "speaking skills." You can see how essential it is to student development advisor responsibilities because "school and career counselors and advisors must communicate effectively with clients and students." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical student development advisor tasks: "represented operating company in enterprise wide hr projects and initiatives( e.g. "

See the full list of student development advisor skills

The three companies that hire the most student development advisors are:

Compare different student development advisors

Student development advisor vs. Job coach

A job coach is responsible for evaluating people's skills and qualifications, advising them with career paths, helping with their aspirations, and promote employment opportunities. Job coaches help the clients build self-confidence and explore their maximum potentials to develop their professional growth. They provide counseling, understanding the clients' strengths and weaknesses, analyzing clients' personal goals, and guiding clients through job interviews and assessments. A job coach must have excellent communication, listening, and analytical skills to handle their clients' challenges and match their interests for the best career suited for them.

The annual salary of job coaches is $65,956 lower than the average salary of student development advisors.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a student development advisor are more likely to require skills like "c++," "c #," "java," and "api." On the other hand, a job as a job coach requires skills like "developmental disabilities," "cpr," "rehabilitation," and "customer service." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Job coaches tend to make the most money working in the education industry, where they earn an average salary of $38,362. In contrast, student development advisors make the biggest average salary, $106,485, in the health care industry.The education levels that job coaches earn slightly differ from student development advisors. In particular, job coaches are 8.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a student development advisor. Additionally, they're 2.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Student development advisor vs. Education consultant

An education consultant is responsible for providing educational assistance to learning institutions or a private household setting. Educational consultants develop strategies to improve a student's learning approach and academic standing. They also assist with the implementation of the learning curriculum, suggesting plans and revisions to meet students' competencies and the instructors' teaching styles. Educational consultants evaluate learning materials, school's operational data, and educational training and programs to ensure adherence to federal standards. An education consultant must have excellent communication skills, as well as expertise in the education industry to perform duties efficiently.

Education consultant positions earn lower pay than student development advisor roles. They earn a $23,720 lower salary than student development advisors per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both student development advisors and education consultants have skills such as "data analysis," "business development," and "technical assistance. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, student development advisor responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "c++," "c #," "java," and "api." Meanwhile, an education consultant has duties that require skills in areas such as "excellent interpersonal," "classroom management," "curriculum development," and "mathematics." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

On average, education consultants earn a lower salary than student development advisors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, education consultants earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $96,551. Whereas student development advisors have higher pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $106,485.education consultants earn higher levels of education than student development advisors in general. They're 9.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Student development advisor vs. College program internship

A college program intern is responsible for performing actual duties and observations within the industry of choice. Typically, a college program intern works under the supervision of tenured staff, shadowing on the workflow processes, gaining feedback to refine skills, developing work ethics, and building self-confidence. College program interns may also assist in innovating strategic procedures to maximize productivity and improve processes. In some cases, organizations absorb an intern with the highest potential to deliver the best results towards the company's long-term goals and objectives.

An average college program internship eans a lower salary compared to the average salary of student development advisors. The difference in salaries amounts to college program interns earning a $68,525 lower average salary than student development advisors.By looking over several student development advisors and college program interns resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "hr," "html," and "professional development." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, student development advisors are more likely to have skills like "c++," "c #," "java," and "api." But a college program internship is more likely to have skills like "math," "twitter," "customer service," and "guest safety."

College program interns earn the best pay in the media industry, where they command an average salary of $35,108. Student development advisors earn the highest pay from the health care industry, with an average salary of $106,485.Most college program interns achieve a lower degree level compared to student development advisors. For example, they're 12.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 2.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Student development advisor vs. Education internship

An education intern is responsible for assisting class activities, teaching students with various learning methodologies under a head instructor's supervision. Education interns create comprehensive lesson plans subject for the teacher's review and develop engaging activities and learning materials to create an active learning environment to monitor the students' personal and social development. They assist the students with their needs, such as identifying their areas of improvement, planning strategies to address those difficulties, and strictly adhering to the school policies.

Education interns typically earn lower pay than student development advisors. On average, education interns earn a $68,748 lower salary per year.While both student development advisors and education interns complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like professional development, event planning, and powerpoint, the two careers vary in some skills.While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "c++," "c #," "java," and "api" are skills that commonly show up on student development advisor resumes. On the other hand, education interns use skills like education programs, classroom management, curriculum development, and community outreach on their resumes.The government industry tends to pay the highest salaries for education interns, with average annual pay of $43,410. Comparatively, the highest student development advisor annual salary comes from the health care industry.The average resume of education interns showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to student development advisors. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 5.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 2.0%.

Types of student development advisor

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
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.

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