How to hire a student services advisor

How to hire a student services advisor, step by step

Here's a step-by-step student services advisor hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a student services advisor job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new student services advisor
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a student services advisor do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the student services advisor you need to hire. Certain student services advisor roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A student services advisor's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, student services advisors from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   The following list breaks down different types of student services advisors and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Student Services Advisor	Description	Hourly rate
   Student Services Advisor	School counselors help students develop academic and social skills and succeed in school. Career counselors assist people with the process of making career decisions by helping them develop skills or choose a career or educational program.	$15-26
   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... Show more	$14-21
   Admissions Representative	As the name entails, admissions representatives assist prospective and new students attending a university. They give these students the information they need to make a well-informed decision regarding enrollment, make admissions decisions, and review documents... Show more	$11-28

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Student Services
   • Financial Aid
   • Customer Service
   • Academic Programs
   • Student Events
   • Support Services
   • Student Retention
   • Student Accounts
   • FERPA
   • Student Issues
   • Community Resources
   • Academic Policies
   • Course Selection
   • International Student

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Coach and mentore students in determining optimal course of study to achieve specific career performance goals and certifications.
   • Adhere to and comply with FERPA guidelines and confidentiality.
   • Have the ability to call, email and meet students and family members face to face under FERPA regulations.
   • Partner with ESL schools and community colleges for international student transfers, enhancing international student community standing within the larger population.
   • Preform transcript evaluations and calculate GPA requirements to identify general education course needs.
   • Evaluate transcripts from other academic institutions for equivalencies, calculate GPA's, and analyze graduation eligibility.

   More student services advisor duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the student services advisor job description is a good way to get more applicants. A student services advisor salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a student services advisor in Alabama may be lower than in New York, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level student services advisor. Additionally, a student services advisor with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average student services advisor salary

   $43,039yearly

   $20.69 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level student services advisor salary

   $33,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 14, 2025

   Average student services advisor salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	District of Columbia	$57,911	$28
   2	Massachusetts	$53,515	$26
   3	California	$53,102	$26
   4	New York	$52,661	$25
   5	Washington	$48,610	$23
   6	Ohio	$48,418	$23
   7	Texas	$44,507	$21
   8	Wisconsin	$43,586	$21
   9	Virginia	$43,149	$21
   10	Utah	$38,489	$19
   11	Arizona	$37,494	$18
   12	Indiana	$37,404	$18
   13	Colorado	$36,279	$17
   14	North Carolina	$36,020	$17
   15	Georgia	$35,091	$17
   16	Florida	$35,010	$17
   17	Alabama	$33,450	$16

   Average student services advisor salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Cleveland Institute of Music	$66,403	$31.92
   2	Strategic Education	$60,839	$29.25
   3	University of California	$52,968	$25.47	15
   4	Tenet Healthcare	$52,957	$25.46	58
   5	University of Southern California	$52,287	$25.14	24
   6	UCI Health	$52,184	$25.09	1
   7	Harvard University	$50,168	$24.12
   8	University of California-Berkeley	$49,980	$24.03
   9	UC Santa Barbara	$49,271	$23.69
   10	Georgetown University	$48,766	$23.45	10
   11	Syracuse University	$47,320	$22.75	7
   12	The University System of Maryland Foundation	$47,285	$22.73
   13	STG International	$46,538	$22.37
   14	Wilmington University	$45,569	$21.91	1
   15	North Monterey County Unified School District	$44,233	$21.27
   16	Western Oregon University	$44,050	$21.18	2
   17	PSEA	$43,435	$20.88	13
   18	Unitek Learning	$43,080	$20.71	21
   19	Education Works	$41,800	$20.10
   20	Seattle Pacific University	$41,528	$19.97

4. Writing a student services advisor job description

   A good student services advisor job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a student services advisor job description:

   Student services advisor job description example

   Senior Nursing Student, Service Resource, PRN, Nights BSA Health System is an extensive hospital system providing clinical excellence to the Texas Panhandle and the tri-state area. BSA is acclaimed for its superior quality and customer service.
   
   *Excellent opportunity for a senior level nursing student (Level 3, Level 4, Senior 1, Senior 2) to gain experience and a working knowledge of the overall hospital as part of the Resource team*
   
   
   Responsibilities
   
   The Patient Care Technician provides basic patient care under nursing supervision and observes the patients' progress to report to the licensed nursing staff (RN and LVN's). The PCT will assist with patient care and comfort, hygiene and ADL's (Activities of Daily Living) including bed baths and/or showers, restroom assistance, nutrition/eating, obtain vital signs, and collect specimens for lab test. The PCT provides linen changes and basic housekeeping as needed for the patient, mobility, transport, and ensures patient safety with prompt response to patient request and call lights.
   
   Patient coverage assignments are 10 - 15 patients per PCT based on unit census with some 1:1 patient coverage assignments as needed. The PCT will assist with the management and flow of the unit by assisting with admits, discharges, transfer/transport patients, electronic patient documentation, answers telephones, collect and delivers specimens.
   
   The Resource team staff of Patient Care Technicians will primarily float to the medical surgical units of the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th floors.
   
   Qualifications
   
   Licenses and Certifications:
   Minimum 18-yrs of age
   High School diploma or GED preferred
   CPR certified from the American Heart Association or American Red Cross Qualifications/Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:
   Previous hospital based Patient Care Assistant/Tech., Medical Assistant, EMT-B and/or CNA preferred but not required
   Texas CNA certificate; current or previously held in good standing
   Nursing students all levels
   Acute care setting of patient drains, tubes, and specimen collection
   Acute care setting of infection control protocols
   Able to pass the BSA Acute Care Technical Skills Competency to include but not limited to: Manual Blood Pressure,
   I & O Calculation, Measure Height and Weight, Glucose Monitoring
   Ability to recognize important patient observations and communicate it to the appropriate team member
   Ability to manipulate, position, transfer and ambulate various size patients both full assist or partial assist
   Basic addition and subtraction skills required
   Computer skills necessary; minimum 25wpm accurate EMR EPIC documentation
   Medical terminology a plus
   Prioritize multiple requests
   Ability to multi-task constantly and tolerate multiple interruptions
   Clear and effective communication (written and verbal) with patients, families and other healthcare professionals
   Outgoing; friendly and compassionate customer service skills needed; must be committed to patient and family satisfaction

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find student services advisors for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your student services advisor job on Zippia to find and recruit student services advisor candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting student services advisors requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new student services advisor

   Once you've decided on a perfect student services advisor candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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