What does a transition specialist do?
In learning institutions, a transition specialist is primarily in charge of providing career advice to students, guiding them in their journey for career growth. It is their duty to conduct interviews to identify the students' career goals, conduct skills assessments, research career opportunities for students, and refer them to programs or services, assisting them in the documentation procedures. Furthermore, as a transition specialist, it is essential to build rapport with students and other clients, encouraging them to pursue their short and long-term goals.
Transition specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real transition specialist resumes:
- Manage incoming/outgoing referrals and some ICD-9 medical coding.
- Provide job site assessment and training in collaboration with vocational rehabilitation counselor for follow-up.
- Refer students to community resources for financial, medical, educational, and rehabilitation services.
- Complete daily progress notes in medical record per ISP and pertinent events.
- Collaborate with clinicians to ensure patients receive recommended products prior to discharge.
- Support patients residing in psychiatric hospital settings to successfully transition into the community.
- Determine eligibility, maintain accurate files according to HUD regulations and generate monthly reports using software dedicate to this agency.
- State, HIPPA, intergovernmental, and etc . )
- Engage with students/parents to educate them about SES and encourage them to enroll.
- Meet with parents of eligible students to educate them of the SES opportunities.
- Assess the transferable skills, aptitudes and medical information of workers disable by an industrial accident or occupational disease.
- Interpret medical reports in relation to functional capacities, perform transferable skills and labor market analyses.
- Complete data entering/gathering tasks in WebCM and MFP websites.
Transition specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 15% of Transition Specialists are proficient in Patients, Customer Service, and Social Work. They’re also known for soft skills such as Organizational skills, Communication skills, and Problem-solving skills.
We break down the percentage of Transition Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 15%
Supported patients residing in psychiatric hospital settings to successfully transition into the community.
- Customer Service, 11%
Contacted railroads customer services for general information regarding train location.
- Social Work, 9%
Prepared necessary reports on offender progress to courts, schools, probation and parole, wardens, and social workers.
- Rehabilitation, 6%
Coordinated services at individual school sites between Department of Rehabilitation and Regional Center for students with disabilities.
- Community Resources, 5%
Provided crisis intervention and connected clients with community resources and referrals.
- Community Agencies, 5%
Served as editor-in-chief for divisional newsletter, and developed training materials specifically designed to assist schools districts and other community agencies.
"patients," "customer service," and "social work" are among the most common skills that transition specialists use at work. You can find even more transition specialist responsibilities below, including:
Organizational skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a transition specialist to have is organizational skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "social and human service assistants must often complete lots of paperwork and work with many different clients." Transition specialists often use organizational skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "earned promotion to mental health caseworker due to advance case management skills and organizational skills. "
Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling transition specialist duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "social and human service assistants talk with clients about the challenges in their lives and assist them in getting help." According to a transition specialist resume, here's how transition specialists can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "job responsibilities use good interpersonal communication skills to gain client cooperation and resolve client conflicts. "
Problem-solving skills. This is an important skill for transition specialists to perform their duties. For an example of how transition specialist responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "social and human service assistants help clients find solutions to their problems." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a transition specialist: "provided crisis intervention, conflict resolution, behavior management and career counseling individually and in groups. ".
Time-management skills. transition specialist responsibilities often require "time-management skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "social and human service assistants often work with many clients." This resume example shows what transition specialists do with time-management skills on a typical day: "ensured state and medicaid deadlines were met and legal paperwork was completed correctly and completely. "
Compassion. A commonly-found skill in transition specialist job descriptions, "compassion" is essential to what transition specialists do. Transition specialist responsibilities rely on this skill because "social and human service assistants often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." You can also see how transition specialist duties rely on compassion in this resume example: "facilitate all incoming inquiries of prospective clients, loved ones and mental health/medical professionals with a sense of urgency and compassion. "
Interpersonal skills. Lastly, "interpersonal skills" is an important element of what a transition specialist does. Transition specialist responsibilities require this skill because "social and human service assistants must make their clients feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues." This resume example highlights how transition specialist duties rely on this skill: "helped to increase productivity of the team skills used organization, interpersonal, customer service, team building"
The three companies that hire the most transition specialists are:
- Indiana State Police6 transition specialists jobs
- Developmental Disabilities Institute, Inc.4 transition specialists jobs
- Magellan Health4 transition specialists jobs
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Compare different transition specialists
Transition specialist vs. Children's program coordinator
A children's program coordinator is someone who develops programs for children and toddlers. The children's program coordinator creates child-centered programs to educate and entertain children and infants. The children's program coordinator evaluates children's participation in such programs, provides support, and works with parents to look after their children. The children's program coordinator also ensures the health and safety of the participants, and connects the kids and parents to various support organizations to resolve issues and problems that may be encountered.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a transition specialist are more likely to require skills like "customer service," "rehabilitation," "autism," and "home health." On the other hand, a job as a children's program coordinator requires skills like "public health," "community outreach," "cpr," and "childhood." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Children's program coordinators tend to make the most money working in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $41,009. In contrast, transition specialists make the biggest average salary, $60,240, in the finance industry.The education levels that children's program coordinators earn slightly differ from transition specialists. In particular, children's program coordinators are 2.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a transition specialist. Additionally, they're 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Transition specialist vs. Developmental specialist
A developmental specialist typically works in the human resources department. Your job involves training employees and encouraging their peers to participate. Other duties include evaluating the company's HR and training programs, identifying the best type of training to ensure employee and company success, and designing and developing employee discussions, simulations, and exercises. In addition, you are expected to network with prospective donors and look for new funding sources. You are also expected to promote the organization's cause or work through advertisements, soirees, and literature.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, transition specialist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "customer service," "rehabilitation," "professional development," and "home health." Meanwhile, a developmental specialist has duties that require skills in areas such as "developmental disabilities," "intellectual disabilities," "developmental delays," and "early intervention." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Developmental specialists may earn a higher salary than transition specialists, but developmental specialists earn the most pay in the professional industry with an average salary of $41,855. On the other hand, transition specialists receive higher pay in the finance industry, where they earn an average salary of $60,240.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Developmental specialists tend to reach similar levels of education than transition specialists. In fact, they're 4.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for transition specialists in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Sheying Chen Ph.D.
Professor of Public Administration/Social Policy, Pace University
Transition specialist vs. Social services specialist
A Social Services Specialist provides social services to children and adults in communities, facilities, institutions, or hospitals. They develop and implement specialized treatment programs.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a transition specialist is likely to be skilled in "customer service," "mental health," "autism," and "professional development," while a typical social services specialist is skilled in "discharge planning," "term care," "mds," and "social service agencies."
Social services specialists earn the highest salary when working in the insurance industry, where they receive an average salary of $64,884. Comparatively, transition specialists have the highest earning potential in the finance industry, with an average salary of $60,240.Most social services specialists achieve a similar degree level compared to transition specialists. For example, they're 3.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Transition specialist vs. Family support specialist
A family support specialist is an individual who provides counseling and rehabilitation services to families who are facing crises so that their lives can be improved. Family support specialists conduct interviews with members of a family to determine areas that need support such as anti-social behavior, bullying, or domestic violence. They collaborate with healthcare and social professionals to evaluate caseload needs. In cases of relevant child protection, family support specialists are also required to attend court sessions.
Types of transition specialist
Updated January 8, 2025
