Academic advisor to career guidance advisor
An academic advisor already meets 37% of what the career guidance advisor role asks for. The move turns on 15 required skills not yet in the profile.
70.6/ 100
1 How much of what a career guidance advisor is expected to do is already part of an academic advisor’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the career guidance advisor role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A career guidance advisor role treats 10 of its required skills as things an academic advisor already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- assessment processes
- counselling methods
- curriculum objectives
- curriculum standards
- labour market
- listen actively
What stands in the way is 15 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 19 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A career guidance advisor role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an academic advisor background worth leading with.
- already held organise job search workshops management skills
- already held labour market health and welfare
- already held provide information on education financing communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held provide information on school services assisting and caring
- already held counsel students communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held provide information on study programmes assisting and caring
All 19 carried skills, including the 10 the career guidance advisor role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 37 missing skills fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn provide assistance with job search required
- still to learn assist clients with personal development required
- still to learn encourage counselled clients to examine themselves required
- still to learn facilitate job market access required
- still to learn work with different target groups required
- still to learn advise on training courses required
- still to learn coach clients required
- still to learn counsel clients required
- still to learn identify clients' needs required
- optional, not held establish educational network optional
- optional, not held manage professional transition in an arts career optional
- optional, not held communicate about youth's well-being optional
- optional, not held communicate with youth optional
- optional, not held create solutions to problems optional
- optional, not held develop professional network optional
- optional, not held liaise with educational staff optional
- optional, not held use consulting techniques optional
- optional, not held write work-related reports optional
- still to learn assess candidates required
- still to learn maintain professional administration required
- optional, not held assess prior learning optional
- optional, not held organise study information sessions optional
- optional, not held assess students' preliminary learning experiences optional
- optional, not held identify training needs optional
- optional, not held organise projects to fill education needs optional
- optional, not held oversee extra-curricular activities optional
- optional, not held perform educational testing optional
- still to learn apply quality standards to the interaction with candidates required
- still to learn evaluate clients' progress required
- still to learn job market offers required
- optional, not held application process optional
- optional, not held project management optional
- optional, not held labour legislation optional
- still to learn have emotional intelligence required
- optional, not held personal reflection techniques based on feedback optional
- optional, not held psychological counselling methods optional
1 further area in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a career guidance advisor role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 apply quality standards to the interaction with candidates practise this
- 02 provide assistance with job search practise this
- 03 assess candidates practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 19 skills that carry over
- already held assessment processes knowledge
- already held counselling methods knowledge
- already held curriculum objectives knowledge
- already held curriculum standards knowledge
- already held labour market knowledge
- already held listen actively skill
- already held monitor educational developments skill
- already held provide career counselling skill
- already held provide information on education financing skill
- already held provide information on study programmes skill
- already held cooperate with education professionals skill
- already held counsel students skill
- already held education law knowledge
- already held encourage students to acknowledge their achievements skill
- already held identify education needs skill
- already held organise job search workshops skill
- already held provide information on school services skill
- already held psychology knowledge
- already held university procedures knowledge
The 1 learning area not shown above
- optional, not held adult education optional
22 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held application process optional
- optional, not held assess prior learning optional
- optional, not held organise study information sessions optional
- optional, not held assess students' preliminary learning experiences optional
- optional, not held establish educational network optional
- optional, not held manage professional transition in an arts career optional
- optional, not held project management optional
- optional, not held adult education optional
- optional, not held communicate about youth's well-being optional
- optional, not held communicate with youth optional
- optional, not held create solutions to problems optional
- optional, not held develop professional network optional
- optional, not held identify training needs optional
- optional, not held labour legislation optional
- optional, not held liaise with educational staff optional
- optional, not held organise projects to fill education needs optional
- optional, not held oversee extra-curricular activities optional
- optional, not held perform educational testing optional
- optional, not held personal reflection techniques based on feedback optional
- optional, not held psychological counselling methods optional
- optional, not held use consulting techniques optional
- optional, not held write work-related reports optional
12 held skills the career guidance advisor role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role action research knowledge
- not needed by the target role advise on learning methods skill
- not needed by the target role analyse education system skill
- not needed by the target role assist in the organisation of school events skill
- not needed by the target role construct individual learning plans skill
- not needed by the target role consult student's support system skill
- not needed by the target role education administration knowledge
- not needed by the target role give constructive feedback skill
- not needed by the target role learning difficulties knowledge
- not needed by the target role learning needs analysis knowledge
- not needed by the target role promote education programmes skill
- not needed by the target role tackle issues that block academic progress skill
7 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn job market offers required
- optional, not held application process optional
- optional, not held project management optional
- optional, not held adult education optional
- optional, not held labour legislation optional
- optional, not held personal reflection techniques based on feedback optional
- optional, not held psychological counselling methods optional
Common questions about this move
Can an academic advisor become a career guidance advisor?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. An academic advisor already covers 37% of what a career guidance advisor is expected to do: 19 skills carry over, 10 of which the career guidance advisor role treats as required.
What skills does an academic advisor need to become a career guidance advisor?
15 required skills are missing, plus 22 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is apply quality standards to the interaction with candidates.
How hard is the move from academic advisor to career guidance advisor?
Its learning distance is 70.6 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.