Career guidance advisor to academic support officer
A career guidance advisor already meets 45% of what the academic support officer role asks for. The move turns on 10 required skills not yet in the profile.
58/ 100
1 How much of what an academic support officer is expected to do is already part of a career guidance 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 academic support officer role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
An academic support officer role treats 10 of its required skills as things a career guidance advisor already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- assessment processes
- communicate with youth
- cooperate with education professionals
- counsel students
- curriculum objectives
- identify education needs
What stands in the way is 10 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 14 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. An academic support officer role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a career guidance advisor background worth leading with.
- already held counsel students communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held provide information on study programmes assisting and caring
- already held identify education needs management skills
- already held education law business, administration and law
- already held cooperate with education professionals communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held communicate with youth communication, collaboration and creativity
All 14 carried skills, including the 10 the academic support officer role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 22 missing skills fall into 9 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 manage access programmes required
- still to learn recruit student ambassador required
- still to learn assess students required
- still to learn assist in the organisation of school events required
- still to learn coordinate educational programmes required
- optional, not held monitor student's behaviour optional
- still to learn guarantee students' safety required
- still to learn support children's wellbeing required
- still to learn tackle issues that block academic progress required
- still to learn show consideration for student's situation required
- still to learn tutor students required
- optional, not held teach university class optional
- optional, not held give constructive feedback optional
- optional, not held liaise with educational support staff optional
- optional, not held promote education course optional
- optional, not held promote social awareness optional
- optional, not held customer service optional
- optional, not held learning difficulties optional
- optional, not held electronic communication optional
3 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries an academic support officer role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 manage access programmes practise this
- 02 recruit student ambassador practise this
- 03 assess students 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 14 skills that carry over
- already held assessment processes knowledge
- already held communicate with youth skill
- already held cooperate with education professionals skill
- already held counsel students skill
- already held curriculum objectives knowledge
- already held identify education needs skill
- already held listen actively skill
- already held oversee extra-curricular activities skill
- already held project management knowledge
- already held write work-related reports skill
- already held education law knowledge
- already held liaise with educational staff skill
- already held provide information on study programmes skill
- already held university procedures knowledge
The 3 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held communication optional
- optional, not held school psychology optional
- optional, not held work with virtual learning environments optional
12 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held customer service optional
- optional, not held teach university class optional
- optional, not held communication optional
- optional, not held electronic communication optional
- optional, not held give constructive feedback optional
- optional, not held learning difficulties optional
- optional, not held liaise with educational support staff optional
- optional, not held monitor student's behaviour optional
- optional, not held promote education course optional
- optional, not held promote social awareness optional
- optional, not held school psychology optional
- optional, not held work with virtual learning environments optional
42 held skills the academic support officer role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role adult education knowledge
- not needed by the target role advise on training courses skill
- not needed by the target role application process knowledge
- not needed by the target role apply quality standards to the interaction with candidates skill
- not needed by the target role assess candidates skill
- not needed by the target role assess prior learning skill
- not needed by the target role assess students' preliminary learning experiences skill
- not needed by the target role assist clients with personal development skill
- not needed by the target role coach clients skill
- not needed by the target role communicate about youth's well-being skill
- not needed by the target role counsel clients skill
- not needed by the target role counselling methods knowledge
- not needed by the target role create solutions to problems skill
- not needed by the target role curriculum standards knowledge
- not needed by the target role develop professional network skill
- not needed by the target role encourage counselled clients to examine themselves skill
- not needed by the target role encourage students to acknowledge their achievements skill
- not needed by the target role establish educational network skill
- not needed by the target role evaluate clients' progress skill
- not needed by the target role facilitate job market access skill
- not needed by the target role have emotional intelligence skill
- not needed by the target role identify clients' needs skill
- not needed by the target role identify training needs skill
- not needed by the target role job market offers knowledge
- not needed by the target role labour legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role labour market knowledge
- not needed by the target role maintain professional administration skill
- not needed by the target role manage professional transition in an arts career skill
- not needed by the target role monitor educational developments skill
- not needed by the target role organise job search workshops skill
- not needed by the target role organise projects to fill education needs skill
- not needed by the target role organise study information sessions skill
- not needed by the target role perform educational testing skill
- not needed by the target role personal reflection techniques based on feedback knowledge
- not needed by the target role provide assistance with job search skill
- not needed by the target role provide career counselling skill
- not needed by the target role provide information on education financing skill
- not needed by the target role provide information on school services skill
- not needed by the target role psychological counselling methods knowledge
- not needed by the target role psychology knowledge
2 further entries not listed here
5 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- optional, not held customer service optional
- optional, not held communication optional
- optional, not held electronic communication optional
- optional, not held learning difficulties optional
- optional, not held school psychology optional
Other moves recorded from career guidance advisor
- academic advisor 69% covered · moderate
- life coach 51% covered · moderate
- assessor of prior learning 46% covered · substantial
- educational counsellor 43% covered · substantial
- admissions coordinator 39% covered · moderate
- further education principal 38% covered · substantial
- deputy head teacher 34% covered · substantial
- learning mentor 33% covered · substantial
Common questions about this move
Can a career guidance advisor become an academic support officer?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A career guidance advisor already covers 45% of what an academic support officer is expected to do: 14 skills carry over, 10 of which the academic support officer role treats as required.
What skills does a career guidance advisor need to become an academic support officer?
10 required skills are missing, plus 12 optional ones. They fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by management skills. The single most important is manage access programmes.
How hard is the move from career guidance advisor to academic support officer?
Its learning distance is 58 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.