Career guidance advisor to university department head
A career guidance advisor already meets 32% of what the university department head role asks for. The move turns on 14 required skills not yet in the profile.
69.7/ 100
1 How much of what a university department head 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 university department head role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A university department head role treats 8 of its required skills as things a career guidance advisor already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- assessment processes
- cooperate with education professionals
- curriculum objectives
- curriculum standards
- project management
- provide information on study programmes
What stands in the way is 14 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 11 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A university department head 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 provide information on study programmes assisting and caring
- already held curriculum standards education
- already held identify education needs management skills
- already held cooperate with education professionals communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held university procedures business, administration and law
- already held monitor educational developments information skills
All 11 carried skills, including the 8 the university department head role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 30 missing skills fall into 8 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 university department required
- still to learn identify process improvements required
- still to learn provide education management support required
- still to learn assess employees' capability levels required
- still to learn assess students required
- still to learn assist in the organisation of school events required
- still to learn use office systems required
- optional, not held develop organisational policies optional
- optional, not held manage budgets optional
- optional, not held plan shifts of employees optional
- optional, not held recruit employees optional
- still to learn advise on lesson plans required
- still to learn advise on teaching methods required
- still to learn present reports required
- still to learn provide feedback to teachers required
- optional, not held prepare youths for adulthood optional
- optional, not held promote education programmes optional
- optional, not held represent the organisation optional
- still to learn lead inspections required
- optional, not held create a financial report optional
- optional, not held evaluate education programmes optional
- optional, not held maintain contract administration optional
- still to learn guarantee students' safety required
- optional, not held escort students on a field trip optional
- still to learn learning difficulties required
- optional, not held education administration optional
- optional, not held funding methods optional
- optional, not held human resource management optional
2 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a university department head role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 manage university department practise this
- 02 identify process improvements practise this
- 03 provide education management support 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 11 skills that carry over
- already held assessment processes knowledge
- already held cooperate with education professionals skill
- already held curriculum objectives knowledge
- already held curriculum standards knowledge
- already held project management knowledge
- already held provide information on study programmes skill
- already held university procedures knowledge
- already held write work-related reports skill
- already held develop professional network skill
- already held identify education needs skill
- already held monitor educational developments skill
The 2 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held adolescent socialisation behaviour optional
- optional, not held work with virtual learning environments optional
16 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held create a financial report optional
- optional, not held adolescent socialisation behaviour optional
- optional, not held develop organisational policies optional
- optional, not held education administration optional
- optional, not held escort students on a field trip optional
- optional, not held evaluate education programmes optional
- optional, not held funding methods optional
- optional, not held human resource management optional
- optional, not held maintain contract administration optional
- optional, not held manage budgets optional
- optional, not held plan shifts of employees optional
- optional, not held prepare youths for adulthood optional
- optional, not held promote education programmes optional
- optional, not held recruit employees optional
- optional, not held represent the organisation optional
- optional, not held work with virtual learning environments optional
45 held skills the university department head 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 communicate with youth skill
- not needed by the target role counsel clients skill
- not needed by the target role counsel students 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 education law knowledge
- 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 liaise with educational staff skill
- not needed by the target role listen actively skill
- 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 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 oversee extra-curricular activities 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
5 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.
- still to learn learning difficulties required
- optional, not held adolescent socialisation behaviour optional
- optional, not held education administration optional
- optional, not held funding methods optional
- optional, not held human resource management 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
- academic support officer 45% covered · substantial
- educational counsellor 43% covered · substantial
- admissions coordinator 39% covered · moderate
- further education principal 38% covered · substantial
- deputy head teacher 34% covered · substantial
Common questions about this move
Can a career guidance advisor become a university department head?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A career guidance advisor already covers 32% of what a university department head is expected to do: 11 skills carry over, 8 of which the university department head role treats as required.
What skills does a career guidance advisor need to become a university department head?
14 required skills are missing, plus 16 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by management skills. The single most important is manage university department.
How hard is the move from career guidance advisor to university department head?
Its learning distance is 69.7 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.