Advisor vs Consultant

An advisor is a professional who gives an individual or company recommendations on what should be done about certain issues, while a consultant is someone who provides expert advice to an individual or company.

How To Become An Adviser: What It Is and Career Path

What is an adviser and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The job position of an adviser can apply to many different industries. But usually, they work in the finance, academic, and service industries. Considering this, the duties of an adviser also depend on their employer and, ultimately, their line of work.

For instance, a financial adviser's tasks revolve around educating clients about financial health and investments, while an academic adviser is in charge of guiding students when it comes to choosing courses or shifting majors. Service advisers are professionals that work in automotive shops, responsible for providing sound car advice to customers.

Similarly, the requirements for this job also vary depending on one's line of work. In general, however, most adviser jobs require a four-year degree in a relevant field, as well as adequate experience in the industry. Moreover, anyone who wants to become an adviser must have excellent oral and written communication skills to ensure that their clients understand them completely.

In the U.S., the average salary for an adviser is around $58,000 per year. However, this depends on one's industry, level of experience, and quality of expertise.

ScoreAdviserUS Average

Salary

5.9

Avg. Salary $75,787

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

9.0

Growth Rate 10%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.62%

Asian 3.74%

Black or African American 10.64%

Hispanic or Latino 14.20%

Unknown 3.76%

White 67.03%

Gender

female 44.49%

male 55.51%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress Level

9.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.7

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.7

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an adviser

Explore adviser education requirements

Most common adviser degrees

Bachelor's

55.7 %

Master's

17.7 %

Associate

8.7 %

Start to develop specific adviser skills

Skills	Percentages
Java	31.69%
Provide Technical Assistance	27.27%
Workgroup	11.81%
Outbound Calls	3.85%
Chemistry	2.71%

Complete relevant adviser training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New advisers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an adviser based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real adviser resumes.

Research adviser duties and responsibilities

Manage personal assets using equities and options with a long/short strategy.
Manage IEP's to document prerequisites, transfer to subsequent institutions, and financing of education costs.
Adhere to BSA & OFAC policies and procedures, and take part in annual BSA & OFAC training
Conduct legal analysis of confidential pending international corporate environmental liability litigation.

Prepare your adviser resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your adviser resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an adviser resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Adviser Resume templates

Build a professional Adviser resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Adviser resume.

Apply for adviser jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an adviser job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do advisers rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Adviser reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020

Pros

I love working in a university setting; I love working with people, and especially, students!