How To Become A Student Mentor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a student mentor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

David Dunning

A good student mentor is no less than a blessing. At the beginning of their schools, students are very much confused about their career and courses. In such confusion, they panic and make wrong decisions. These wrong decisions are reflected in the wrong choice of profession, which results in ruining their career life. So, to help them make the right and suitable decisions, student mentors are available.

A student mentor is a wise counselor on whom a student can trust. They help students evolve into developed professionals. They guide them throughout their school or college life and change the tone and help according to their needs. Student mentors help their students with academic concerns and study habits. They identify students' weaknesses and strengths and use strategies to counter those challenges.

You need to highlight your bachelor's degree in psychology or business in your resume to get the job. On successfully mentoring their students, they earn $14.68 per hour. Various schools, colleges, and other educational institutes are the places to find expert mentors.

What general advice would you give to a Student Mentor?

David Dunning

Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

The classic skills people overlook are the soft ones: communication, time management, self-awareness of strengths and weaknesses, writing, and leadership. The important secret of life is that the better you are at technical skills, the more likely you are to be promoted to positions where they are less important. For the next 3-5 years, see what your mentors talk about and what your peers encounter. Get creative with new things. AI is entering the picture and the question is not how it can make your life easier but how it can help you do new and better things.

ScoreStudent MentorUS Average

Salary

2.6

Avg. Salary $33,392

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 59.97%

male 40.03%

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 a student mentor

Explore student mentor education requirements

Most common student mentor degrees

Bachelor's

68.7 %

Master's

10.8 %

Associate

10.6 %

Start to develop specific student mentor skills

Skills	Percentages
Role Model	25.88%
Student Life	16.26%
Mathematics	13.86%
Academic Support	6.75%
Financial Aid	5.45%

Complete relevant student mentor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New student mentors 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 a student mentor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real student mentor resumes.

Research student mentor duties and responsibilities

Manage UAFS's F-1/J-1 student visa SEVIS compliance as DSO/ARO, ensuring all documentation is in order prior to students arriving.
Assist students with basic mathematics, general science and English (reading and writing )
Design and implement curriculum for gift elementary students in mathematics, language arts, and science
Facilitate workshops, group activities, annual leadership conferences, informational sessions, and presentations regarding available resources.

Prepare your student mentor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your student mentor 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 a student mentor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Student Mentor Resume templates

Build a professional Student Mentor 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 Student Mentor resume.

Apply for student mentor jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a student mentor 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 student mentors rate their job?

-/5

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Student Mentor reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2020

Pros

The interaction with students, the progress of the students and the opportunities to develop programs.

A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2019

Cons

Degree is not only required but Experience and Convincing Power is more important & useful than Degrees