Qualities Needed to Become an Admissions Advisor for a College or University

If you are planning on a career as an Admissions Advisor you need to be able to communicate with a variety of different students. There will be times when you deal with students' right out of high school and sometimes they will be working adults who have been out of school for quite awhile. The skill set needed to deal one set of individuals may not be effective in dealing with the other.

Some colleges will require that you have a Bachelor of science degree while others may require an associates degree.

Education programs

Admissions advisors need to know all of the programs that the college is offering so that they can relay that information to potential students. You will need to know how the programs will be able to meet the needs of a student.

Evaluate

An admissions advisor needs to be able to evaluate the needs of a student and find out why they want to attend college. A lot of times the answer will be to get a degree but as an admissions advisor you need to find out the true reason. There is normally an emotional reason that has caused the student to enroll. They may want a degree to make a lot of money so that they can support their family. Maybe they are living from paycheck to paycheck and they see a college degree as the means necessary to increase their income. The working adult may want a degree because they have stalled in their career and need to get promoted. They see a college degree as the means to achieving that. Once you find out the emotional attachment then you need to be able to bring that to the students attention every time there is some hesitation.

Communication skills

Admissions advisors need excellent communication skills that will enable them to relate to a wide variety of potential students.

Sales skills

Admissions advisors are sales people. Just because someone visits the college does not mean they are going to enroll. You must be able to show them why they would be better off by attending your school. If a student has indicated they have a certain need then you should be able to match the features and the benefits of the college/university to the students needs. You will also have a need to overcome objections. The student must like you and trust you otherwise they will decide to attend another school. Most students visit 4 or 5 schools before they make a decision.

Phone work

An admissions advisor should love to talk on the phone because a large part of the job will be calling prospective students and following up on leads. Some of the leads are from the internet while some are from walk ins. When you call sometimes you will only be able to leave a message on a voice mail.

Just like any sales job this is tough work and there is a high turnover rate for admissions advisors.