Residential Advisors
Coordinate activities in resident facilities in secondary school and college dormitories, group homes, or similar establishments. Order supplies and determine need for maintenance, repairs, and furnishings. May maintain household records and assign rooms. May assist residents with problem solving or refer them to counseling resources.
Most important skills
- Social Perceptiveness
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Monitoring
- Coordination
- Critical Thinking
- Negotiation
- Service Orientation
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administration and Management
- Public Safety and Security
- Education and Training
- English Language
- Sociology and Anthropology
- Administrative
- Personnel and Human Resources
What the work involves
- Enforce rules and regulations to ensure the smooth and orderly operation of dormitory programs.
- Provide emergency first aid and summon medical assistance when necessary.
- Mediate interpersonal problems between residents.
- Administer, coordinate, or recommend disciplinary and corrective actions.
- Communicate with other staff to resolve problems with individual students.
- Counsel students in the handling of issues such as family, financial, and educational problems.
- Make regular rounds to ensure that residents and areas are safe and secure.
- Observe students to detect and report unusual behavior.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Conventional, Enterprising.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Some College Courses (50.3% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (55.7%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (47.7%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Residential Advisors is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | High | Higher on contact with others than 66% of occupations compared | 64% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Higher on dealing with the public than 50% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Higher on teamwork than 54% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 73% of occupations compared | 52% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Low | Lower on time pressure than 65% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 97% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 80% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | High | Higher on consequence of error than 71% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: low
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 7.1%
- Contact with others most of the time: 29%
- Constant contact with others: 63.9%
n = 31, Incumbent 08/2019
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 12.78%
- Fairly important: 23.99%
- Important: 16.51%
- Very important: 1.26%
- Extremely important: 45.46%
n = 31, Incumbent 08/2019
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0.29%
- Important: 15.21%
- Very important: 36.05%
- Extremely important: 48.45%
n = 31, Incumbent 08/2019
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0.25%
- Very little freedom: 7.61%
- Limited freedom: 19.81%
- Some freedom: 52%
- A lot of freedom: 20.34%
n = 31, Incumbent 08/2019
Time pressure
- Never: 0.5%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 7.65%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 40.25%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 27.19%
- Every day: 24.41%
n = 31, Incumbent 08/2019
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 23.07%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 40.52%
- Every day: 36.41%
n = 31, Incumbent 08/2019
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 17.31%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 32.53%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 41.25%
- Every day: 8.91%
n = 31, Incumbent 08/2019
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 9.51%
- Fairly serious: 20.39%
- Serious: 18.05%
- Very serious: 16.21%
- Extremely serious: 35.84%
n = 31, Incumbent 08/2019
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O*NET-SOC 39-9041.00 · SOC 39-9041 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8