23 Key Attributes Residential Advisors Need To Succeed In Their Career

by Ava Rodriguez

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Residential advisors coordinate activities in resident facilities in secondary and college dormitories, group homes, or similar establishments. Order supplies and determine need for maintenance, repairs, and furnishings. They may also maintain household records and assign rooms. They may also assist residents with problem solving or refer them to counseling resources.

The core tasks that residential advisors are likely to carry out include:

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.
Make regular rounds to ensure that residents and areas are safe and secure.
Observe students to detect and report unusual behavior.
Communicate with other staff to resolve problems with individual students.

In order to successfully forge ahead with their careers, analysts in a survey carried out by U.S. Department of Labor (via O*NET) have marked out the following as important attributes that residential advisors would need. These attributes have been selected from characteristics and requirements strongly associated with the occupation. They are

Abilities: Enduring attributes of the individual that influence performance
Interests: Preferences for work environments. Occupational Interest Profiles (OIPs) are compatible with Holland's (1985, 1997) model of personality types and work environments. Six interest categories are used to describe the work environment of occupations: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. An OIP consists of six numerical scores indicating how descriptive and characteristic each work environment (or interest area) is for an occupation
Knowledge: Organized sets of principles and facts applying in general domains
Skills: These include basic skills, which are developed capacities that facilitate learning or the more rapid acquisition of knowledge. Plus cross-functional skills, which are developed capacities that facilitate performance of activities that occur across jobs
Style: Personal characteristics that can affect how well someone performs a job

We have listed out attributes which were scored 80% or more in terms of importance by the analysts.

Being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 95.8%

Having a strong preference for social work environments. Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
Attribute Type: Interests Score: 95.29%

Accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 94%

Being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 91.8%

Maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 91.8%

Being honest and ethical.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 91.4%

Being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 91.4%

Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 86%

Developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 85.4%

Being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 84.4%

Persistence in the face of obstacles.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 84.2%

Preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 83%

A willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 82.8%

Being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 82.8%

A willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 80.6%

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 80%

Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 80%

Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 80%

Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 80%

The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Attribute Type: Abilities Score: 80%

The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Attribute Type: Abilities Score: 80%

The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Attribute Type: Abilities Score: 80%

The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Attribute Type: Abilities Score: 80%