Adviser Facts for Kids

An adviser or advisor is usually a person who knows a lot about a certain topic. They often have special skills in many different areas. An adviser acts like a guide or a mentor. This is different from a consultant, who usually helps with a specific task. Advisers are often part of a leadership team, while consultants do more specific jobs.

Both spellings, adviser and advisor, have been used for a long time, since the 1500s. Adviser used to be more common. However, advisor has become more popular recently, especially in North America.

What Do the Words Mean?
How Are the Words Used?
Different Kinds of Advisers
Famous Advisers
See Also

What Do the Words Mean?

The word adviser comes from English, where "er" is added to a verb to show someone who does that action (like "teacher" from "teach"). The word advisor comes from Latin. Even though they come from different languages, they are like twin words and mean the same thing. You can use either one.

How Are the Words Used?

Choosing between "adviser" and "advisor" is usually up to you. However, it's best not to use both spellings in the same document. Different organizations have their own rules:

The Associated Press (a news organization) prefers "adviser."
Virginia Tech (a university) prefers "advisor," especially in academic settings.
Purdue University also prefers "advisor."
The European Commission (part of the European Union) uses "adviser(s)."
The UK government has "Special advisers."
The United Nations uses "Special Advisers."
The US government uses both. For example, there's the Council of Economic Advisers and the Deputy National Security Advisor.

Different Kinds of Advisers

Advisers work in many different fields. Here are some examples:

Advisers in Books

The word "advisor" first appeared in a US book in 1889. It was in The Tennessee Justice and Legal Advisor. An old government report from 1927 used both "adviser" and "advisor" to describe roles in the Department of Justice.

Advisers in Business

Tax advisor: An expert in tax laws who helps people and companies with their taxes.

Advisers in Money and Finance

Commodity trading advisor: Someone who gives advice about trading things like oil or gold in the future.
Financial advisor: A professional who helps people plan their money, savings, and investments.
- In the UK, this person is called a financial adviser.
- Fee-Only financial advisor: A financial advisor who only gets paid by their clients, not by selling products or getting commissions.
Investment Advisor: A person or company that gives advice on how to invest money.
Registered Investment Adviser: An individual or company officially registered to manage other people's investments.

Advisers in Publications

Broadband & Internet Advisor: A magazine about internet technology.
The CPA Technology Advisor: A technology magazine for people who work in accounting and taxes.
Resident Advisor: An online magazine about electronic dance music.

Companies That Advise

Dimensional Fund Advisors: An investment company that creates mutual funds based on research.
State Street Global Advisors: A large company that manages investments.

Advisory Services

McAfee SiteAdvisor: An internet service that warns users if a website might be unsafe or have harmful software.

Advisers in the News

News organizations often use "adviser" or "advisor" when talking about government officials. For example, you might hear about a "Deputy National Security Adviser" on NPR or in The Washington Post. Other news sources like The Wall Street Journal and The White House might use "Advisor."

Other Types of Advisers

Academic advisor: Someone at a college or university who helps students choose classes, pick a major, and plan their education. In some countries, this is a professor who helps students with their research for a degree.
Athletic Advisers: Some sports teams have coaches or staff who act as advisers to the head coach or senior team members.
Doctoral advisor: A university professor who guides a graduate student working on their advanced degree (like a PhD).
Customer service advisor: A common job title in the UK for someone who helps customers.
Legal advisor: A lawyer who gives legal advice.
Military advisors: People who provide military support or training to another country's army.
Technical advisor: An expert hired to make sure that technical details are correct, like in a movie.

Famous Advisers

Name	Year	Origin	Notes
Chanakya	375–283 BCE	India	A very smart Indian person who was a royal adviser to the Mauryan Emperors Chandragupta and Bindusara. He wrote an important book about politics called the Arthashastra.
Birbal	1528-1586	Madhya Pradesh, India	An adviser and main army commander for the Mughal emperor, Akbar. He was one of Akbar's nine special advisers, known as the Navaratnas.
Bairam Khan	1501-1561	Badakhshan, Central Asia	An important adviser at the court of the Mughal Emperors, Humayun and Akbar.
Henry Kissinger	Born 1923	Weimar Republic, Germany	An American diplomat who served as the United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor.
Yelu Chucai	1190-1244	Yanjing, Jin dynasty	A Khitan adviser to Genghis Khan and his son Ögedei.