How to hire an academic guidance specialist

How to hire an academic guidance specialist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step academic guidance specialist hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an academic guidance specialist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new academic guidance specialist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an academic guidance specialist do?

Post an academic guidance specialist job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the academic guidance specialist you need to hire. Certain academic guidance specialist roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   An academic guidance specialist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, academic guidance specialists from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list shows salaries for various types of academic guidance specialists.

   Type of Academic Guidance Specialist	Description	Hourly rate
   Academic Guidance Specialist	School counselors help students develop academic and social skills and succeed in school. Career counselors assist people with the process of making career decisions by helping them develop skills or choose a career or educational program.	$16-35
   Job Coach	A job coach is responsible for evaluating people's skills and qualifications, advising them with career paths, helping with their aspirations, and promote employment opportunities. Job coaches help the clients build self-confidence and explore their maximum potentials to develop their professional growth... Show more	$14-21
   School Counselor	A school counselor is responsible for monitoring the students' social and personal development, advising them of their career aspirations, and assisting them with their academic achievements and goals. School counselors also ensure that the students receive the highest learning standards to pave their way towards society's advancement and global competitiveness... Show more	$17-32

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Professional Development
   • Social Work
   • Student Retention
   • Academic Support
   • Mathematics
   • Curriculum Development
   • Student Performance
   • Staff Development
   • Social Studies
   • Educational Programs
   • Progress Monitoring
   • Study
   • K-12
   • Financial Aid Options

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Utilize Salesforce to manage advertising programs for business owners.
   • Demonstrate ability to plan a program of study that meets the individual student's need, interest, and ability.
   • Provide learning enhancement in reading and mathematics to children.
   • Develop statistical methodologies for study design and data analysis.
   • Monitor and report academic progress and continuing eligibility of student-athletes in accordance with NCAA and university policy.
   • Evaluate transferable credits on incoming students.

   More academic guidance specialist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your academic guidance specialist job description helps attract top candidates to the position. An academic guidance specialist salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for an academic guidance specialist in Maine may be lower than in Massachusetts, and an entry-level academic guidance specialist usually earns less than a senior-level academic guidance specialist. Additionally, an academic guidance specialist with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average academic guidance specialist salary

   $50,630yearly

   $24.34 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level academic guidance specialist salary

   $34,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 20, 2025

   Average academic guidance specialist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	District of Columbia	$70,673	$34
   2	Massachusetts	$63,470	$31
   3	Virginia	$60,293	$29
   4	Maryland	$59,602	$29
   5	Connecticut	$59,396	$29
   6	California	$56,372	$27
   7	New York	$53,819	$26
   8	Washington	$52,892	$25
   9	Michigan	$52,250	$25
   10	Illinois	$51,559	$25
   11	Nevada	$51,266	$25
   12	Texas	$49,450	$24
   13	Indiana	$43,899	$21
   14	Tennessee	$42,080	$20
   15	Arizona	$41,740	$20
   16	Utah	$41,014	$20
   17	Oklahoma	$37,381	$18

   Average academic guidance specialist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Michigan State University	$72,716	$34.96
   2	University of California	$67,805	$32.60	10
   3	West Hills College Lemoore	$66,781	$32.11
   4	Harlem Children's Zone	$65,588	$31.53	2
   5	University of California-Berkeley	$61,559	$29.60
   6	Northeastern University	$59,851	$28.77	5
   7	State University of New York College at Cortland	$58,598	$28.17
   8	University of Connecticut	$57,855	$27.81	2
   9	Distinctive Schools	$54,935	$26.41
   10	2U	$54,765	$26.33	1
   11	KIPP DC	$53,602	$25.77
   12	KIPP Memphis Public Schools	$52,561	$25.27
   13	UCLA	$50,153	$24.11	8
   14	Arizona State University	$49,390	$23.75
   15	InGenius Prep	$49,103	$23.61
   16	Virginia's Community Colleges	$48,418	$23.28	18
   17	Shalom Austin JCC	$46,318	$22.27
   18	Univ. Of Texas Cancer Ctr.	$45,283	$21.77	31
   19	The Medicus Firm	$45,237	$21.75
   20	Indiana University Bloomington	$45,070	$21.67

4. Writing an academic guidance specialist job description

   A job description for an academic guidance specialist role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's an academic guidance specialist job description:

   Academic guidance specialist job description example

   This position works on a team to provide overall support to the UNC School of Medicine Novant Health Charlotte Campus. Supervises (non-employee) students while enrolled at the regional campus. Being onsite, this position assists the director in the development, scheduling, and management of regional campus and supervises the physical learning space at Presbyterian Medical Tower. Working with faculty, students and academic resources in Charlotte and Chapel Hill, curriculum enrollment, management and assessment will be facilitated and managed with the use of online platforms. Availability to students and faculty is a primary duty as well as working knowledge of audio/visual technology for the virtual classroom. This position acts as Chief Proctor for national board exams and ensures a secure testing environment. Prepares, reviews and presents sensitive documents related to student progress, compensation and program evaluation. Clerical support, data and document management as well as data interpretation is also required. Come join a remarkable team where quality care meets quality service, in every dimension, every time.
   #JoinTeamAubergine #NovantHealth. Let Novant Health be the destination for your professional growth.
   
   At Novant Health, one of our core values is diversity and inclusion. By engaging the strengths and talents of each team member, we ensure a strong organization capable of providing remarkable healthcare to our patients, families and communities. Therefore, we invite applicants from all group dynamics to apply to our exciting career opportunities.
   
   Qualifications
   
   * Education: High School or GED, Required. Bachelor's degree or 4 years Degree, Preferred.
   * Experience: 3 years in healthcare and/or educational setting, Required.
   * Additional Skills required:
   * In person, onsite work environment.
   * At least intermediate skills in Microsoft Office products to include Outlook, Excel, Word, Powerpoint, Publisher, Teams.
   * Ability to observe confidentiality and professional standards (example: FERPA, HIPAA, social media, etc.).
   * Availability to triage and/or handle student concerns during nontraditional work hours.
   * Strong attention to detail.
   * Demonstrated ability to solve problems and reliability.
   
   * Additional Skills preferred:Experience using Canvas, Sakai or similar learning management platforms. Experience with minor video recording, editing and posting.
   
   Responsibilities
   
   It is the responsibility of every Novant Health team member to deliver the most remarkable patient experience in every dimension, every time.
   
   * Our team members are part of an environment that fosters team work, team member engagement and community involvement.
   * The successful team member has a commitment to leveraging diversity and inclusion in support of quality care.
   * All Novant Health team members are responsible for fostering a safe patient environment driven by the principles of "First Do No Harm".

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right academic guidance specialist for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your academic guidance specialist job on Zippia to find and recruit academic guidance specialist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting academic guidance specialists requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new academic guidance specialist

   Once you have selected a candidate for the academic guidance specialist position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new academic guidance specialist. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire an academic guidance specialist?