How to hire an animal technician

How to hire an animal technician, step by step

Here's a step-by-step animal technician hiring guide:

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

What does an animal technician do?

Post an animal technician job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring an animal technician, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them an animal technician to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire an animal technician that fits the bill.

   The following list breaks down different types of animal technicians and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Animal Technician	Description	Hourly rate
   Animal Technician	Veterinary technologists and technicians perform medical tests under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian to assist in diagnosing the injuries and illnesses of animals.	$9-24
   Registered Veterinary Technician	Registered veterinary technicians work under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian. The technicians must control and prevent zoonotic diseases... Show more	$14-25
   Certified Veterinary Technician	A certified veterinary technician is in charge of performing laboratory tests, participating in medical procedures, and performing clerical support tasks at veterinary clinics, zoos, and private laboratories. Their responsibilities often include collecting information from pet owners, studying the patients' medical histories, gathering and analyzing samples from the patients through various laboratory procedures, operating equipment and machines, and monitoring the patients' conditions... Show more	$14-25

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Animal Handling
   • Autoclaves
   • Euthanasia
   • Laboratory Animal Care
   • Technical Procedures
   • AALAS
   • Patients
   • Cleanliness
   • Animal Housing
   • Animation
   • Animal Rooms
   • Animal Identification
   • Sample Collection
   • USDA

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Maintain all necessary paperwork for specific species as required by the USDA, IACUC, as well as other agencies.
   • Maintain the cleanliness and organization of all animal facility locations.
   • Stock shelves with personal protection equipment (PPE).
   • Learned all PPE policies for different areas of the vivarium.
   • Train and supervise fellow animal technicians in GLP, vivarium policy, husbandry and sterilization methods.
   • Perform oral gavage, im, iv and ip injections and retro orbital collections in mice.

   More animal technician duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your animal technician job description helps attract top candidates to the position. An animal technician 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 animal technician in Texas may be lower than in New York, and an entry-level animal technician usually earns less than a senior-level animal technician. Additionally, an animal technician 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 animal technician salary

   $15.09hourly

   $31,378 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level animal technician salary

   $19,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 23, 2026

   Average animal technician salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New York	$41,340	$20
   2	California	$38,715	$19
   3	Washington	$38,625	$19
   4	Maryland	$38,079	$18
   5	Connecticut	$36,667	$18
   6	Massachusetts	$36,346	$17
   7	Pennsylvania	$33,162	$16
   8	New Jersey	$33,078	$16
   9	Minnesota	$32,457	$16
   10	Wisconsin	$32,343	$16
   11	Michigan	$32,260	$16
   12	Ohio	$32,162	$15
   13	Colorado	$28,121	$14
   14	Arizona	$27,014	$13
   15	Kansas	$25,451	$12
   16	Florida	$24,702	$12
   17	Texas	$22,472	$11
   18	Utah	$21,369	$10

   Average animal technician salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Harvard University	$73,346	$35.26
   2	Brigham and Women's Hospital	$68,592	$32.98	12
   3	Massachusetts General Hospital	$68,267	$32.82
   4	Dana-Farber Cancer Institute	$65,933	$31.70	2
   5	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center	$58,538	$28.14	8
   6	Sucker Punch Productions	$55,782	$26.82
   7	Yale University	$54,950	$26.42
   8	Hi-Rez Studios	$52,867	$25.42
   9	Insomniac Games	$52,011	$25.01
   10	Certain Affinity	$51,862	$24.93
   11	Electronic Arts	$51,751	$24.88
   12	2k	$51,641	$24.83
   13	ZeniMax Media	$50,928	$24.48
   14	UC Santa Barbara	$50,822	$24.43
   15	University of California	$50,346	$24.20	12
   16	Zynga	$50,344	$24.20
   17	Meridian Bioscience	$49,930	$24.00
   18	Georgetown University	$49,883	$23.98
   19	UC Merced	$49,147	$23.63
   20	University of California-Berkeley	$49,063	$23.59

4. Writing an animal technician job description

   A job description for an animal technician 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 animal technician job description:

   Animal technician job description example

   The Animal Technician is responsible for performing various animal husbandry duties in conventional, immunodeficient and transgenic/knockout rodent colonies. In addition, the Animal Technician will maintain animal rooms, monitor rodent colonies, and perform technical duties which may include medical treatments of rodents with minor injuries, emergency separations, and euthanasia.
   
   Changing rodent cages while strictly adhering to established SOPs. Administer special dietary formulations and medicated water to rodents as defined by research protocols.
   
   Maintaining animal rooms and other facility areas in accordance with accepted standards of sanitation. Procedures involved include sweep, vacuum, wash walls, floors, equipment, and shelving according to schedules for these activities.
   
   Monitoring rodent colonies for sick or injured animals up to twice daily. Recording and reporting such findings in accordance with SOP via Manage Tasks and HMR system apps.
   
   Operating and maintaining laboratory animal husbandry equipment including, but not limited to laminar flow work benches, biosafety cabinets/ hoods, ventilated air racks, autoclaves, sterilizers, and cage wash equipment. Reporting malfunctioning equipment immediately to supervisor.
   
   Technical duties may include medical treatments of rodents with minor injuries, emergency separations, and euthanasia.
   
   Proper record keeping including room logs and health monitoring reports (HMR) as required. This will include use of computerized data collections systems and apps for cage census and health monitoring.
   
   Required to document all tasks completed via ManageTasks, HMRs, Alerts, and Compliance reports as required.
   High School diploma or GED preferred. 0 years' experience required; 1 year working in an accredited/ non-accredited laboratory animal facility and/or veterinarian technician program preferred. AALAS technician certification at the ALAT level is preferred but not required. KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES REQUIRED: Knowledge of animal care and husbandry, cleaning, independent work, phone/PDA usage. Ability to work in an independent and organized manner as well as within a team. Ability to pay attention to detail, communicate effectively to management, taking direction, and learn new tasks. Ability to perform all duties while strictly adhering to established SOPs. Basic computer skills for computerized record keeping in accordance with established procedures, (i.e., Manage Tasks, animal holding room census data collection, and other computerized logs and apps.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right animal technician for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with animal technicians they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit animal technicians who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your animal technician job on Zippia to find and attract quality animal technician candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting animal technicians 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.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you 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 animal technician

   Once you've selected the best animal technician candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing 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 animal technician. 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 animal technician?