How to hire a behavioral health professional

How to hire a behavioral health professional, step by step

Here's a step-by-step behavioral health professional hiring guide:

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

What does a behavioral health professional do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your behavioral health professional job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a behavioral health professional for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   A behavioral health professional's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, behavioral health professionals 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 presents behavioral health professional salaries for various positions.

   Type of Behavioral Health Professional	Description	Hourly rate
   Behavioral Health Professional	Mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists help people manage and overcome mental and emotional disorders and problems with family and other relationships. They listen to clients and ask questions to help the clients understand their problems and develop strategies to improve their lives.	$12-32
   Intensive In-Home Counselor	An Intensive In-Home Counselor conducts individual counseling sessions for parents and deals with delicate issues like sexual addiction. They also prepare progress reports for clients.	$19-31
   Family Therapist	A Family Therapist works with couples and families to help ameliorate marital and family issues. They can work in hospitals, treatment programs, government agencies, health organizations, and private practices.	$17-32

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Behavioral Health
   • Patients
   • Social Work
   • Autism
   • CPR
   • Crisis Intervention
   • Applied Behavior Analysis
   • BHP
   • In-Home Support
   • Substance Abuse
   • Customer Service
   • ABA
   • Mental Illness
   • Health Education

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Work with children with special needs (ADHD, Austism, etc . )
   • Instruct over two hundr staff per year on CPR.
   • Maintain confidentiality of clients in accordance with HIPAA statutes.
   • Maintain records in accordance with applicable standards and HIPAA regulations.
   • Design PowerPoint presentations for orientation at UNM for high school students.
   • Log all progress using the appropriate paperwork and used ABA methods to shape behavior.

   More behavioral health professional duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the behavioral health professional job description is a good way to get more applicants. A behavioral health professional salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a behavioral health professional in Vermont may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level behavioral health professional. Additionally, a behavioral health professional with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average behavioral health professional salary

   $43,223yearly

   $20.78 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level behavioral health professional salary

   $27,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average behavioral health professional salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$59,723	$29
   2	Arizona	$55,573	$27
   3	Texas	$52,183	$25
   4	Colorado	$51,962	$25
   5	Oklahoma	$50,341	$24
   6	Oregon	$49,962	$24
   7	Missouri	$49,259	$24
   8	Maryland	$46,046	$22
   9	District of Columbia	$45,767	$22
   10	Illinois	$45,660	$22
   11	North Dakota	$43,040	$21
   12	Indiana	$42,556	$20
   13	Ohio	$41,934	$20
   14	Nebraska	$41,625	$20
   15	New Mexico	$40,632	$20
   16	Utah	$40,508	$19
   17	Pennsylvania	$40,340	$19
   18	Mississippi	$39,719	$19
   19	Iowa	$38,744	$19
   20	Montana	$38,025	$18

   Average behavioral health professional salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Brookhaven National Laboratory	$71,284	$34.27
   2	Sandia National Labs	$70,966	$34.12
   3	BWX Technologies	$68,755	$33.06
   4	Jacobs Engineering Group	$66,807	$32.12
   5	Androscoggin Home Healthcare + Hospice	$65,018	$31.26
   6	Wellpath	$58,884	$28.31	242
   7	Baystate Health	$57,373	$27.58	5
   8	Evolent Health	$55,927	$26.89
   9	MAS Medical Staffing	$55,009	$26.45	2
   10	Ozark Public Schools	$54,680	$26.29
   11	Mission Regional Medical Center	$54,179	$26.05	41
   12	LifePoint Health	$53,274	$25.61	183
   13	Compliance	$53,260	$25.61
   14	HealthTrust	$53,108	$25.53	2
   15	Community Health Network	$50,671	$24.36	28
   16	Universal Health Services	$50,353	$24.21	348
   17	Texas	$50,242	$24.15	72
   18	Community Youth Services	$50,002	$24.04	13
   19	Telecare	$49,859	$23.97	92
   20	UCLA	$49,733	$23.91	4

4. Writing a behavioral health professional job description

   A job description for a behavioral health professional 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 a behavioral health professional job description:

   Behavioral health professional job description example

   A-Line Staffing is now hiring Fully Remote Behavioral Health Professionals! The Behavioral Health Professional would be working for a Fortune 500 company and has career growth potential. This would be full time / 40+ hours per week.

   Overnight Shift only – Sunday-Wednesday from 8:00pm-6:00am Pacific Time

   If you are interested in this Behavioral Health Professional position, please apply to this posting to Chris Meyer for Immediate Consideration!

   Behavioral Health Professional Compensation

   • The pay for this position is $32.00-$35.00 per hour based on experience
   • Benefits are available to full-time employees after 90 days of employment
   • A 401(k) with a company match is available for full-time employees with 1 year of service on our eligibility dates

   Behavioral Health Professional Highlights

   • 100% Fully Remote nationwide
   • 4 10-hour shifts, 3 days off!
   • The required availability for this position is 8:00pm – 6:00am Pacific Time

   Behavioral Health Professional Responsibilities

   · Answer incoming telephone calls and triage behavioral health needs

   · Document calls and actions using standard computer software application

   · Provide resource and education to non-licensed behavioral health staff Schedule and make follow up calls to provide care facilitation

   · Promote recovery concepts and inspire hope

   · Work with other internal and external agency personnel to meet callers' needs

   · Provide professional assessments, interventions within scope of relevant licensure

   · Provide information and behavioral health education to callers

   Behavioral Health Professional Requirements

   • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience. Master's degree preferred.
   • Active Behavioral Health License
   • 5-7 years of Behavioral Health experience in crisis interventions, case management, behavioral interventions, therapy, assessment and intake, or related area.
   • Strong computer skills required, including experience with Microsoft office and/or data entry systems.
   • Must possess and demonstrate strong abilities in data entry, typing, call documentation and customer service skills including active listening.
   • Experience in telephonic counseling and/or managed care setting preferred.
   • Attendance is mandatory for the first 90 days

   License/Certification :

   · Must have one of the following: Licensed Professional Counselor; Licensed Clinical Social Worker; Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist; Licensed Psychologist; Licensed Independent Substance Abuse Counselor, Licensed Associate Counselor; Licensed Associate Substance Abuse Counselor; Licensed Masters Social Worker; Registered Nurse

   If you think this Behavioral Health Professional position is a good fit for you, please reach out to me - feel free to call, e-mail, or apply to this posting!

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find behavioral health professionals for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any behavioral health professionals they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level behavioral health professionals with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your behavioral health professional job on Zippia to find and recruit behavioral health professional candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting behavioral health professionals 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. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   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 behavioral health professional

   Once you've selected the best behavioral health professional 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 behavioral health professional. 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.)

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How much does it cost to hire a behavioral health professional?