How to hire a behavioral psychologist

How to hire a behavioral psychologist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step behavioral psychologist 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 psychologist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new behavioral psychologist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a behavioral psychologist, 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?

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   Hiring the perfect behavioral psychologist also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list presents behavioral psychologist salaries for various positions.

   Type of Behavioral Psychologist	Description	Hourly rate
   Behavioral Psychologist	Psychologists study cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior by observing, interpreting, and recording how people relate to one another and their environments.	$25-55
   Clinical Fellow	Clinical fellows are doctoral-level health professionals whose interest focuses on biomedical research. They take part in protocol-based clinical research and laboratory research... Show more	$25-43
   Clinical Psychology Internship	Clinical psychology interns are responsible for assisting the clinical psychology staff by utilizing their academic knowledge to practical applications. A clinical psychology intern observes the daily operations in a health care facility, shadows medical staff, and prepares reports for clinical psychology processes or psychological research... Show more	$12-26

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Behavioral Health
   • Crisis Intervention
   • Mental Illness
   • Psychological Services
   • Psychological Evaluations
   • Psychological Assessments
   • Applied Behavior Analysis
   • Autism
   • Chronic Pain
   • Anxiety Disorders
   • Eating Disorders
   • Behavior Analysis
   • Family Therapy
   • Developmental Disabilities

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Provide psychological therapy for children with autism spectrum disorder, deficit/hyperactive disorder, specific learning disorder and others mental diagnosis.
   • Provide consultation regarding appropriate placement/treatment of juveniles in the DJJ system.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your behavioral psychologist job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A behavioral psychologist salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, behavioral psychologists' average salary in alabama is 53% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level behavioral psychologists earn 53% less than senior-level behavioral psychologists.
   • Certifications. A behavioral psychologist with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a behavioral psychologist's salary.

   Average behavioral psychologist salary

   $79,767yearly

   $38.35 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level behavioral psychologist salary

   $54,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 20, 2026

4. Writing a behavioral psychologist job description

   A job description for a behavioral psychologist 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 psychologist job description:

   Behavioral psychologist job description example

   Provides mental health assessment, diagnosis, treatment and crisis intervention services for adult and/or child members who present themselves from psychiatric evaluation with a broad range of mental health needs. Collaborates with treating physician, psychiatric and allied health professional team to plan and direct each individual member's treatment program.
   Essential Responsibilities:
   
   + Develops, implements, coordinates, and evaluates clinical treatment programs for the diagnosis, treatment, and/or referral of Health Plan members with acute or chronic mental illness. Participates in staff conferences to select, plan, and evaluate treatment programs. Provides outpatient psychotherapy to individuals, couples, families and groups. Instructs and counsels patients and their families regarding compliance with prescribed therapeutic regimens and adherence to prescribed medication regimens, within the scope of practice. May administer specialized therapeutic procedures, as appropriate. Provides appropriate support to member's family. May develop and conducts psychoeducational classes and groups.
   
   + May conduct psychological assessments, including test administration, interpretation, and recommendations. Prepares intake summaries, treatment plans, and case summaries and maintains ongoing confidential records. Charts member's treatment and progress in accord with state and NCQA regulations and in keeping with accepted community standards. May be required to participate in the department on-call rotation.
   
   + Collaborates with physicians in screening and evaluating patients for psychotropic medications, within the scope of practice. Utilizes resources of public and private agencies and community organizations to meet the needs of the member's treatment. May develop, implements, and evaluates behavioral medicine and health psychology programs in a variety of settings, including primary care. Provides consultation to other care providers and health educators on matters relating to mental health, health psychology and behavioral medicine. Provides clinical supervision to psychology doctoral interns, psychology postdoctoral residents, and other mental health trainees/fellows as necessary.
   
   + May supervise Post Master's Fellows, Associate Clinical Social Workers, Associate Marriage Family Therapists or Associate Professional Clinical Counselors as needed if supervision course is completed.
   
   + May provide appropriate support to member's family, including explanation of treatment, instructions in how to support treatment and interventions to increase acceptance of and adherence to treatment, at member's request.
   
   + Utilizes resources of public and private agencies and community organizations to meet the needs of the member's treatment to include referral of the member and/or member's family to external resources, as appropriate. Participates in departmental program development, implementation and evaluation.
   
   + Reports safety concerns to mandated reporting agencies
   
   Basic Qualifications:
   
   Experience
   
   + N/A
   
   Education
   
   + PhD/PsyD/EdD in Clinical Counseling, Health or School Psychology from an accredited college or university.
   
   License, Certification, Registration
   
   + Current valid license to practice psychology in the State of California or valid license to practice in a state in the United States and able to practice under Business and Professional Code Section 2946 (maximum of 180 days subject to the specifics of the regulation).
   
   + Must have a National Provider Identifier (NPI) or obtain NPI, prior to employment start date.
   
   Additional Requirements:
   
   + Must be familiar with DSM-V as a means of diagnosis.
   
   + Has experience in assessing, diagnosing and treating a broad range of psychiatric conditions.
   
   + May be required to participate in the department on-call rotation.
   
   + Knowledge of Evidence-Based Practice and psychotherapy research methods.
   
   + Knowledge of the bio-psycho-social functions that contribute to mental health.
   
   + Accuracy in diagnosing patients and developing effective treatment plans.
   
   + Competence in individual, family and group psychotherapy.
   
   + Professional maturity and ethical integrity necessary for assuming professional responsibilities.
   
   + Commitment to quality of service, teamwork, and participation in a highly interactive multidisciplinary clinic.
   
   + Ability to complete multiple tasks/objectives in a timely manner.
   
   + Knowledge of social service agencies, state regulations and APA standards as it related to client treatment, patient rights and client/patient confidentiality.
   
   + Previous clinical responsibilities to include psychological testing, diagnosis, crisis intervention, brief individual and group psychotherapy.
   
   + Knowledge of psychological testing techniques, administration and interpretation.
   
   + Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
   
   + Must be able to work in a Labor/Management Partnership.
   
   Preferred Qualifications:
   
   + Previous clinical responsibility to include crisis intervention, individual and group psychotherapy.
   
   + Demonstrated experience in psychological evaluations of adults, children, adolescents, & families, including administering & writing up psychological testing & assessment batteries preferred.
   
   + Demonstrated professional maturity and ethical integrity necessary for assuming professional responsibilities, preferred.
   
   + Demonstrated commitment to quality of service, teamwork, and participation in a highly interactive multidisciplinary clinic, preferred.
   
   + Demonstrated ability to complete multiple tasks/objectives in a timely manner, preferred
   
   + Accuracy in diagnosing patients and developing effective treatment plans, preferred.
   
   + Competence in individual, family and group psychotherapy, preferred.
   
   COMPANY: KAISER
   
   TITLE: Psychologist - Behavioral Medicine
   
   LOCATION: Napa, California
   
   REQNUMBER: 1094063
   
   External hires must pass a background check/drug screen. Qualified applicants with arrest and/or conviction records will be considered for employment in a manner consistent with Federal, state and local laws, including but not limited to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran, or disability status.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find behavioral psychologists 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 psychologists they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level behavioral psychologists 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 psychologist job on Zippia to find and recruit behavioral psychologist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit behavioral psychologists, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   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 behavioral psychologist

   Once you've selected the best behavioral psychologist 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 good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new behavioral psychologist. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

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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