How to hire a biology faculty member

How to hire a biology faculty member, step by step

Here's a step-by-step biology faculty member hiring guide:

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

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your biology faculty member 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 biology faculty member 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?

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   Hiring the perfect biology faculty member 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.

   Here's a comparison of biology faculty member salaries for various roles:

   Type of Biology Faculty Member	Description	Hourly rate
   Biology Faculty Member	Postsecondary teachers instruct students in a wide variety of academic and career and technical subjects beyond the high school level. They also conduct research and publish scholarly papers and books.	$19-43
   Adjunct Biology Instructor	An adjunct biology instructor is an adjunct faculty member whose responsibility is to teach biology-related courses. Adjunct biology instructors are educators who are employed on a part-time or contractual basis... Show more	$23-75
   Faculty	A faculty member is a professional whose primary responsibility is to provide teaching and research to students in colleges and universities. Faculties must work with colleagues to design a curriculum to keep up with the changes in the discipline... Show more	$20-73

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • General Biology
   • Chemistry
   • Molecular Biology
   • Immunology
   • Genetics
   • Biology Courses
   • Ecology
   • Zoology
   • Introductory Biology
   • Cellular Biology
   • Scholarship
   • Capstone Design
   • Physiology Course
   • Biol

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage studies to meet FDA approval of new medical devices, drugs, materials, and techniques.
   • Develop microfluidic chip and device to provide DNA sequencing inside picoliter size aqueous droplets.
   • Study the effects of ionizing radiation on the cell cycle and DNA damage / repair in human cell models.
   • Guide students through management of labor and safe delivery of normal spontaneous vaginal deliveries and postpartum coordination of patients plan of care
   • Engage in classroom management, foundations of curriculum/instruction, instruction design, evaluation and ethics research and assessment and evaluation.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your biology faculty member job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A biology faculty member can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, biology faculty members' average salary in kentucky is 58% less than in alaska.
   • Seniority. Entry-level biology faculty members 56% less than senior-level biology faculty members.
   • Certifications. A biology faculty member with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a biology faculty member's salary.

   Average biology faculty member salary

   $60,278yearly

   $28.98 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level biology faculty member salary

   $40,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

4. Writing a biology faculty member job description

   A biology faculty member job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a biology faculty member job description:

   Biology faculty member job description example

   Arcadia University invites applications for Adjunct Professors in the Department of Biology for the academic year. Teaching assignments are available for one or more sections of our General Biology lecture and/or laboratory, Human Anatomy laboratory, Comparative Anatomy and Physiology laboratory, Genetics laboratory, Microbiology laboratory, and Biochemistry laboratory.
   
   Qualified candidates should either possess a Master's Degree or PhD Degree in a Biology-related discipline. PhD candidates nearing completion of their doctoral programs will also be considered. Teaching experience is highly preferred with an emphasis on close faculty-student interaction.
   
   Arcadia's College of Arts and Sciences offers programs in science, technology, math; humanities; visual and performing arts; communications; and historical and political studies. These programs prepare students to be leaders in a global society by providing opportunities to exhibit, perform, and publish on campus and in the Philadelphia area. The campus has a variety of outlets to support the arts and sciences, including art galleries, a literary magazine, and an online academic journal.
   
   Adjunct Faculty instructors will work closely with a course coordinator to provide instruction and/or demonstration of biological concepts in the context of a specific course and/or its laboratory component.
   
   Qualified candidates should either possess a Master's Degree or PhD Degree in a Biology-related discipline. PhD candidates nearing completion of their doctoral programs will also be considered. Teaching experience is highly preferred with an emphasis on close faculty-student interaction.
   
   Arcadia University is a top-ranked private University in Greater Philadelphia that provides an educational experience that is values-based; rooted in justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI); and places students at the center. The Institute of International Education has ranked Arcadia first nationally in study abroad for 10 of the last 12 years, and the Princeton Review has ranked Arcadia among the "Best in the Northeast" for seven consecutive years. The University's Physical Therapy and Physician Assistant programs are nationally ranked in their respective categories by
   U.S. News & World Report , which also ranks Arcadia among the top 25 percent in its category and cites Arcadia for being among the "most innovative" and "best value" colleges. Approximately 3,700 students study at Arcadia, with 2,300 undergraduate students choosing from more than 65 fields of study. Arcadia promises a distinctively global, integrative, and personal learning experience that prepares students to contribute and lead in a diverse and dynamic world. Through its community of practice, Arcadia has made facilitating a safe and welcoming environment a priority by developing and implementing anti-Black Racism Initiatives (ABRI) on campus and in its surrounding communities. Visit www.arcadia.edu. Our belief and experience is that there is strength in diversity and we are committed to building a welcoming and inclusive environment for students and employees alike. We are a community built on varied experiences and perspectives that benefits from open-minded discussion and cultural humility. Guided by our University's values, we are committed to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, and we are working towards dismantling anti-Black racism/white supremacy and other forms of interpersonal and systemic discrimination and oppression. We welcome candidates who can contribute through their research, teaching, service, and/or lived experiences to the diversity and excellence of the academic community. The successful candidate will include a statement of interest demonstrating examples of ways they will incorporate our values in their teaching and scholarly work through application, methodology, content, and/or inclusion of students from diverse backgrounds pursuing research/creative work. The number of part-time instructors hired by the department varies from semester to semester, depending upon the needs of the program. When a position is available, qualified applicants may be contacted for an interview and asked to submit further documentation. While there may not be immediate openings, the hiring manager will review applications when openings do occur. COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement: Arcadia University requires all employees to be "up to date" with COVID-19 vaccines by your employment start date. This would include either: A full primary series of a FDA-approved vaccine and all of the boosters for which they are eligible in accordance with current Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations. Or you received the full primary series of an FDA approved vaccine in the last 5 months and are therefore not eligible to receive a booster vaccine. After the 5 months conclude, you will need to receive a booster vaccine or will no longer be "up to date". Arcadia will consider requests for exemptions from the vaccination policy due to medical conditions or religious belief. You will be required to provide proof of vaccination at the time of hire and/or on your first day of employment. Our vaccination protocols are subject to applicable laws and will be updated from time to time to reflect evolving conditions and federal, state, local, and other applicable health and safety guidelines.

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5. Post your job

   To find biology faculty members 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 biology faculty members they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level biology faculty members 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 biology faculty member job on Zippia to find and recruit biology faculty member candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as k12jobspot, learn4good, serious teachers, teachingjobs.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit biology faculty members, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete 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 biology faculty member

   Once you've selected the best biology faculty member 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.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is 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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