How to hire a captain

How to hire a captain, step by step

Here's a step-by-step captain hiring guide:

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

What does a captain do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your captain 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 captain 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 captain's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, captains 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.

   Here's a comparison of captain salaries for various roles:

   Type of Captain	Description	Hourly rate
   Captain	Water transportation workers operate and maintain vessels that take cargo and people over water. The vessels travel to and from foreign ports across the ocean and to domestic ports along the coasts, across the Great Lakes, and along the country’s many inland waterways.	$14-40
   Banquet Captain	Banquet captains are responsible for directing each banquet staff in the entire meal service and assign tasks to them as required. Their duties include teaching new staff members how to execute their designated tasks in the banquet... Show more	$13-19
   Boat Captain	A boat captain is primarily in charge of spearheading and overseeing boat operations and managing staff, ensuring efficient operations for a safe and successful voyage. With their years of experience, they have the authority to develop and implement strategies, delegate responsibilities among staff, conduct safety inspections before and after every journey, direct maintenance strategies, implement solutions if issues arise, and make significant decisions... Show more	$13-31

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • Safety Standards
   • Food Preparation
   • POS
   • Role Model
   • Logistics
   • Fine Dining
   • Emergency Situations
   • Customer Complaints
   • CPR
   • FAA
   • Giveaways
   • Leadership
   • USCG

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Delegate responsibilities to crew members, verify inventory, manage payroll, steer the ship and operate dredge.
   • Lead the team as defensive captain to win the national championship of the most elite football level in Mexico.
   • Lead a platoon that earn numerous awards for jamming opposition force artillery nets and conducting counterattacks on opposition electronic warfare platoons.
   • Participate in intramural volleyball, basketball and indoor and outdoor soccer.
   • Ensure the synchronized delivery of additional manpower to combat operations by utilizing all available assets and effective logistics management.
   • Complete CPR and a training.

   More captain duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your captain job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A captain 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 a captain in South Dakota may be lower than in California, and an entry-level captain usually earns less than a senior-level captain. Additionally, a captain 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 captain salary

   $52,161yearly

   $25.08 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level captain salary

   $31,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 21, 2025

   Average captain salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$59,421	$29
   2	Pennsylvania	$57,444	$28
   3	District of Columbia	$56,616	$27
   4	New York	$56,566	$27
   5	Nevada	$54,647	$26
   6	North Carolina	$54,251	$26
   7	Arizona	$53,409	$26
   8	Oregon	$52,490	$25
   9	Washington	$51,734	$25
   10	Florida	$51,657	$25
   11	Texas	$51,651	$25
   12	Puerto Rico	$51,555	$25
   13	Indiana	$51,223	$25
   14	Wisconsin	$50,857	$24
   15	Illinois	$50,722	$24
   16	Georgia	$50,323	$24
   17	Massachusetts	$49,415	$24
   18	Minnesota	$49,312	$24
   19	Colorado	$47,622	$23
   20	Maine	$43,506	$21

   Average captain salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Google	$122,079	$58.69
   2	Adobe	$96,383	$46.34
   3	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$94,333	$45.35
   4	Gilead Sciences	$73,260	$35.22
   5	CESO	$72,655	$34.93
   6	CyberCoders	$71,339	$34.30
   7	Farnsworth Group	$70,655	$33.97
   8	Stantec	$69,752	$33.53
   9	Johnson & Johnson	$69,400	$33.37
   10	Goldbelt Falcon	$68,627	$32.99
   11	SAIC	$67,971	$32.68
   12	Curtain Wall Design and Consulting	$67,728	$32.56
   13	American Equity	$67,058	$32.24
   14	Kohler Co.	$66,947	$32.19
   15	Occidental Petroleum	$66,899	$32.16
   16	DuPont	$66,856	$32.14
   17	HDR	$66,133	$31.79	1
   18	Zel Technologies	$65,710	$31.59	1
   19	Liberty Mutual Insurance	$65,288	$31.39
   20	Reckitt Benckiser	$64,640	$31.08

4. Writing a captain job description

   A captain 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. Below, you can find an example of a captain job description:

   Captain job description example

   Reports to the major of COs. Directly supervises the shift supervisors (lieutenants), assistant shift supervisors (sergeants), and correctional officers. Performs complex work supervising the care and custody of offenders, Work involves directing the activities of assigned staff engaged in maintaining order and discipline in compliance with Management & Training Corporation (MTC) and Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) directives.
   Essential Functions: Direct overall supervision of correctional officers and supervises schedules, instructs, trains, and ensures the safety of assigned employees and offenders; and assists in formulating security and work procedures.
   Supervise and direct searches for contraband; counts feeds and supervises offenders in housing, work, and other areas.
   Supervise and provide custody and security of offenders including observing actions of offenders performing "pat" and "strip" searches of offenders, restraining and securing sometimes assaultive offenders, and transferring and transporting offenders by walking, driving, or riding in various vehicles.
   Supervise and provide security of offenders performing technical skills such as construction, maintenance, laundry, and food service which involves working outdoors and indoors.
   Respond to emergencies including climbing stairs, steps, and ladders while searching for escaped offenders, hearing calls for and calling for help, and giving first aid at the emergency site. carrying an injured or unconscious offender or employee various distances to safety up or downstairs, steps, and ladders; and use force and deadly force including the use of chemical agents and firearms to control offenders.
   Read, review, and properly apply information found in offender records that are related to the offender's health and safety and to the security of the facility; provide appropriate information to other staff; comply with all policies, procedures, rules, and regulations; enforces offender disciplinary rules; and supervise the preparation and maintenance of records, forms, and reports,
   Conduct major disciplinary hearings.
   Promote the development of positive social skills through modeling appropriate behaviors and intervening when inappropriate behaviors are observed; provide regular feedback to staff regarding social skills procedures and intervention techniques.
   Maintain accountability of staff, offenders, and property; adhere to safety practices. Minimum Experience and Education
   
   Graduation from an accredited senior high school or equivalent or GED. Four (4) years of full-time, wage-earning correctional custody or law enforcement experience including two (2) years in the supervision of employees. Operational Review Sergeant or Security Threat Group Sergeant experience may be substituted for supervisory experience for a maximum substitution of one (1) year. At least one (1) year of supervisory experience must be as a mid-level manager (supervisor of supervisors). Thirty (30) semester hours with a minimum of six (6) semester hours in Criminal Justice from a college or university accredited by an organization recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or by the United States Department of Education (USDE) may be substituted for one (1) year of non-supervisory experience for a maximum substitution of one (1) year. A valid driver's license in the state of Texas with an acceptable driving record is required unless waived by management.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

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

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting captains 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.

   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 captain

   Once you've decided on a perfect captain candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your 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.

   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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How much does it cost to hire a captain?