How to hire a cardiac sonographer

How to hire a cardiac sonographer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step cardiac sonographer hiring guide:

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

What does a cardiac sonographer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The cardiac sonographer hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

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   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a cardiac sonographer 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 a cardiac sonographer that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of cardiac sonographers.

   Type of Cardiac Sonographer	Description	Hourly rate
   Cardiac Sonographer	Diagnostic medical sonographers and cardiovascular technologists and technicians, including vascular technologists, operate special imaging equipment to create images or to conduct tests. The images and test results help physicians assess and diagnose medical conditions... Show more	$25-55
   X-Ray Technician	The job of X-ray technicians, or X-ray technologists, is to detect medical issues that may need urgent medical treatment using cutting-edge imaging methods. The pictures they generate aid physicians in diagnosing and treating injuries and illnesses with better accuracy... Show more	$15-38
   Ultrasound Technologist	An ultrasound technologist is responsible for assisting medical professionals in operating high-end equipment to diagnose patients' illnesses and monitor health conditions. Ultrasound technologists regularly inspect the efficiency and reliability of the machine and report inconsistencies and defects for immediate repair or replacement... Show more	$24-67

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Registry
   • RDCS
   • ARDMS
   • Echocardiogram
   • Patient Care
   • BLS
   • Cardiac Ultrasound
   • Cardiology
   • M-Mode
   • Ultrasound Equipment
   • Cardiac Sonography
   • Test Results
   • Compassion

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage and operate the daily operations and supervision of the radiology ultrasound departments.
   • Perform diagnostic testing including echocardiograms, stress echocardiograms, bubble studies, carotid dopplers and venous dopplers.
   • detect blood clots (deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in the major veins of the legs or arms.
   • Experience with m-mode , 2D, Doppler calculations.
   • Create detail preliminary reports via a PACS system.
   • Provide data collection, and entering for the QA.

   More cardiac sonographer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the cardiac sonographer job description is a good way to get more applicants. A cardiac sonographer 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 cardiac sonographer in South Dakota may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level cardiac sonographer. Additionally, a cardiac sonographer with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average cardiac sonographer salary

   $79,641yearly

   $38.29 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level cardiac sonographer salary

   $54,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 23, 2026

   Average cardiac sonographer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$138,493	$67
   2	Oregon	$97,679	$47
   3	Washington	$96,491	$46
   4	Massachusetts	$93,845	$45
   5	North Dakota	$88,048	$42
   6	Vermont	$85,523	$41
   7	New York	$81,549	$39
   8	New Jersey	$81,073	$39
   9	Maryland	$80,703	$39
   10	Arizona	$80,518	$39
   11	Maine	$80,058	$38
   12	Florida	$76,494	$37
   13	Illinois	$76,221	$37
   14	Georgia	$76,038	$37
   15	Tennessee	$75,385	$36
   16	Ohio	$75,016	$36
   17	North Carolina	$74,837	$36
   18	Minnesota	$73,833	$36
   19	Kansas	$72,955	$35
   20	Pennsylvania	$72,619	$35

   Average cardiac sonographer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Washington Hospital Healthcare System	$134,069	$64.46
   2	Erlanger Health System	$131,396	$63.17	8
   3	GradyHealth	$128,090	$61.58	1
   4	Berkshire Medical Center	$122,608	$58.95
   5	Enloe Medical Center	$120,314	$57.84
   6	University of Maryland Medical System	$120,311	$57.84	25
   7	Alameda Health System	$118,365	$56.91
   8	Baptist Health Care	$117,682	$56.58	9
   9	Children's Hospital New Orleans	$117,476	$56.48
   10	Dignity Health	$117,015	$56.26	37
   11	CovenantHealth	$116,169	$55.85	20
   12	St. Mary's Health Inc.	$112,293	$53.99	1
   13	The Moses H Cone Memorial Hospital	$111,364	$53.54	14
   14	Hca Hospital Services Of San Diego	$111,232	$53.48
   15	Carson Tahoe Health	$111,048	$53.39
   16	Memorial Healthcare	$110,842	$53.29	1
   17	Highland General Hospital	$109,908	$52.84
   18	Baxter Regional Medical Center	$107,627	$51.74
   19	Overlake Medical Center & Clinics	$106,510	$51.21	2
   20	Mission Regional Medical Center	$106,237	$51.08	8

4. Writing a cardiac sonographer job description

   A job description for a cardiac sonographer 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 cardiac sonographer job description:

   Cardiac sonographer job description example

   Chilton Medical Center, a member of Atlantic Health System, is seeking a per diem Cardiovascular Ultrasound Tech to work varied shifts including weekends as required by department.
   Responsibilities Essential Job Functions: • Performs comprehensive echocardiogram exams, following established IAC protocols to verify, plan, set up, perform and report appropriate echocardiogram examinations
   • Assisting with continuing quality assurance and performance improvement in the Echo Lab and cardiovascular services department
   • Completing clerical tasks associated with echo exams; completing and recording all testing information accurately, and in a timely manner
   • Maintaining pleasant and informative manner in communicating with patients, family members, physicians, and other hospital personnel
   • Working cooperatively with other department members in scheduling of diagnostic procedures
   • Ensuring effective communication intra/inter departmentally and participating on committees and projects as requested Qualifications Education
   • High School Diploma or GED required Certification: • RCS or RCDS required Relevant Experience: • At least 3 years of Hospital based Echo Tech experience
   • Excellent customer service skills
   • Transesophageal Echocardiograms
   • Stress and Dobutamine Echocardiograms
   • IAC Accreditation About Us Atlantic Health System aims to deliver the highest quality, safety and care combined the best experience for our patients and their families. We are confident that you will find success within Atlantic Health System, which has been named for the 12th year in a row to Fortune's “Top 100 Best U.S. Companies to Work For” list. We believe you will find that our culture of collaboration and care exemplifies the value we place on our patients, their families and our employees. EEO Statement Atlantic Health System, Inc. is an equal employment opportunity employer and federal contractor or subcontractor and therefore abides by applicable laws to protect applicants and employees from discrimination in hiring, promotion, discharge, pay, fringe benefits, job training, classification, referral, and other aspects of employment, on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity and sexual orientation), national origin, citizenship status, disability, age, genetics, or veteran status. Not Ready to apply? Stay connected with us to learn more about upcoming career opportunities and onsite Recruitment events. Connect with us

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find cardiac sonographers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting cardiac sonographers 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.

   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 cardiac sonographer

   Once you have selected a candidate for the cardiac sonographer position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize 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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How much does it cost to hire a cardiac sonographer?