How to hire a career coordinator

How to hire a career coordinator, step by step

Here's a step-by-step career coordinator hiring guide:

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

What does a career coordinator do?

Post a career coordinator job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   The career coordinator 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

   No

   A career coordinator's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, career coordinators 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 career coordinator salaries for various roles:

   Type of Career Coordinator	Description	Hourly rate
   Career Coordinator	School counselors help students develop academic and social skills and succeed in school. Career counselors assist people with the process of making career decisions by helping them develop skills or choose a career or educational program.	$14-29
   Licensed Social Worker	Licensed Social Workers are duly and legally recognized to carry out activities related to social work. They identify individuals or groups of people in need and assess what kind of help they require... Show more	$19-37
   Family Support Worker	A family service worker is a social service agent who assesses the needs of family and promotes wellbeing, social justice, and human rights through governmental and social service agencies. Family service workers offer services that can include counseling and mediation to families that will help them navigate the protocols of the social system... Show more	$12-25

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Career Exploration
   • Professional Development
   • Career Development
   • CTE
   • Post-Secondary Education
   • Alumni
   • Career Planning
   • Career Fairs
   • Rehabilitation
   • Education Programs
   • Financial Aid
   • Guest Speakers
   • Community Resources
   • Community Outreach

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Develop and facilitate outplacement programs across healthcare, scientific research and higher education sectors.
   • Perform system conversion from Quickbooks to Yardi accounting and property management software.

   More career coordinator duties

3. Make a budget

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

   $43,914yearly

   $21.11 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level career coordinator salary

   $30,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 22, 2025

   Average career coordinator salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$57,167	$27
   2	District of Columbia	$56,436	$27
   3	New York	$51,375	$25
   4	Maryland	$47,710	$23
   5	Virginia	$47,124	$23
   6	Connecticut	$45,959	$22
   7	Pennsylvania	$44,772	$22
   8	Illinois	$44,405	$21
   9	South Carolina	$43,160	$21
   10	Texas	$42,649	$21
   11	Massachusetts	$41,058	$20
   12	Colorado	$40,443	$19
   13	Arizona	$39,384	$19
   14	North Carolina	$37,702	$18
   15	Georgia	$36,068	$17
   16	Florida	$35,874	$17
   17	Missouri	$33,113	$16
   18	Idaho	$28,879	$14

   Average career coordinator salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Merrimack College	$64,360	$30.94	3
   2	COLLEGE OF SOUTHERN MARYLAND	$63,450	$30.50	5
   3	Ball	$57,017	$27.41	1
   4	Mercy College	$56,771	$27.29
   5	University of Maryland, Baltimore	$54,013	$25.97	22
   6	University of California-Berkeley	$53,128	$25.54	2
   7	Bucknell University	$50,680	$24.37
   8	KIPP DC	$50,518	$24.29	2
   9	University of Idaho	$50,268	$24.17	1
   10	Ivy Tech Community College	$50,014	$24.05	13
   11	Research Foundation of The City University of New York	$49,760	$23.92
   12	The University System of Maryland Foundation	$48,750	$23.44
   13	University of Virginia	$47,940	$23.05	12
   14	Denver Public Schools	$47,904	$23.03	1
   15	University of South Carolina	$47,743	$22.95	23
   16	Alachua County	$47,221	$22.70	1
   17	Applied Medical Resources	$46,986	$22.59
   18	Austin Community College District	$45,809	$22.02	4
   19	PSEA	$44,196	$21.25	9
   20	St. Luke's Health System	$42,664	$20.51	6

4. Writing a career coordinator job description

   A job description for a career coordinator 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 career coordinator job description:

   Career coordinator job description example

   POSTSECONDARY PARTNERSHIPS
   
   Develop, deepen and oversee postsecondary partnerships with colleges, universities, CTE programs and training providers that ensure promising results for our KIPP Colorado Alumni
   
   Develop and deepen our partnerships with Auraria Campus colleges and universities: Metropolitan State University of Denver, University of Colorado Denver and Community College of Denver to ensure our we increase our alumni completion rates at those institutions
   
   Develop and manage partnerships with rigorous gap year programs that provide alternative pathways to higher education and career success
   
   Identify gaps in our existing partnership network and actively pursue new, beneficial partnerships with institutions of higher education and gap year programs
   
   Cultivate and maintain critical stakeholder relationships related to new partnership development, to include cultivating champions at prospective partner institutions, working closely with KIPP Forward Director, and periodically, KIPP Colorado board members
   
   Work closely with the KIPP Forward Director in building a partnership strategy to support alumni in their post-secondary pathways
   
   Work with KIPP Forward Director and college partners to assess the strength and potential of existing partnerships, negotiating renewed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) that will benefit KIPPsters and other first-generation students of color attending those institutions
   
   Develop professional and effectual relationships with CTE, Career program college/university staff to push through barriers for KIPPsters
   
   Lead or support periodic trainings related to partnership development and management
   
   Work collaboratively across KIPP Forward teams, KIPP Foundation, KIPP regions, with alumni and external partners to design and pilot scalable, effective strategies to increase college and training completion and enable more KIPP alumni to obtain strong first jobs in upwardly mobile careers, regardless of their postsecondary pathway
   
   CTE & CAREER PATHWAYS
   
   Advise Postsecondary Counselors on high-quality summer programs, CTE & Career pathways
   
   Develop a structure for recruiting and engaging students into our summer programs and internship program at our KIPP Colorado High Schools
   
   Train and lead periodic professional development trainings related to summer programs, CTE & Career pathways to KIPP Forward team, high school match teams and/or high school staff
   
   Maintain communications with high school faculty and staff regarding CTE, college and university institutional resources available to support KIPPSters to and through their postsecondary pathways
   
   DATA MANAGEMENT
   
   Maintain constant and consistent communication on the data progress of students with key stakeholders including but not limited to: KIPP Foundation, College personnel, CBO's, CTE programs, Career Partners, school and regional leadership, and state leadership, along with students and families
   
   Collect, analyze and monitor data provided by partner institutions in determining best practices and strategies for supporting KIPP alumni towards their post-secondary goals
   
   Interpret survey and assessment results to enhance college, CTE and career advising and coaching
   
   Track and maintain records of contacts, pulse-checks, benchmarks and verification of enrollments of alums in CTE & Career Pathways
   
   ALUMNI ADVISING & PROGRAMMING
   
   Advise a small caseload of KIPP Colorado Alum attending CTE & Career Training programs
   
   Engage in one-on-one conversations with KIPP alumni regarding their academics, finances, socio-emotional well-being, along with their passion/purpose/plan
   
   Help alums navigate the critical challenges often faced by underserved communities when progressing towards their post-secondary goals
   
   Manage student and alumni events and engagements throughout the year
   
   

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right career coordinator for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit career coordinators, 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 career coordinator

   Once you've selected the best career coordinator 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.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new career coordinator. 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.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a career coordinator?