How to hire a career development counselor

How to hire a career development counselor, step by step

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

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your career development counselor 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 career development counselor 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

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a career development counselor 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 career development counselor that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of career development counselor salaries for various roles:

   Type of Career Development Counselor	Description	Hourly rate
   Career Development Counselor	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.	$15-31
   Job Coach	A job coach is responsible for evaluating people's skills and qualifications, advising them with career paths, helping with their aspirations, and promote employment opportunities. Job coaches help the clients build self-confidence and explore their maximum potentials to develop their professional growth... Show more	$14-21
   Admissions Representative	As the name entails, admissions representatives assist prospective and new students attending a university. They give these students the information they need to make a well-informed decision regarding enrollment, make admissions decisions, and review documents... Show more	$11-28

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Social Work
   • Rehabilitation
   • Community Resources
   • Mental Health
   • Career Development
   • Career Planning
   • Crisis Intervention
   • Career Services
   • Community Outreach
   • Career Fairs
   • Vocational Training
   • Career Exploration
   • Community Agencies
   • Leadership Development

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage cases of clients who are moving from government support income (TANF) to non-supplement income.
   • Provide information to individuals on matters pertaining to social security, veterans administration, and uniform service health benefits program.
   • Provide case management services to TANF clients and/or unemploy individuals.
   • Perform system conversion from Quickbooks to Yardi accounting and property management software.

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, career development counselors' average salary in south dakota is 50% less than in district of columbia.
   • Seniority. Entry-level career development counselors 49% less than senior-level career development counselors.
   • Certifications. A career development counselor 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 career development counselor's salary.

   Average career development counselor salary

   $46,715yearly

   $22.46 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level career development counselor salary

   $33,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 1, 2026

4. Writing a career development counselor job description

   A good career development counselor job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a career development counselor job description:

   Career development counselor job description example

   Job Title: Development Counsel (Real Estate)
   
   Job Location: 17725 Katy Fwy #200, Houston, TX 77094
   
   Job Overview:
   
   The Development Counsel (Real Estate) is responsible for managing the entire legal process of Christian Brothers Automotive Corporate (CBAC), or an affiliate, acquiring a commercial piece of property for the purpose of building one of its retail franchise locations. This will include, but not be limited to: managing the Letter-of-Intent to purchase (LOI) negotiations, the Earnest Money Contract (EMK) negotiations, the bank financing agreement negotiations, all the way through the final closing of the purchase transaction.
   
   As part of a strong legal team the Development Counsel (Real Estate)will be expected to manage timelines of 15-30 projects per year and effectively communicate inter-departmentally with the construction, finance, and leadership teams on these timelines.
   
   The Development Counsel (Real Estate) will work directly with paralegals to help them be as efficient and effective as possible in this role. It will be the responsibility of the Development Counsel (Real Estate) to manage paralegals effectively. Additionally, the Development Counsel (Real Estate) will also be responsible for managing relationships with key outside counsel in different markets around the country where CBAC is growing.
   
   Responsibilities:
   
   Live out our CBAC Core Values + Culture Commitments every day.
   
   Take immediate responsibility of complex commercial real estate matters.
   
   Lead real estate transactions and new leases with limited supervision.
   
   Lead various aspects of real estate administration (closing checklists, lease and purchase agreement summaries, key date trackers, and commencement date memoranda).
   
   Support Supervising Attorney with respect to transactional, litigation, regulatory and compliance work.
   
   Review, negotiate, draft, and advise on all types of contracts involving CBAC arrangements with contractors, vendors, landlords, subtenants, sellers, and other parties related to real estate matters.
   
   Work with associates across the company's business divisions and affiliates on a variety of franchise and legal matters.
   
   Performs other duties as may be assigned by the Supervising Attorney or other CBAC leaders.
   
   Some domestic travel may be involved.
   
   

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right career development counselor for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with career development counselors they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit career development counselors who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting career development counselors 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 career development counselor

   Once you've decided on a perfect career development counselor 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 important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

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

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