Post job

How to hire a career manager

Career manager hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring career managers in the United States:

  • In the United States, the median cost per hire a career manager is $1,633.
  • It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
  • Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
  • On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new career manager to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire a career manager, step by step

To hire a career manager, you should create an ideal candidate profile, determine a budget, and post and promote your job. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to hire a career manager:

Here's a step-by-step career manager 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 manager job description
  • Step 5: Post your job
  • Step 6: Interview candidates
  • Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new career manager
  • Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist
jobs
Post a career manager job for free, promote it for a fee
  1. Identify your hiring needs

    Before you start hiring a career manager, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

    Determine employee vs contractor status
    Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

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

    This list shows salaries for various types of career managers.

    Type of Career ManagerDescriptionHourly rate
    Career ManagerSocial and community service managers coordinate and supervise social service programs and community organizations. They manage staff who provide social services to the public.$13-37
    Youth LeaderA youth leader is a young individual who is responsible for building a sense of community within the church youth that can provide an opportunity for both spiritual and social development. Youth Leaders organize regular social, educational, and spiritual oriented events with parents and volunteers to maintain a vibrant program... Show more$11-17
    Director Of Social ServicesA director of social services or social services director is an individual who works with the community to identify the suitable programs and services. Social services directors provide overall leadership for certain departments within organizations... Show more$19-38
  2. Create an ideal candidate profile

    Common skills:
    • Career Development
    • Career Services
    • Training Programs
    • Personnel Actions
    • Career Planning
    • Career Paths
    • Professional Development
    • Career Exploration
    • Career Fairs
    • Human Resources
    • Career Management
    • Community Resources
    • Community Agencies
    • Career Advice
    Check all skills
    Responsibilities:
    • Provide IEP development and retention services.
    • Conduct GED preparation courses gear towards students with literacy and basic skills deficiency.
    • Assist clients with meeting GED preparation requirements, facilitate group and individual assessments for multiple programs.
    • Certify youth eligibility for WIA fund intensive services.
    • Follow all statewide WIA regulatory and compliance guidelines.
    • Develop and facilitate outplacement programs across healthcare, scientific research and higher education sectors.
  3. Make a budget

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

    • Location. For example, career managers' average salary in maine is 47% less than in arizona.
    • Seniority. Entry-level career managers 64% less than senior-level career managers.
    • Certifications. A career manager 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 manager's salary.

    Average career manager salary

    $47,312yearly

    $22.75 hourly rate

    Entry-level career manager salary
    $28,000 yearly salary
    Updated December 22, 2025
  4. Writing a career manager job description

    A career manager 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 career manager job description:

    Career manager job description example

    As one of the first college support organizations to focus on college completion, Bottom Line now produces best-in-class college graduation rates that reduce the significant gap between first-generation students from low-income backgrounds and their wealthier peers. We operate regional programs in Massachusetts, New York City, and Chicago that collectively serve over 7,000 students.

    When you join Bottom Line, you will find an organization that lives into its core values. We are committed to building strong, impactful relationships with our students, co-workers, schools, community partners, donors, and other supporters. We are engaging, responsive, caring, direct, honest, solutions-oriented, and we always follow through on our promises. We act with empathy and extend grace to ourselves and each other. We pursue ambitious goals, hold ourselves to high standards, make data-informed decisions, and orient to long-term success for our students and our organization. We operate with curiosity, evolve thoughtfully, take informed risks, and learn from successes, setbacks, and each other. Experts in our field, we are driven by our mission and motivated by the impact we're achieving.

    At Bottom Line, we have a strong commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. We aim to attract diverse candidate pools who hold these same values, and are ready to help us along our journey toward greater equity and inclusion.

    For more information about who we are, please review our Core Values and Careers Page.

    The Career Connections Manager will collaborate closely with the Chicago Program Leadership Team and with Career Connections teams in Bottom Line's New York and Massachusetts Regions to manage the Chicago career programming. Effective programming will support students throughout their college experience with building career readiness skills and social capital to achieve a “mobilizing first destination,” defined as starting graduate school or a first career mobilizing job, within 6 months of college graduation.

    Responsibilities

    Primary Responsibilities:

    Program Management - 30%

    • Deepen the integration of career philosophy and strategies into existing college success and access programming and training to ensure students are on track to achieve key employability milestones throughout their college career
    • Lead regular career-focused training refreshers for advising staff with mock meetings, practice sessions, and roundtables to cultivate a culture of learning and continuous improvement
    • Serve as an expert in Chicago job market trends and develop the advising team's knowledge of hiring opportunities, timelines, and processes for students' commonly identified industries of interest
    • Collaborate with the Managing Director of Programs and Success Program Director to build a regional career strategy that aligns with national career strategy and goals
    • Support career programming areas for regional pilot initiative
    • Develop and execute light touch programming and support for recent college graduates still seeking a mobilizing first destination
    • Manage outreach and engagement with program alumni to build a pipeline of Go Far Volunteers and event volunteers

    Career Experiences Management - 30%

    • Cultivate and source meaningful career relevant experiences for Bottom Line students in the form of externships, internships, industry-specific career programs, etc.
    • Lead the Bottom Line Externship Program and annual Go Far Forum
    • Collaborate with the program team to lead the strategy and delivery of valuable career e
  5. Post your job

    To find the right career manager 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 managers they would recommend.
    • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit career managers 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 manager job on Zippia to find and recruit career manager candidates who meet your exact specifications.
    • Use field-specific websites.
    • Post a job on free websites.
  6. Interview candidates

    Your first interview with career manager candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

    It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

    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 manager

    Once you have selected a candidate for the career manager 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.

    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.

    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.)
    Sign up to download full list

How much does it cost to hire a career manager?

Hiring a career manager comes with both the one-time cost per hire and ongoing costs. The cost of recruiting career managers involves promoting the job and spending time conducting interviews. Ongoing costs include employee salary, training, benefits, insurance, and equipment. It is essential to consider the cost of career manager recruiting as well the ongoing costs of maintaining the new employee.

Career managers earn a median yearly salary is $47,312 a year in the US. However, if you're looking to find career managers for hire on a contract or per-project basis, hourly rates typically range between $13 and $37.

Find better career managers in less time
Post a job on Zippia and hire the best from over 7 million monthly job seekers.

Hiring career managers FAQs

Search for career manager jobs

Ready to start hiring?

Browse executive management jobs