How to hire a Child Care Teacher

Child care teacher hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring child care teachers in the United States:

HR departments typically spend 15% of their expenses on recruitment.
It usually takes about 12 weeks for a new employee to reach full productivity levels.
It typically takes 36-42 days to fill a job opening.
The median cost to hire a child care teacher is $1,633.
Small businesses spend an average of $1,105 per child care teacher on training each year, while large companies spend $658.
There are currently 923,528 child care teachers in the US and 139,010 job openings.
Atlanta, GA, has the highest demand for child care teachers, with 38 job openings.
Milwaukee, WI has the highest concentration of child care teachers.

How to hire a child care teacher, step by step

To hire a child care teacher, consider the skills and experience you are looking for in a candidate, allocate a budget for the position, and post and promote the job opening to reach potential candidates. Follow these steps to hire a child care teacher:

Here's a step-by-step child care teacher hiring guide:

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

What does a Child Care Teacher do?

A child care teacher is responsible for educating young learners, observing their personal and social behaviors. They also prepare engaging and fun activities for the children, ensuring their safety and security. Child care teachers assist the children's daily activities and provide progress reports and updates to the children's parents for any concerns and support needed. They also maintain the cleanliness and orderliness of the facilities by adhering to the safety standards and protocols. A child care teacher must have excellent communication and organizational skills and implement learning methods that would fit the curriculum.

Learn more about the specifics of what a child care teacher does

Post A Child Care Teacher Job For Free, Promote It For A Fee

Identify your hiring needs

Before you post your child care teacher 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 child care teacher 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?

A child care teacher's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, child care teachers 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.

The following list breaks down different types of child care teachers and their corresponding salaries.

Type Of Child Care Teacher	Description	Hourly Rate
Child Care Teacher	Teacher assistants work under a teacher’s supervision to give students additional attention and instruction.	$6-21
Teacher Internship	Teaching interns are individuals who assist teachers and educators in the classroom. The interns are instructed to fulfill the tasks set out and provided by the supervisors for them... Show More	$16-32
Teacher Aide	Teacher aides help lead teachers in managing the classroom. They assist teachers in conducting classroom sessions by setting up the classroom in advance, sourcing materials needed for class activities, helping in presentations, and guiding students during class activities... Show More	$11-17

Create an ideal candidate profile
Common Skills:
- Child Care
- Child Development
- CPR
- Customer Service
- Kids
- Classroom Environment
- Cleanliness
- Open Communication
- Child Abuse
- Parent Conferences
- Emotional Development
- Outdoor Play
- Continuous Supervision
- Social Development
Check All Skills
Responsibilities:
- Maintain annual CPR training certificate.
- Perform simple first aid and CPR in emergencies.
- Coordinate activities for and supervise Pre-K after school students.
- Promote language development skills through reading and storytelling.
- Facilitate student learning by implementing IEP adaptations and strategies.
- Operate van safely when driving residents, adhering to reasonable cleanliness standards and notifying appropriate personnel of maintenance concerns.
More Child Care Teacher duties

Make a budget

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

Location. For example, child care teachers' average salary in kansas is 43% less than in massachusetts.
Seniority. Entry-level child care teachers 69% less than senior-level child care teachers.
Certifications. A child care teacher 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 child care teacher's salary.

Average child care teacher salary

$12.52hourly

$26,036 yearly

Entry-level child care teacher salary

$14,000 yearly salary

Updated January 14, 2025

Average child care teacher salary by state

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Massachusetts	$36,250	$17
2	Washington	$32,290	$16
3	New York	$32,239	$16
4	Delaware	$31,481	$15
5	California	$30,105	$14
6	Pennsylvania	$29,266	$14
7	Missouri	$28,117	$14
8	Virginia	$27,864	$13
9	Minnesota	$27,291	$13
10	Illinois	$27,055	$13
11	Wisconsin	$26,925	$13
12	Colorado	$25,532	$12
13	North Carolina	$25,388	$12
14	Florida	$24,614	$12
15	Michigan	$24,031	$12
16	Iowa	$23,842	$11
17	Arizona	$23,777	$11
18	Maryland	$23,342	$11
19	Nebraska	$23,012	$11
20	Texas	$22,839	$11

Average child care teacher salary by company

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Google	$86,912	$41.78
2	Columbia International University	$49,741	$23.91	1
3	University of California-Berkeley	$48,341	$23.24	8
4	Georgetown University	$44,135	$21.22	7
5	Menlo School	$40,842	$19.64	5
6	CARE	$35,262	$16.95	96
7	University of Washington	$35,175	$16.91	16
8	Blessing Hospital Emergency Room	$35,154	$16.90	8
9	University Of Minnesota Physicians	$35,071	$16.86	9
10	Maryland School for the Blind	$34,639	$16.65	4
11	Saint Luke's Health System	$33,965	$16.33	27
12	Scripps Health	$33,503	$16.11	32
13	University of Southern California	$33,492	$16.10	10
14	Skidmore College	$33,344	$16.03	3
15	Novant Health	$33,326	$16.02	32
16	BayCare Health System	$33,249	$15.99	40
17	Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation Inc.	$33,189	$15.96	8
18	Children's Hospital Colorado	$32,342	$15.55	12
19	Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District	$32,001	$15.39	2
20	Jewish Senior Life	$31,925	$15.35	1

Writing a Child Care Teacher Job Description
A good child care teacher 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 child care teacher job description:
Child Care Teacher job description example
Title: Early Childhood Education ECT Teachers $750 Bonus!

We have an opening to join our team of passionate educators who want to make the world a better place through creating a magical learning environment for young children. Be a part of a growing community of early childhood educators who care about their teachers' joy and growth.

What We Offer Our Teachers:
- Our wonderful company emergent curriculum that empowers teachers to teach to the child and what the children want to learn, not to an outdated, dusty program
- Flexible schedule with the option to work part-time or the schedule that fits your life
- Opportunity for professional development paid for by the company through our partnership with Child Care Education Institute, in addition to state trainings
- Opportunity for advancement within the first year
- Unmatched, generous employee childcare discount (50% off for infants and toddlers, 75% for preschool and school age)
- Competitive benefits plan including medical, dental, and vision
If you are looking for a company that is understanding of your commitments, don't hesitate to apply! If you are a working parent, we encourage you to apply! We have a very generous employee childcare discount. If you are a student, we can work around your class schedule and availability.

Details:
- Must be Lead ECT qualified
- Ask about bonus details today!
- Monday-Friday NO nights or weekends
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY Early Learning Academies is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against protected characteristics. We are committed to a work environment that supports, inspires, and respects individuals to support an inclusive environment for all employees. It is our policy to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees to the extent required by applicable laws.
Post your job
There are various strategies that you can use to find the right child care teacher 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 child care teacher job on Zippia to find and recruit child care teacher candidates who meet your exact specifications.
- Use field-specific websites.
- Post a job on free websites.
Interview candidates
During your first interview to recruit child care teachers, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.
It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you 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.
Send a job offer and onboard your new child care teacher
Once you've decided on a perfect child care teacher 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.
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.
After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new child care teacher. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.
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 child care teacher?

Before you start to hire child care teachers, it pays to consider both the one-off costs like recruitment, job promotion, and onboarding, as well as the ongoing costs of an employee's salary and benefits. While most companies that hire child care teachers pay close attention to the initial cost of hiring, ongoing costs are much more significant in the long run.

Child care teachers earn a median yearly salary is $26,036 a year in the US. However, if you're looking to find child care teachers for hire on a contract or per-project basis, hourly rates typically range between $6 and $21.

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How to hire a Child Care Teacher

Updated January 14, 2025

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How to hire a Child Care Teacher