How to hire a civil technician

How to hire a civil technician, step by step

Here's a step-by-step civil technician hiring guide:

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

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The civil technician 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?

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   Hiring the perfect civil technician also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   The following list breaks down different types of civil technicians and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Civil Technician	Description	Hourly rate
   Civil Technician	Civil engineering technicians help civil engineers to plan, design, and build highways, bridges, utilities, and other infrastructure projects. They also help to plan, design, and build commercial, industrial, residential, and land development projects.	$19-36
   Project Engineer Internship	When it comes to a project engineer internship, one of the primary responsibilities is to follow the directives of engineers and managers while earning practical experience. Most of the duties will revolve around processing documents, answering calls and correspondence, participating in various projects, assisting engineers in basic tasks, and organizing inventory and supplies... Show more	$14-24
   Engineering Internship	An engineering intern is responsible for assisting the overall project development under the supervision of a head engineer. Engineering interns' duties vary in every industry but generally include generating reports, analyzing budget goals and cost estimates, reaching out to clients for important updates, and providing project improvement recommendations... Show more	$12-30

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Hand Tools
   • RF
   • GPS
   • Data Collection
   • Civil Engineering
   • DOT
   • Asphalt
   • GIS
   • Construction Drawings
   • Field Testing
   • Geotechnical
   • Sprint
   • LTE
   • Retaining Walls

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Operate MDTs and GPS units.
   • Test asphalt for nuclear density.
   • Install all RF equipment as needed on site.
   • Review RFDS and other RF engineering documents to determine construct-ability and develop SOW/OOM/BOM.
   • Survey by using GPS and total station systems to get elevations and layouts for projects.
   • Convert old rasterize substation drawings back into scalable vector format with various AutoDesk programs.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your civil technician job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A civil technician salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, civil technicians' average salary in montana is 43% less than in district of columbia.
   • Seniority. Entry-level civil technicians earn 47% less than senior-level civil technicians.
   • Certifications. A civil technician with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a civil technician's salary.

   Average civil technician salary

   $55,480yearly

   $26.67 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level civil technician salary

   $40,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 31, 2026

4. Writing a civil technician job description

   A job description for a civil technician 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 civil technician job description:

   Civil technician job description example

   ENGINEERING PRACTICE
   
   Consistently ranked by Engineering News-Record as a Top 20 transportation firm, Michael Baker International offers clients an integrated team of professionals versed in all aspects of transportation planning, design, permitting, and construction management and inspection. In addition, Michael Baker International is a recognized leader in the practical aspects of operating and maintaining a safe and efficient transportation infrastructure.
   
   DESCRIPTION
   
   Michael Baker is actively seeking a Civil EIT for our transportation practice in Baton Rouge. The successful candidate will:
   

   • Be responsible for developing design plans, design variations and exceptions, specifications, cost estimates, and prepare final bid packages.
   • Have project experience with providing engineering design services for design bid-build projects and design build projects.
   • Collaborate with the transportation staff to develop transportation projects including but not limited to roadway, bridge, rail, transportation planning, traffic control, signing, pavement marking, knowledge of hydraulic design, and preliminary design for environmental documents.
   • Produce geometric design (horizontal alignments, vertical alignments, typical sections (super-elevation) of roadways and highways in accordance with industry design standards including AASHTO.

   
   PROFESSIONAL REQUIREMENTS
   

   • 0-2 years of related experience.
   • BSCE in Civil Engineering from an ABET accredited college.
   • EI or able to obtain within 6 months.
   • Experience with LADOT on roadway schematic or PS&E projects; preferred.
   • Proficient with MicroStation software programs.

   Michael Baker International, a leading provider of engineering and consulting services, including design, planning, architectural, environmental, construction and program management, has been solving some of the world's most complex infrastructure challenges for more than 80 years with a legacy of expertise, experience, innovation and integrity.
   
   Based in Pittsburgh and with nearly 100 offices nationwide, we partner with clients on everything from roads, bridges, tunnels, mass transit, and airports, to water treatment plants, arctic oil pipelines, environmental restoration and specialized overseas construction. We serve as a trusted adviser to the communities we serve, making them safer, more accessible, more sustainable and more prosperous.
   
   We provide visionary leadership in facilitating transformational change for our clients. Our work delivers differentiating innovations and dedicated experts who challenge the status quo and share a world of diverse experience and an impassioned entrepreneurial spirit. We deliver quality of life.
   
   We Make a Difference.
   
   Michael Baker International is proud to be an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Michael Baker International provides equal employment opportunity for all persons, in all facets of employment. Michael Baker International maintains a drug-free workplace and performs pre-employment substance abuse testing and background checks. As a covered federal contractor, Michael Baker International is required to comply with Executive Order 14042, Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors, and its implementing guidelines. If the federal vaccine mandate is found to be valid and enforceable, this will include ensuring that all covered employees are fully vaccinated for COVID-19, except in limited circumstances where there is a legal entitlement to an accommodate. In addition, you may be subject to current or future state or local COVID-19 vaccine mandates that could become a condition of your employment based upon your work location or involvement on a project. Accordingly, Michael Baker encourages you to provide satisfactory proof that you are \"fully vaccinated\" for COVID-19 so as to ensure compliance with any potential applicable federal, state, or local laws. We encourage all qualified applicants to apply for any open position for which they feel they are qualified and all will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship status, marital status, genetic information, disability, protected veteran status or any other legally protected status.
   
   EEO is the Law. Applicants to and employees of Michael Baker International are protected under Federal law from discrimination.Michael Baker is actively seeking a Civil EITfor our transportation practice in Baton Rouge.

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5. Post your job

   To find civil technicians for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any civil technicians they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level civil technicians with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with civil technician 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.

   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 civil technician

   Once you've decided on a perfect civil technician 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.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new civil technician. 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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