How to hire a community aide

How to hire a community aide, step by step

Here's a step-by-step community aide hiring guide:

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

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the community aide you need to hire. Certain community aide roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect community aide 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.

   This list presents community aide salaries for various positions.

   Type of Community Aide	Description	Hourly rate
   Community Aide	Social and human service assistants provide client services, including support for families, in a wide variety of fields, such as psychology, rehabilitation, and social work. They assist other workers, such as social workers, and they help clients find benefits or community services.	$8-14
   Human Services Worker	A human services worker provides various services that will improve their clients' lives. These include evaluating the needs of their clients, creating the right treatment plan, and executing the plan... Show more	$8-22
   Residential Counselor	A residential counselor is responsible for guiding and providing the residents with their basic needs and other resources to support them in their daily living. Residential counselors' duties include maintaining the safety of the community by enforcing safety guidelines and procedures for the residents' compliance, organizing productive and engaging community activities, updating the residents of any changes and policies in the community, and resolving conflicts by counseling and understanding each resident's differences... Show more	$12-20

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Developmental Disabilities
   • CPR
   • Autism
   • Behavior Management
   • Community Resources
   • Front Desk
   • ADL
   • Direct Support
   • Early Intervention
   • Community Outreach
   • Direct Care
   • Community Services
   • Conflict Resolution
   • Press Releases

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Assist in managing inventory for student and staff culinary and scholastic supplies.
   • Provide relationship-base treatment plans to patients that involves high quality acute psychiatric evaluations, crisis stabilization, and intensive short-term treatment.
   • Collaborate with community health councils and other community agencies to provide programs that enhance community awareness of health and safety.

   More community aide duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, community aides' average salary in south dakota is 37% less than in district of columbia.
   • Seniority. Entry-level community aides 40% less than senior-level community aides.
   • Certifications. A community aide 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 community aide's salary.

   Average community aide salary

   $11.39hourly

   $23,688 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level community aide salary

   $18,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 30, 2026

   Average community aide salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$27,387	$13
   2	Illinois	$26,469	$13
   3	New York	$24,727	$12
   4	Maryland	$24,134	$12
   5	Pennsylvania	$23,017	$11
   6	Michigan	$22,780	$11
   7	Tennessee	$21,476	$10
   8	Missouri	$20,324	$10
   9	Georgia	$20,076	$10

   Average community aide salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Trinity Health	$28,711	$13.80	196
   2	New York State Restaurant Association	$27,001	$12.98
   3	Merakey	$25,952	$12.48	25
   4	Avera Health	$25,692	$12.35	12
   5	CHRIS Kids	$25,272	$12.15	4
   6	Superior Care Pharmacy, Inc.	$24,132	$11.60
   7	The Arc Of Cumberland & Perry Counties (cparc)	$24,068	$11.57	1
   8	UPMC	$24,026	$11.55	40
   9	Opportunity Development Centers, Inc.	$23,808	$11.45
   10	Door’s	$23,798	$11.44	1
   11	Colorado State Express	$23,798	$11.44
   12	City of Baltimore	$23,734	$11.41	10
   13	Americorps	$23,708	$11.40	75
   14	City of Santa Ana	$23,690	$11.39
   15	Salvation Army North	$23,641	$11.37
   16	The Salvation Army	$23,484	$11.29	191
   17	Fontana Unified School District	$23,480	$11.29	2

4. Writing a community aide job description

   A good community aide 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 community aide job description:

   Community aide job description example

   Merakey is currently seeking a Home and Community Aide to join our IDD division in Harrisburg, PA and surrounding locations.
   
   If you are a Caregiver, Direct Care Worker, Home Health Aid or always wanted to be one, this is the opportunity for you as we are hiring immediately!
   
   Work around your schedule! This Fee for Service position offers flexible shifts based on the needs of the consumer. Up to 25 hours per week at $17/hour!
   
   Are you looking for a position where you can utilize your skills and passion for supporting people? Do you believe that we are better together by including everyone? Are you searching for a rewarding career in the service of others? The Direct Support Professional role isn't for everyone- but it IS for those who enjoy a challenge working with individuals with disabilities and the reward that comes with it. Being in this role requires both attention to detail and creativity as you are serving as both a life coach and a personal support to our individuals. If this sounds like something that you would enjoy -- then join our team!
   
   * This position provides care in home and in community settings by assisting individuals in acquiring, maintaining, and improving self-help, domestic, socialization and adaptive skills necessary to reside successfully in-home and community based settings.
   
   * Support in general areas of self-care, communication, fine and gross motor skills, mobility, personal adjustment, relationship development, socialization and use of community resources.
   
   * Home and Community Habilitation services provide supports to meet individual's habilitative outcomes as documented in their individual support plans.
   
   * Support the individual so that it enables the individual to access and use community resources such as instruction in using transportation, translation and communication assistance related to a habilitative outcome and services to assist the individual in shopping and other necessary activities of community life.
   
   Merakey is a leading developmental, behavior health, and education non-profit provider with a fifty-year history. We offer a breadth of integrated services to individuals and communities across the country. Our belief that every individual has the right to achieve growth, dignity and fulfillment guides all of our decisions. At Merakey, we care about each other and are committed to providing the very best care to those we serve. Merakey strictly follows a zero-tolerance policy for abuse.
   
   Merakey is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer! We deeply value diversity and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, ethnic background, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, genetic information, or disability status. Moreover, we are committed to creating teams that reflect the diversity of the communities we serve and encourage applicants from underrepresented backgrounds to apply.
   Our ideal candidate will possess the following skills: * Must be 18 years of age or older. * Must have a valid driver's license. * High school diploma/GED. * Experience working with individuals with developmental disabilities preferred.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find community aides 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 community aides they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level community aides 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 community aide job on Zippia to find and recruit community aide candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting community aides 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.

   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.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new community aide

   Once you've decided on a perfect community aide 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 equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new community aide. 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.

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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