How to hire a community program assistant

How to hire a community program assistant, step by step

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

What does a community program assistant do?

Post a community program assistant job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   The community program assistant 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?

   Yes

   No

   A community program assistant's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, community program assistants 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.

   This list shows salaries for various types of community program assistants.

   Type of Community Program Assistant	Description	Hourly rate
   Community Program Assistant	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.	$13-20
   Program Officer	A program officer is an essential part of a foundation or charitable organization. It is up to program officers to supervise program progress and proposals, seek grants, manage projects, and oversee budgets... Show more	$25-56
   Program Facilitator	Program facilitators have good skills in communication, empathy, active listening, conversation, conflict management, and consensus-building. They also have a keen understanding of group dynamics, management, and how to create an inclusive environment... Show more	$12-27

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Phone Calls
   • Data Entry
   • Public Health
   • Social Services
   • Community Outreach
   • Assistance Program
   • Community Services
   • Travel Arrangements
   • Technical Assistance
   • Developmental Disabilities
   • Provides Administrative Support
   • Community Engagement
   • Community Programs
   • Social Justice

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Assist in achieving and maintaining DoD certification and national accreditation where applicable.
   • Provide implementation and oversight of multiple tracking systems for safety regulation adherence, record maintenance, and internal and external interactions.
   • Create community partnerships in addiction ministry and education resulting in ecumenical collaboration surrounding the issues of addiction and recovery.

   More community program assistant duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, community program assistants' average salary in virginia is 38% less than in north dakota.
   • Seniority. Entry-level community program assistants 35% less than senior-level community program assistants.
   • Certifications. A community program assistant 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 program assistant's salary.

   Average community program assistant salary

   $35,093yearly

   $16.87 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level community program assistant salary

   $28,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 20, 2026

   Average community program assistant salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New Jersey	$42,574	$20
   2	California	$41,432	$20
   3	Washington	$41,242	$20
   4	Wisconsin	$40,910	$20
   5	Iowa	$40,777	$20
   6	Massachusetts	$40,549	$19
   7	Minnesota	$39,988	$19
   8	New York	$39,061	$19
   9	Colorado	$38,702	$19
   10	Texas	$38,053	$18
   11	North Carolina	$37,566	$18
   12	Oregon	$36,334	$17
   13	Illinois	$36,225	$17
   14	Pennsylvania	$35,495	$17
   15	Arizona	$32,955	$16
   16	Michigan	$32,800	$16
   17	Florida	$30,492	$15
   18	Missouri	$30,051	$14
   19	Alabama	$28,773	$14
   20	Virginia	$28,208	$14

   Average community program assistant salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Ilitch Holdings	$46,920	$22.56
   2	Brigham and Women's Hospital	$44,971	$21.62	33
   3	Ohlone College	$43,225	$20.78
   4	Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center	$42,659	$20.51
   5	DESC	$42,111	$20.25	10
   6	East Bay Innovations	$40,974	$19.70
   7	United Way of Central Carolinas	$39,499	$18.99
   8	Baylor College of Medicine	$38,715	$18.61
   9	Greystar Real Estate Partners	$38,173	$18.35	168
   10	Children's Home Society of Florida	$37,165	$17.87	38
   11	Dignity Health	$36,819	$17.70	30
   12	American Campus Communities	$36,583	$17.59	28
   13	BayCare Health System	$36,280	$17.44	29
   14	Harris Health System	$36,233	$17.42
   15	University Of Minnesota Physicians	$36,221	$17.41	4
   16	Asset Living	$35,738	$17.18	14
   17	Firstservice Residential California, Inc.	$35,365	$17.00
   18	Pro Health Care Services	$35,147	$16.90
   19	The NRP Group	$35,101	$16.88	10
   20	Campus Advantage	$34,701	$16.68	6

4. Writing a community program assistant job description

   A community program assistant 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 community program assistant job description:

   Community program assistant job description example

   You're going to love it here. That's not just a promise to our residents; it's a promise to our employees as well. As passionate as we are about helping students succeed, we're just as passionate about creating rewarding careers for our team members. Here you'll find a hardworking, motivating culture with unlimited potential for contribution and growth. We are hiring driven students with entrepreneurial spirits looking to begin their career today!
   
   Our people are our strength, and at American Campus, our Community Assistants are the primary facilitator in providing our prospective and current residents with a dynamic and enhanced leasing and living experience.
   
   As a part-time Community Assistant, you'll gain valuable work experience while developing the critical professional skills top employers want to hire. This is an opportunity to have an impact in the lives of fellow students and get paid to make a difference.
   
   As a student employee, we will work with your class schedule to maximize your professional and academic growth. You will work a structured administrative shift in the apartment leasing office which may include evenings, weekdays, weekends, and/or holidays. Here's what your typical day may look like:
   
   Help students find their home away from home by making appointments, conducting tours, maintaining show rooms, and completing marketing follow-up processes needed to secure leases.
   
   Provide unparalleled customer service and respect for residents while supporting all American Campus Communities policies and procedures.
   
   Enthusiastically assist with the implementation of off-site marketing efforts on-campus, in the community, and at special events.
   Assist with the preparation and administration of Turn, Move-In, and Move-Out. Work scheduled “Community Assistant On-Call” shifts, which may include, weekdays, weekends, and/or holidays. These shifts are a required part of the Community Assistant position and may take place at any point during the day, evening, and/or overnight. We are passionate about our work and building community.
   Our people are devoted to a culture of inclusion, diversity, and equality in the workplace and our communities. We are committed to intentionally executing an evolving set of goals specific to inclusion, diversity, and accountability, driven by empathetic leadership and embraced by all. The core of American Campus culture involves everyone being fully invested in everything that we do down to picking up the smallest piece of trash. No matter their position or duration at any given property, everyone picks up trash because we take pride in our community. Certain activities involved in this position may be photographed and/or video and audio recorded for quality control and/or training purposes. Compliance with the Photo, Video and Voice Recording Policy is a condition of employment Your background and experience needed to excel in this role should include: A high school diploma and diploma in progress from an accredited college or university A desire to develop your leadership, problem solving, and conflict resolution skills The ability to act as customer relations liaison for residents, prospective residents, and parents A desire to impact your community with marketing strategy and vision. ACC is now hiring - Join us and see just how far your ambition can advance your career before you even graduate!

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right community program assistant 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 community program assistants they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit community program assistants 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 community program assistant job on Zippia to find and recruit community program assistant candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting community program assistants 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 program assistant

   Once you've found the community program assistant candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   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 community program assistant. 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.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a community program assistant?