How to hire a computer consultant

How to hire a computer consultant, step by step

Here's a step-by-step computer consultant hiring guide:

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

What does a computer consultant do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the computer consultant you need to hire. Certain computer consultant 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

   A computer consultant's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, computer consultants 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 presents computer consultant salaries for various positions.

   Type of Computer Consultant	Description	Hourly rate
   Computer Consultant	Computer support specialists provide help and advice to people and organizations using computer software or equipment. Some, called computer network support specialists, support information technology (IT) employees within their organization... Show more	$32-62
   Systems Support	A systems support agent is responsible for resolving system applications and network issues, performing technical configuration, and upgrading systems infrastructure. A systems support representative conducts regular maintenance and diagnostic tests on the computer applications to ensure its optimal performance and efficiency to support business operations and avoid delays in deliverables... Show more	$21-42
   Technology Coordinator	A technology coordinator is responsible for maintaining the organization's technology systems infrastructure, ensuring the efficiency of computer systems to meet project deliverables, and prevent delays in business operations. Technology coordinators evaluate new technology systems, studying its schematics and specifications, running diagnostic tests, and perform troubleshooting for inconsistencies and guide end-users for the system processes... Show more	$23-48

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Technical Support
   • Database
   • Linux
   • Troubleshoot
   • Desk Support
   • Microsoft Windows
   • Computer System
   • Mac
   • SQL Server
   • OS
   • C++
   • LAN
   • HTML
   • Unix

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage hardware design, install custom Linux desktop operating system, integrate software written in C++.
   • Manage configuration and connectivity of customer virtual networks through VMware tools.
   • Convert existing VHS tapes into digital clips to use in Powerpoint.
   • Install and configure AcuConnect on the LINUX servers for thin client access from windows.
   • Diagnose connection to the on-campus networks and services through OS, VPN and/or proxy configuration.
   • Create, design and maintain web sites for small businesses using (HTML/DHTML, JavaScript, Perl/CGI )

   More computer consultant duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, computer consultants' average salary in south dakota is 55% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level computer consultants earn 49% less than senior-level computer consultants.
   • Certifications. A computer consultant 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 computer consultant's salary.

   Average computer consultant salary

   $94,331yearly

   $45.35 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level computer consultant salary

   $67,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 17, 2025

   Average computer consultant salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$105,776	$51
   2	New Jersey	$94,493	$45
   3	Rhode Island	$91,168	$44
   4	North Carolina	$85,717	$41
   5	Texas	$85,231	$41
   6	Virginia	$84,203	$40
   7	New York	$80,782	$39
   8	Connecticut	$79,883	$38
   9	Massachusetts	$78,978	$38
   10	Pennsylvania	$78,566	$38
   11	Kentucky	$78,343	$38
   12	New Hampshire	$77,802	$37
   13	Maryland	$77,481	$37
   14	Oregon	$74,694	$36
   15	Georgia	$74,297	$36
   16	Florida	$71,122	$34
   17	Ohio	$65,510	$32
   18	Tennessee	$65,373	$31
   19	Michigan	$64,379	$31
   20	Illinois	$56,683	$27

   Average computer consultant salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Novartis	$126,282	$60.71
   2	Global Technical Talent	$112,840	$54.25
   3	Booz Allen Hamilton	$102,785	$49.42	28
   4	CNA Insurance	$100,212	$48.18	90
   5	Techwave	$95,597	$45.96
   6	Melillo Consulting	$94,844	$45.60
   7	JBA International	$92,177	$44.32
   8	Open Systems Technologies	$91,358	$43.92
   9	Cognizant	$89,534	$43.05	175
   10	Circular Edge	$89,302	$42.93
   11	Accenture	$88,652	$42.62	192
   12	Cyret Technologies	$88,612	$42.60
   13	Insyte Consulting	$88,000	$42.31
   14	Wipro Limited	$86,721	$41.69	17
   15	Westar Energy	$85,461	$41.09
   16	IBM	$83,714	$40.25	242
   17	DR Technologies	$82,439	$39.63
   18	VEDICSOFT	$81,585	$39.22
   19	NBBJ Design	$81,042	$38.96
   20	Advent Global Solutions	$80,871	$38.88

4. Writing a computer consultant job description

   A good computer consultant 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 computer consultant job description:

   Computer consultant job description example

   • Provide technical expertise on cloud cluster computing techniques and technologies and expert advice to the program, and related cloud computing architectures. Optimize memory management identifying the best ways to develop distributed cluster-enabled and graph processing algorithms.
   • Assist customers with data integration and migration efforts, including mapping schemas, performing RDF translations, and defining domain specific ontologies, where applicable. Develop large data technologies, algorithms, and applications for clients.
   • Research, evaluate, and deploy advanced cloud computing systems and large data analytics for clients in research and production areas. Work with massive data sets, complex algorithms, and team members from a variety of specialties to solve clients' hardest problems.
   • Support a range of clients from front line analysts to researchers and senior leadership.
   • Work as a key contributor on a collaborative, fast-growing, and highly skilled software development team.
   • Experience with information extraction and analysis techniques, practices, and algorithms.
   • Knowledge of a variety of advanced computer science and mathematical concepts, practices, and procedures associated with the analysis of large datasets, from indexing schemes to statistical tests-Knowledge of Cloud computing, Hadoop or MapReduce, Netezza, Vertica, BigTable, Pig, Teradata, or Amazon Web Services-Ability to obtain a security clearance.
   • Experience with data mining or machine learning preferred. Apply expert knowledge in computer science, particularly in the Semantic Web and cloud computing environments.
   • Bachelors Degree with 10+ Years experience, Masters Degree with 8+ Years experience , PhD Degree with 5+ Years of experience.
   • Active Top Secret Clearance required with the ability to obtain a higher level clearance if needed.

   Peraton Overview

   Peraton drives missions of consequence spanning the globe and extending to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. As the world's leading mission capability integrator and transformative enterprise IT provider, we deliver trusted and highly differentiated national security solutions and technologies that keep people safe and secure. Peraton serves as a valued partner to essential government agencies across the intelligence, space, cyber, defense, civilian, health, and state and local markets. Every day, our employees do the can't be done, solving the most daunting challenges facing our customers.

   An Equal Opportunity Employer including Disability/Veteran.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right computer consultant 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 computer consultants they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit computer consultants 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 computer consultant job on Zippia to find and attract quality computer consultant candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit computer consultants, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   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.

   While interviews are great, you will only sometimes learn enough from a conversation with a computer consultant applicant. In those cases, having candidates complete a test project can go a long way in figuring out who's the most likely to succeed in the role. If you aren't a technical person and don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to create it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   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 computer consultant

   Once you've selected the best computer consultant candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been 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.)

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How much does it cost to hire a computer consultant?