How to hire a data scientist

How to hire a data scientist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step data scientist hiring guide:

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

What does a data scientist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a data scientist, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   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 data scientist 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 shows salaries for various types of data scientists.

   Type of Data Scientist	Description	Hourly rate
   Data Scientist	Computer and information research scientists invent and design new approaches to computing technology and find innovative uses for existing technology. They study and solve complex problems in computing for business, medicine, science, and other fields.	$36-71
   Research And Development Internship	When it comes to Research and Development Internship, the duties will vary according to the organization or company. Most of the time, the responsibilities will revolve around observing the industry, taking part in the research and analysis, lend a helping hand in experiments and surveys, explore theories and attempt to create a model of out it, present findings for evaluation, and develop more innovative designs and systems... Show more	$14-22
   Developer Analyst	A developer analyst is a professional who is responsible for building application requirements and develops database solutions that allow operational efficiency and user-friendly tools. Developer analysts are required to develop a detailed definition of business solutions that can include database design, data flow, and transaction processing requirements... Show more	$30-54

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Python
   • Data Science
   • Visualization
   • Java
   • Hadoop
   • Tableau
   • Data Analytics
   • Data Visualization
   • TensorFlow
   • Machine Learning Techniques
   • Predictive Models
   • Machine Learning Algorithms
   • Neural Networks
   • Scala

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Update, maintain, and manage regional CRM database and records for customers, vendors, and suppliers.
   • Configure and manage JobScope ERP system for a make-to-order/make-to-stock design and manufacturing environment.
   • Lead the analysis in SAS for data integration of mortality data using meta-analysis integration methods.
   • Implement a proximal stochastic gradient descent with a line search to fit a regularize logistic regression in Scala
   • Perform cross-validation-test on linear regression model of data using scikit-learn.
   • Develop python base statistical visualization to provide insights of fuzzy social media data.

   More data scientist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the data scientist job description is a good way to get more applicants. A data scientist salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a data scientist in Kansas may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level data scientist. Additionally, a data scientist with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average data scientist salary

   $106,104yearly

   $51.01 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level data scientist salary

   $75,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average data scientist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$129,871	$62
   2	Washington	$112,336	$54
   3	New York	$99,006	$48
   4	Massachusetts	$94,169	$45
   5	New Jersey	$90,513	$44
   6	Arizona	$89,897	$43
   7	District of Columbia	$89,632	$43
   8	Connecticut	$88,948	$43
   9	Oregon	$88,069	$42
   10	Virginia	$86,787	$42
   11	Utah	$86,108	$41
   12	Pennsylvania	$85,886	$41
   13	Texas	$85,437	$41
   14	Illinois	$83,084	$40
   15	Minnesota	$82,821	$40
   16	North Carolina	$82,798	$40
   17	Ohio	$82,117	$39
   18	Michigan	$81,703	$39
   19	Colorado	$80,120	$39
   20	Wisconsin	$79,710	$38

   Average data scientist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	The Citadel	$171,297	$82.35	3
   2	Airbnb	$153,510	$73.80
   3	Meta	$153,148	$73.63	1,193
   4	ByteDance	$151,915	$73.04	79
   5	Apple	$147,478	$70.90	107
   6	Brex	$147,344	$70.84	3
   7	DoorDash	$146,007	$70.20	20
   8	Crunchbase	$145,996	$70.19
   9	Yelp	$145,037	$69.73
   10	StubHub	$145,006	$69.71	18
   11	Netflix	$144,857	$69.64	9
   12	Flexport	$144,335	$69.39
   13	Thrive Market	$144,086	$69.27
   14	Safeway	$143,614	$69.05
   15	Zenefits	$143,360	$68.92
   16	Upstart Network	$142,907	$68.71
   17	Lyft	$142,400	$68.46	10
   18	Google	$141,242	$67.90	276
   19	Chegg	$140,932	$67.76
   20	Credit Karma	$140,905	$67.74	17

4. Writing a data scientist job description

   A job description for a data scientist 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 data scientist job description:

   Data scientist job description example

   We are Cognizant Artificial Intelligence
   
   Digital technologies, including analytics and AI, give companies a once-in-a-generation opportunity to perform orders of magnitude better than ever before. But clients need new business models built from analyzing customers and business operations at every angle to really understand them. With the power to apply artificial intelligence and data science to business decisions via enterprise data management solutions, we help leading companies prototype, refine, validate and scale the most desirable products and delivery models to enterprise scale within weeks
   
   Location- Remote
   
   Technical Skills
   SNo Primary Skill Proficiency Level * Rqrd./Dsrd. 1 Machine Learning PL3 Required 2 3NF data modeling PL3 Desired 3 Python PL4 Desired 4 PL/SQL PL3 Desired
   Job summary
   Primary skill as Machine Learning.- Selecting appropriate data sets.
   - Picking appropriate data representation methods.
   - Identifying differences in data distribution that affects model perfor mance.
   - Verifying data quality.
   As to the data management resource ideally we can get an onshore mid-level data management resource to help us with the items listed. They would need to have good knowledge of python and experience preparing unstructured (image) datasets for machine learning applications.
   3.Experience
   10to12yrs
   4.Required Skills
   Technical Skills- Machine Learning.
   
   #LI-PT1 #CB #Ind123
   
   Qualifications
   Technical Skills
   SNo Primary Skill Proficiency Level * Rqrd./Dsrd. 1 Machine Learning PL3 Required 2 3NF data modeling PL3 Desired 3 Python PL4 Desired 4 PL/SQL PL3 Desired
   
   * Proficiency Legends
   Proficiency Level Generic Reference PL1 The associate has basic awareness and comprehension of the skill and is in the process of acquiring this skill through various channels. PL2 The associate possesses working knowledge of the skill, and can actively and independently apply this skill in engagements and projects. PL3 The associate has comprehensive, in-depth and specialized knowledge of the skill. She / he has extensively demonstrated successful application of the skill in engagements or projects. PL4 The associate can function as a subject matter expert for this skill. The associate is capable of analyzing, evaluating and synthesizing solutions using the skill.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find data scientists for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   To find data scientist candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit data scientists, 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.

   Sometimes, it's not enough to interview data scientist candidates, so you can ask them to do a test project. If you are not a technical person and don't know what a test project should be, you can use these websites:

   • 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 data scientist

   Once you've found the data scientist 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.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new data scientist. 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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How much does it cost to hire a data scientist?