How to hire a daycare provider assistant

How to hire a daycare provider assistant, step by step

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

What does a daycare provider assistant do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the daycare provider assistant you need to hire. Certain daycare provider assistant 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 daycare provider assistant 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 daycare provider assistants and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Daycare Provider Assistant	Description	Hourly rate
   Daycare Provider Assistant	Childcare workers provide care for children when parents and other family members are unavailable. They attend to children’s basic needs, such as bathing and feeding... Show more	$9-21
   Floater Teacher	A floating teacher is in charge of teaching in various rooms and buildings, unlike most teachers with fixed room assignments. There are also instances where they teach at different schools... Show more	$10-18
   Child Care Teacher	A child care teacher is responsible for educating young learners, observing their personal and social behaviors. They also prepare engaging and fun activities for the children, ensuring their safety and security... Show more	$6-21

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Child Care
   • Kids
   • CPR
   • Homework Assignments
   • Learning Environment
   • Meal Preparation
   • Open Communication
   • Vital Signs
   • Social Development
   • Emotional Development
   • Senior Care
   • Classroom Environment
   • Developmental Problems
   • Clean Environment

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Practice emergency fire evacuation and basic first aid procedures; certify in pediatric, infant, and adult CPR.
   • Fulfill all childcare duties such as dressing, changing diapers, training in CPR, water safety and fire safety
   • Administer programs to promote educational programs such as ABC'S , 123'S colors, shapes, reading books etc.
   • Read books and play with toddlers, put kids down for nap time, provide meals for children throughout the day.
   • Administer learning materials, provide one-on-on tutoring and supervise kids during time of play.
   • Implement learning, such as ABCs, name writing and counting through play and crafts

   More daycare provider assistant duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your daycare provider assistant job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A daycare provider assistant salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a daycare provider assistant in Oklahoma may be lower than in Washington, and an entry-level daycare provider assistant usually earns less than a senior-level daycare provider assistant. Additionally, a daycare provider assistant with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average daycare provider assistant salary

   $14.37hourly

   $29,882 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level daycare provider assistant salary

   $20,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 23, 2025

   Average daycare provider assistant salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Washington	$37,667	$18
   2	New Hampshire	$34,025	$16
   3	California	$33,831	$16
   4	Oregon	$31,908	$15
   5	New York	$30,994	$15
   6	Colorado	$30,560	$15
   7	District of Columbia	$29,764	$14
   8	Illinois	$29,712	$14
   9	Connecticut	$29,503	$14
   10	Massachusetts	$29,302	$14
   11	Minnesota	$28,996	$14
   12	Arizona	$28,192	$14
   13	North Dakota	$27,123	$13
   14	Missouri	$26,413	$13
   15	North Carolina	$26,048	$13
   16	Montana	$25,548	$12
   17	New Mexico	$25,353	$12
   18	South Dakota	$24,914	$12
   19	Georgia	$24,852	$12
   20	Michigan	$24,463	$12

   Average daycare provider assistant salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	University of California-Berkeley	$44,147	$21.22
   2	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center	$38,524	$18.52	12
   3	Brigham and Women's Hospital	$38,163	$18.35	1
   4	University of Washington	$37,947	$18.24	15
   5	Oregon Health & Science University	$37,522	$18.04	12
   6	Washington State University	$37,181	$17.88
   7	Pfizer	$37,067	$17.82
   8	East Bay Innovations	$37,028	$17.80	4
   9	New York Institute of Technology	$36,702	$17.65
   10	Central Valley School District	$36,650	$17.62
   11	Amcor	$36,365	$17.48
   12	St. Clare Catholic School	$35,649	$17.14	2
   13	Lifesteps	$35,082	$16.87	85
   14	Baylor College of Medicine	$34,742	$16.70
   15	Emory University	$34,460	$16.57	2
   16	Sea Mar Community Health Centers	$34,147	$16.42	5
   17	Charles River Center	$33,690	$16.20
   18	Wells Enterprises	$33,226	$15.97
   19	Sharp HealthCare	$32,944	$15.84
   20	Michigan State University	$32,932	$15.83

4. Writing a daycare provider assistant job description

   A job description for a daycare provider assistant 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 daycare provider assistant job description:

   Daycare provider assistant job description example

   Administrative Assistants perform a variety of routines from bookkeeping to clerical work, primarily related to the enrollments, computation of fees, billing and collection of child care center fees for service. They will split time between administrative duties and assisting teachers and children in the classrooms!
   Job Responsibilities:
   Receiving, coding and processing monthly enrollments for billing. Preparing and balancing deposits and posting payments to the child care accounts. Reviewing computer reports related to billing and receipts for accuracy and preparing various reports for the various child care centers. Inputting data for extra charges and credits for billing. Follow up on delinquent accounts. Reconciling payments from 3rd party payers
   Job Requirements:
   Must be at least 18 years of age High School diploma or equivalent Associates Degree preferred Must meet state requirements for education and additional center/school requirements may apply. Three-year experience involving the preparation and maintenance of bookkeeping or financial records. Strong knowledge of Bookkeeping and accounting clerical procedures as related to accounts receivable, accounts payable, billing and other standard accounting functions. Basic business data processing principles as applied to financial record keeping. Posting, verifying, compiling and reconciling various accounting documents, records and reports. Maintaining attention to detail and accuracy while meeting critical deadlines. Exercising independent judgment within established guidelines and prioritizing work.
   
   About Us
   
   Learning Care Group, Inc. is the second-largest for-profit child care provider in North America and a leader in early education. Our programs are designed for children aged 6 weeks to 12 years. Across our eight unique brands, we're committed to creating state-of-the-art facilities with the latest technology and expert-driven curricula created by our own Education team.
   
   Our Promise
   
   To make a difference and have a positive impact on every child at our schools, their families, and the communities we serve every day. We support child development for infants to school-age students, through a comprehensive, research-based curriculum in a safe, nurturing, fun school environment. As experts in child care and early education, we empower children to be ready for school, we instill a lifelong love of learning, and we provide a solid foundation for a successful future.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find daycare provider assistants 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.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting daycare provider 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.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates 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 daycare provider assistant

   Once you've found the daycare provider 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.

   To prepare for the new daycare provider assistant first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

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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