How to hire a digital designer

How to hire a digital designer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step digital designer hiring guide:

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

What does a digital designer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The digital designer 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

   Hiring the perfect digital designer 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 digital designers and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Digital Designer	Description	Hourly rate
   Digital Designer	Graphic designers create visual concepts, using computer software or by hand, to communicate ideas that inspire, inform, and captivate consumers. They develop the overall layout and production design for various applications such as advertisements, brochures, magazines, and corporate reports.	$22-54
   Graphic Designer, Marketing	A graphic designer of marketing specializes in developing creative imagery as part of a company's marketing efforts. Their responsibilities typically revolve around coordinating with the marketing team to share insights and strategies, conceptualizing designs in adherence to objectives and deadlines, and preparing presentations... Show more	$16-33
   Graphic Designer Internship	In a graphic design internship, one of the primary responsibilities is to accomplish tasks while under the supervision of more experienced colleagues. An aspiring graphic designer may use this opportunity to observe and participate in designing for various industries, handle different clients, participate in creative meetings, and learn strategies from experts... Show more	$12-22

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Sketch
   • Digital Marketing
   • Graphic Design
   • Digital Design
   • Adobe Creative Suite
   • UI
   • User Experience
   • Visual Design
   • HTML
   • CSS
   • Motion Graphics
   • Photography
   • WordPress
   • Animation

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage various clients and projects as a sole proprietor, specializing in creative design, animation, and illustration.
   • Use ASP.NET and XML to automate common workflow tasks due to extremely high volume of designs to be create.
   • Manage website redesign including copywriting and updating all website content.
   • Work in SharePoint, Dreamweaver, HTML5, CSS, wireframes, storyboards, and WordPress.
   • Create weekly HTML email campaigns to generate a marketing presence and drive traffic to their social media and web sites.
   • Make clickable prototypes using InVision.

   More digital designer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the digital designer job description is a good way to get more applicants. A digital designer 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 digital designer in Indiana may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level digital designer. Additionally, a digital designer with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average digital designer salary

   $72,987yearly

   $35.09 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level digital designer salary

   $46,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average digital designer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$100,308	$48
   2	Virginia	$92,373	$44
   3	New Jersey	$89,040	$43
   4	Massachusetts	$88,925	$43
   5	District of Columbia	$81,510	$39
   6	Connecticut	$80,351	$39
   7	New York	$78,198	$38
   8	Washington	$77,929	$37
   9	Oregon	$77,240	$37
   10	Texas	$75,971	$37
   11	Maryland	$69,122	$33
   12	Arizona	$68,890	$33
   13	Florida	$67,534	$32
   14	Colorado	$65,725	$32
   15	Alaska	$65,339	$31
   16	Wisconsin	$64,099	$31
   17	Illinois	$63,939	$31
   18	Michigan	$63,564	$31
   19	North Carolina	$61,933	$30
   20	Minnesota	$61,846	$30

   Average digital designer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Lyft	$153,543	$73.82
   2	Fungible	$150,139	$72.18
   3	Meta	$146,291	$70.33	516
   4	Apple	$138,680	$66.67	62
   5	Square	$137,353	$66.04
   6	PayPal	$132,320	$63.62	16
   7	Amazon	$127,552	$61.32	254
   8	Neuralink IT Solutions	$116,928	$56.22	3
   9	Edelman Financial Engines	$114,704	$55.15
   10	PacSun	$109,355	$52.57	50
   11	The New York Times Company	$109,336	$52.57	7
   12	Gap Inc.	$106,805	$51.35
   13	Nike	$105,763	$50.85	108
   14	Keap	$105,496	$50.72
   15	NBCUniversal	$103,602	$49.81	38
   16	Texas Instruments	$103,353	$49.69	10
   17	Tripadvisor	$102,792	$49.42
   18	IBM	$101,813	$48.95	30
   19	MERGE	$101,214	$48.66
   20	General Motors	$99,932	$48.04	21

4. Writing a digital designer job description

   A digital designer 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. To help get you started, here's an example of a digital designer job description:

   Digital designer job description example

   The Senior Digital Designer is responsible for creating best-in-class digital assets for Shane Co. including user interface design, e-mail marketing, social media design and display advertisements. The Senior Digital Designer will work alongside the design director, copywriters, fellow designers, and internal stakeholders to bring innovative and effective visual stories to life in the digital space. The ideal candidate is agile and able to quickly understand the creative brief as well as the overall landscape in which a given project might exist. They must come to the table with creative ideas, a collaborative attitude, a natural eye for elegant, elevated design, an appetite for innovation and impeccable attention to detail.
   Responsibilities Concept and design a variety of digital assets for use in web, email, social media, videos, and occasional print pieces Demonstrate a passion for beautiful design and an ability to produce quality work in a fast-paced environment Drive design innovation across all digital marketing touch points from discovery through deployment Maintain brand guidelines across all digital channels Collaborate closely with internal teams to create design solutions that fit within technical capabilities and maximize results Communicate and partner with stakeholders to ensure that design deliverables are received and incorporated on a timely basis Be accountable for the successful execution of creative and art direction on projects, either independently or by leading video production team, photographers and junior designers when required Assist in facilitating and contributing to brainstorming sessions to promote creativity and innovation in marketing campaigns Qualifications 7+ years of digital design experience required. Demonstrated ability to lead a design process and creative direction from concept to execution. Demonstrated expertise in Adobe Creative Suite Demonstrated expertise in Sketch and Figma preferred. Experience developing, directing, and implementing high level creative concepts and initiatives. Demonstrated ability to manage projects across different design disciplines concurrently. Strong business acumen and ability to translate business requests and requirement into incredible design. Demonstrated ability to distill creative feedback and other insights to optimize and improve creative. Demonstrated knowledge in current marketing and industry trends. Ability to use independent judgment in performing all duties of the position. Strong written and verbal communications skills to interact with team members professionally and effectively. Demonstrated positive, energetic working style. Demonstrated success working as part of a larger team. Familiarity with HTML/CSS preferred. Behavioral Characteristics
   
   For the best success in this role, candidates must be collaborative, motivating, and adaptable. The ideal candidate will be creative, innovative, resourceful, and goal-oriented with an ability to communicate with stakeholders and others across the company. Those who can take initiative and who take pride in high quality work will succeed in this position.
   
   Work Environment
   
   The primary environment for this role is a combination of an open office and a remote workplace. Considerable business is conducted using the telephone and computer technology. This role is expected to be on-site in Home Office on average 1-2 days per week on an ongoing basis. Note that all hybrid and remote work conditions are covered in the Company's current Remote Work Policy and Remote Work Agreement, incorporated here by reference. Travel may be required to stores, conferences or events up to 5% of the time.
   
   Why Work for Shane Co.?
   
   Shane Co. is a family owned business and everyone who works in our organization is part of the family. This family point of view is exactly why we want to take care of you AND your family. We want driven and competitive people who help us satisfy our customers' needs. In our stores, we do not sell on commission, we offer a competitive base rate and we bonus based on team performance. We focus on providing you a time off package that is very generous for retail! It is important for us to be available when our customers need us. Our store employees do work weekends and evenings. However, you accrue 3 weeks of vacation in your first year! In addition, you also earn 6 sick days per year. We are closed on 7 holidays (unlike most retailers), AND we pay you for one volunteer day per year! The longer you work with us, the more vacation time you earn. Unlike other companies who just offer low paying disability insurance to cover your major illness situations, we offer the ability to earn time off at FULL pay for the care of yourself or a family member! When your family needs you, we want you to be able to be there for them. We offer very competitive medical, dental and vision plans, as well as a 401 (k) plan with a company match, company paid life insurance, and flexible spending accounts for medical, daycare or mass transit commuting expense. We also offer a number of discounted voluntary benefits including long-term disability, life insurance for your dependents, pet insurance and even things like discounted travel and movie tickets! We have benefits focused on you AND any family member (Partner, children and even your parents!) including counseling, legal advice, assistance in finding appropriate medical specialists and even help in understanding medical bills! And, of course, we offer a generous discount in our stores or online for you AND your family members! The salary range for this role is $77,000 to $96,000 per year. The range describes the minimum to maximum likely rate for this job description in the state of Colorado. Individual pay will be determined based on skills and qualifications for the role. The salary range for this same position may be lower or higher in markets outside of Colorado.
   
   Employer will not sponsor visa or work authorization.
   
   RequiredPreferredJob Industries Retail

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

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

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit digital designers, 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.

   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 digital designer

   Once you've decided on a perfect digital designer 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 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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