How to hire a direct care professional

How to hire a direct care professional, step by step

Here's a step-by-step direct care professional hiring guide:

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

Post a direct care professional job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your direct care professional job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a direct care professional for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A direct care professional's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, direct care professionals 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 direct care professionals.

   Type of Direct Care Professional	Description	Hourly rate
   Direct Care Professional	Personal care aides help clients with self-care and everyday tasks. They also provide social supports and assistance that enable clients to participate in their communities.	$10-19
   Provider	Health care providers are health professionals and health organizations offering health care treatment and diagnosis services. These professionals play significant roles with patients through consultation, treatment, and advice... Show more	$17-50
   Support Staff	School support staff provide specialized instructional and student support while utilizing school facilities. They often include diverse staff members whose main role is to ensure that students learn in a supportive and safe learning environment... Show more	$12-19

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • ADL
   • Developmental Disabilities
   • Mental Health
   • Autism
   • Direct Support
   • Social Work
   • Incident Reports
   • Compassion
   • Behavior Management
   • Administer Medications
   • Crisis Intervention
   • Medical Appointments
   • Meal Prep
   • Intellectual Disabilities

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Help each individual patient accomplish their specific ISP goals on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.
   • Provide round the clock care alone with daily help of ADL's, transport consumers to and from appointments.
   • Provide ongoing consultation and support to parents of students with autism and facilitate ongoing collaboration with parents and staff members.
   • Provide services and supports to individuals with mental retardation and relate disabilities, head or spinal cord injuries, or autism.
   • Provide caring and companionship to elderly and developmentally disable consumers and provide primary resident care and assistance with daily living activities.
   • Preform necessary SCIP safety moves to prevent consumers from hurting themselves or others.

   More direct care professional duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, direct care professionals' average salary in mississippi is 34% less than in washington.
   • Seniority. Entry-level direct care professionals 49% less than senior-level direct care professionals.
   • Certifications. A direct care professional 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 direct care professional's salary.

   Average direct care professional salary

   $14.54hourly

   $30,233 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level direct care professional salary

   $21,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 17, 2025

   Average direct care professional salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$33,506	$16
   2	Connecticut	$31,714	$15
   3	New York	$30,571	$15
   4	Pennsylvania	$30,401	$15
   5	Maine	$29,852	$14
   6	Massachusetts	$29,706	$14
   7	Ohio	$29,670	$14
   8	New Jersey	$28,880	$14
   9	Michigan	$27,568	$13
   10	Colorado	$26,926	$13
   11	Texas	$26,741	$13
   12	Florida	$23,884	$11
   13	Indiana	$22,669	$11

   Average direct care professional salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Halliburton	$38,869	$18.69	1
   2	Univ Of Colorado-Colorado Spgs	$38,644	$18.58
   3	Unified Community Connections	$33,704	$16.20
   4	Medical Billing	$33,138	$15.93
   5	Lifesteps	$33,070	$15.90	405
   6	Mr. Cooper	$32,300	$15.53
   7	Liberty Mutual Insurance	$32,168	$15.47
   8	University of Michigan Health System	$32,046	$15.41
   9	OSF HealthCare	$32,032	$15.40	105
   10	Spectrum Health	$31,665	$15.22	2
   11	Beltone	$31,583	$15.18	50
   12	The Center for Health Care Services	$31,428	$15.11	9
   13	SEARHC	$30,905	$14.86	10
   14	Liberty Healthcare	$30,818	$14.82
   15	Pediatric Partners, now a member of the Sevita family	$30,816	$14.82	538
   16	Penquis Community Action Progr	$30,800	$14.81
   17	Lifetime Assistance	$30,737	$14.78	19
   18	The GEO Group	$30,655	$14.74	10
   19	ChildServe	$30,649	$14.74	14
   20	Bon Secours Community Hospital	$30,499	$14.66	149

4. Writing a direct care professional job description

   A direct care professional 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 direct care professional job description:

   Direct care professional job description example

   • Awarded the Caring.com CARING SUPER STAR Employer & Provider for the last 3 years: We truly are a CARING SUPER STAR place to build your career.

   Join our team and discover a career that is both rewarding and purposeful! An OPPORTUNITY to bring JOY to your life and the lives of the people you assist.

   Always Best Care will support your SUCCESS

   BENEFITS:

   • WEEKLY PAY! Every Friday Payday!!! Happy Dance
   • COMPETITIVE PAY! Entry level caregivers start at $17.00/hour
   • PAID TIME OFF
   • CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND PAID TRAINING
   • INCENTIVES & REWARDS FOR A JOB WELL DONE
   • SHIFT TIME CHOICE = FLEXIBILITY

   Why work in a facility where you are responsible for up to 15 residents?

   Work ONE-ON-ONE with your client in the comfort of their home: Earn great money and be rewarded for a job well done!

   We have positions in Longmont, Boulder, Lafayette, Louisville, Broomfield, Erie, Westminster and other locations in North Metro Denver and Boulder County!

   Available shifts may be from 4-12 hours: weekdays, weekends, overnights, mornings and evenings. Choose the times that work best for you = FLEXIBILITY & CHOICE

   JOB DESCRIPTION:

   Caregivers provide Activity of Daily Living (ADL's) Assistance such as personal care (transferring, dressing, bathing, toileting, etc.) and basic companion care (light housekeeping, transportation, meal preparation etc.) in the comfort of the client's home.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find direct care professionals 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 direct care professional job on Zippia to find and recruit direct care professional candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting direct care professionals 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 direct care professional

   Once you've selected the best direct care professional 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.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new direct care professional 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.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a direct care professional?