How to hire a doctoral student

How to hire a doctoral student, step by step

Here's a step-by-step doctoral student hiring guide:

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

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a doctoral student, 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

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a doctoral student to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a doctoral student that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of doctoral student salaries for various roles:

   Type of Doctoral Student	Description	Hourly rate
   Doctoral Student		$18-37
   Research Fellow	A research fellow is an academic researcher who conducts research and analysis of comprehensive literature, data, and results and provides literature reviews. He/She supervises research assistants and recruits study participants to interview them for a particular study... Show more	$18-34
   Researcher	A researcher is responsible for collating, organizing, and verifying necessary information for a specific subject. Researchers' duties include analyzing data, gathering and comparing resources, ensuring facts, sharing findings with the whole research team, adhering to required methodologies, performing fieldwork as needed, and keeping critical information confidential... Show more	$17-57

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • C++
   • Python
   • Java
   • Cell Culture
   • Chemistry
   • Data Analysis
   • Protein Expression
   • Scholar
   • Molecular Biology
   • R
   • Gene Expression
   • Research Projects
   • Synthesis
   • Confocal Microscopy

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage multiple collaborative projects peripheral to dissertation that leverage experience in characterization and inorganic synthesis.
   • Lead the in-vitro biophysical and biochemical characterization of homologous recombination and investigate structure-function effects of mutant enzymes.
   • Used RT-PCR, ELISA, western blot, culture of establish cell lines, and immunohistochemistry.
   • Apply NMR techniques to assess the effect of a health supplement on neurological changes in Alzheimer s disease.
   • Analyze the molecular structures by NMR and FR-IR, determine the molecular weight and polymerization kinetics by GPC.
   • Develop complex ELISA and western blot methods to study and characterize the host immune response to intracellular parasitism.

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, doctoral students' average salary in kentucky is 42% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level doctoral students earn 50% less than senior-level doctoral students.
   • Certifications. A doctoral student 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 doctoral student's salary.

   Average doctoral student salary

   $56,000yearly

   $26.92 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level doctoral student salary

   $39,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 14, 2025

4. Writing a doctoral student job description

   A doctoral student 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. Below, you can find an example of a doctoral student job description:

   Doctoral student job description example

   HR Assistant
   For Human Resources Europe
   Location: Weybridge, UK
   
   We are seeking a Placement Student with a passion for people to become our HR Assistant involved in creating and supporting initiatives and policies that help us attract the right people and develop and motivate them once they're working for us.
   
   Throughout this 13-month paid placement, you will be given the opportunity to learn and immerse yourself in what it means to be a great HR professional in a multi-cultural European organisation and to understand where your HR career could take you. To help you shape your understanding of the impact of HR on an organisation, you will be involved in various HR functions and have exposure to the wider HR framework. These include:
   
   Talent & Resourcing - responsible for all recruitment activities both for internal moves and for hiring talent externally, as well as a robust internal talent management cycle and identifying where succession planning is required.
   
   Learning & Organisational Development - responsible for driving talent, management and leadership development strategies, tools, and processes to meet our current and future business needs.
   
   Reward, Recognition and Mobility - responsible for efficiently creating, managing and distributing remuneration and incentive packages that reward our employees for their hard work. Ensuring that the packages paid to our employees are competitive, so that Sony can attract and retain the talent needed, against the commercial requirement to control the costs for the business.
   
   Your profile:
   Studying an undergraduate degree which makes you eligible for a 13-month placement starting summer 2023. Preferred degree in Human Resources, Business or similar Excellent communicator with good interpersonal skills with the ability to work within a multidisciplinary team Enthusiastic and proactive attitude Self-motivated, organised and inquisitive individual who is not afraid to challenge and be challenged Proficiency in MS Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, SharePoint) English language (written and spoken)
   
   Our recruitment process:
   
   The job posting will be open until 6th of November 2022. Afterwards, the selected candidates will be invited to perform a recorded video interview.
   
   In December, the best-performing candidates will be invited to an interview with the HR team (in our office or virtually). We are aiming to finalise our recruitment process by the end of December.
   
   Life at Sony:
   
   We will make you a part of a large and diverse placement student network which will allow you to foster friendships and to build lifelong connections with like-minded students. We are passionate about your personal development and to help you get the most out of your Placement Year, there will be a number of Training Modules and a range of Learning & Development programs available to help you learn, grow and lay the building blockers for your career.
   
   We are positive a community who dream big together, respect each other, and enjoy a collaborative culture across Europe in all our modern and inspiring workspaces. We believe in a sustainable and engaged workforce and support work-life balance with 25 vacation days and working policies to encourage our students to achieve a healthy balance between success at work and personal commitments.
   
   We provide access to numerous wellbeing services and platforms to promote all aspects of health, including employee assistance programs and DE&I initiatives. We respect our people and listen to them through ongoing conversations and surveys. We value suggestions for improvements, and act to promote a better placement experience for everyone.
   
   We are Sony Europe.
   
   Our people collaborate in an environment of acceptance, integrity and open-mindedness. Diverse teams from all over Europe are the driving force for our business, and we embrace that each and every one of us is original and unique.
   
   Operating in 28 European countries, Sony Europe provides both Consumer & Professional products, as well as Semiconductor, Imaging & Sensing, Healthcare and Biotech solutions. We also have leading R&D Centers and Laboratories developing a new technologies and capabilities for Sony Group interests.
   
   Bring your passion and big ambitions to Sony Europe. Apply now, and let's move forward together.
   
   Your new office:
   
   Weybridge: Based at the Weybridge office, you will enjoy a modern working environment. We have an onsite canteen with a wide range of options available including vegan, and a barista style coffee. There is a well-provisioned onsite gym run by our own Sony Wellbeing Coordinator, with classes on set days in the mornings, times lunch and afternoons. We have a staff car park which includes electric charging points, or if you will use public transport we have a shuttle bus service that regularly between train station and the office at peak times.
   
   #LI-KZ1
   
   Bring your uniqueness to Sony
   
   We recognize that each and every one of us is original and different. Diversity and inclusion are in our DNA, they drive innovation. We empower our people to achieve one goal: to fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find doctoral students 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 doctoral student job on Zippia to find and recruit doctoral student 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 doctoral students, 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 doctoral student

   Once you've decided on a perfect doctoral student 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 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 doctoral student 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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How much does it cost to hire a doctoral student?