How to hire an expert

How to hire an expert, step by step

Here's a step-by-step expert hiring guide:

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

What does an expert do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the expert you need to hire. Certain expert 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

   An expert's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, experts 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 presents expert salaries for various positions.

   Type of Expert	Description	Hourly rate
   Expert	Retail sales workers include both those who sell retail merchandise, such as clothing, furniture, and automobiles, (called retail salespersons) and those who sell spare and replacement parts and equipment, especially car parts (called parts salespersons). Both types of workers help customers find the products they want and process customers’ payments.	$25-77
   Retail Sales Consultant	The primary job of retail sales consultants is to approach customers, identify their needs, and recommend services or products to fulfill those needs. They should be knowledgeable about the functionality and technical specifications of their products as they are the ones who demonstrate these products to customers... Show more	$15-25
   Sales Team Member	A sales team member is responsible for selling goods and services to the customers, responding to their inquiries and concerns, and updating them with new services and promotional offers. Sales team members play a huge role in generating revenues for the business by maintaining existing clients and attracting potential customers... Show more	$12-21

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Sales Floor
   • Strong Customer Service
   • Product Knowledge
   • Customer Service
   • POS
   • Customer Loyalty
   • Cleanliness
   • Exceptional Guest
   • Sales Associates
   • Business Process
   • Customer Satisfaction
   • Troubleshoot
   • HR
   • Java

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage full life cycle development / deployment of focuse business intelligence solutions (SDLC).
   • Manage 20 Lean/Six sigma projects in 2005 enabling annualize savings of $1.42 MM vs. goal of 1.2 MM.
   • Develop talent management plans, set goals, and provide motivation to achieve client and program objectives (KPI's).
   • Manage back-end operations to ensure quality and timely delivery of product.
   • Manage transition logistics for a global vehicle financing company downsizing operations in Colorado.
   • Manipulate or correct color in scan images using Photoshop for the purpose of digitalprinting or platemaking.

   More expert duties

3. Make a budget

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

   Average expert salary

   $94,068yearly

   $45.23 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level expert salary

   $54,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 21, 2026

   Average expert salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$134,147	$64
   2	New York	$112,187	$54
   3	Washington	$109,032	$52
   4	District of Columbia	$109,011	$52
   5	Oregon	$104,337	$50
   6	Massachusetts	$98,011	$47
   7	Pennsylvania	$96,545	$46
   8	New Jersey	$92,624	$45
   9	Illinois	$87,532	$42
   10	Virginia	$87,079	$42
   11	Texas	$84,770	$41
   12	North Carolina	$83,887	$40
   13	Michigan	$81,141	$39
   14	Missouri	$80,469	$39
   15	Ohio	$78,741	$38
   16	Georgia	$77,094	$37
   17	Maryland	$76,876	$37
   18	Arizona	$75,858	$36
   19	Arkansas	$75,660	$36
   20	Nevada	$75,330	$36

   Average expert salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	McKinsey & Company Inc	$181,680	$87.35
   2	ByteDance	$166,074	$79.84	3
   3	SAP	$165,312	$79.48	107
   4	Boston Consulting Group	$165,241	$79.44
   5	Bain & Company	$161,374	$77.58
   6	Meta	$160,008	$76.93	119
   7	Google	$158,993	$76.44	4
   8	Point B	$158,470	$76.19
   9	VMware	$158,049	$75.99
   10	Apple	$155,946	$74.97	5
   11	Guy Carpenter	$152,631	$73.38
   12	Palantir	$152,162	$73.15
   13	Jenner & Block	$151,366	$72.77
   14	Coty	$150,680	$72.44
   15	Nike	$149,656	$71.95	4
   16	Better	$147,356	$70.84
   17	Amazon	$145,276	$69.84	2
   18	Bloomberg	$144,483	$69.46
   19	Personify, Inc.	$144,121	$69.29
   20	Comverse Technology	$143,698	$69.09

4. Writing an expert job description

   A job description for an expert 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 an expert job description:

   Expert job description example

   Expert Engineer (Government) - 2231159Description AT&T Global Public Sector is a trusted provider of secure, IP enabled, cloud-based, network/telephony solutions and professional services to the Federal Government. We are dedicated to recruiting, developing and empowering a diverse, high-performing workforce that is passionate about what they do, committed to our shared values and dedicated to our customers' mission. Our National Security team supports elements of the US Government responsible for informing and defending our nation - globally. As a partner on the SERENA contract, we provide leadership and professional services in telephony lifecycle services for a national security client.
   
   AT&T has an opening for an Engineer, Expert to support a US Govt. customer in the Northern VA area in providing programmatic operations and oversight to a critical professional services contract.
   Duties/Responsibilities:
   
   Performs a variety of complex engineering tasks of an analysis, design, or test nature in one or more of the company's product/service areas requiring strong technical skills in one or more software and/or hardware engineering disciplines.
   Plans, conducts, and may supervise research, development, or installation of products and systems in conformance with engineering design and customer specification.
   Participates on project teams and provides guidance to technical staff
   Requires specialized depth and/or breadth of expertise
   Interprets internal or external business issues and recommends best practices
   Solves complex problems; takes a broad perspective to identify innovative solutions
   Works independently, with guidance in only the most complex situations
   May lead functional teams or projects
   Requires depth and/or breadth of expertise in own specialized area and general knowledge of related areas
   Interprets internal/external business challenges and recommends best practices to improve products, processes, or services
   May lead teams or projects with moderate resource requirements, risk, and/or complexity
   Leads others to solve complex problems; uses analytical thinking, tools, and judgement to identify innovative solutions
   Impacts the achievement of customer, operational, project or service objectives; work is guided by department objectives
   Communicates complex concepts; anticipates potential objections and influences others to adopt a different point of view
   Requires Bachelor's Degree and 7 or more years of relevant experience
   
   Required Clearance:
   TS/SCI with poly (#ts/sci) (#polygraph)
   Ready to join our team? Apply today!
   Job Field - Government TechnologyPrimary Location - Virginia-McLeanOther Locations - Virginia-SPRINGFIELDSchedule - Full-time Shift - Day JobEmployee Status - RegularJob Posting: Oct 9, 2022, 4:00:00 AM - Unposting Date: Oct 30, 2022, 4:00:00 AMJob Level - Senior Associate/Second Level Manager

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find experts 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 experts they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level experts 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 expert job on Zippia to find and attract quality expert candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as salesjobs, salesheads, allretailjobs.com, sales trax.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting experts 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 expert

   Once you have selected a candidate for the expert position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the 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 expert 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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