How to hire a fellow

How to hire a fellow, step by step

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

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

What does a fellow do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The fellow 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

   A fellow's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, fellows 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 fellow salaries for various positions.

   Type of Fellow	Description	Hourly rate
   Fellow	Medical scientists conduct research aimed at improving overall human health. They often use clinical trials and other investigative methods to reach their findings.	$22-44
   Public Affairs Internship	A public affairs intern is responsible for performing administrative duties to support the public affairs operations on media relations and developing strategies to maintain the department's integrity for social responsibility. Public affairs interns assist with press releases, community programs, and dissemination of information to the public... Show more	$12-19
   Laboratory Researcher	Laboratory researchers are professionals who manage a research laboratory while performing cellular and biochemical experiments with the primary researcher. These researchers must work with hazardous chemicals and should show expertise in handling lab equipment such as glassware and field equipment... Show more	$8-20

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Professional Development
   • Veterans
   • Mathematics
   • Math
   • Public Health
   • Community Outreach
   • Public Policy
   • PowerPoint
   • Data Analysis
   • Climate
   • Research Projects
   • Python
   • Public Speaking

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Design and lead labs align with the NYC curriculum, on topics including moon phases and dichotomous keys.
   • Maintain company website, as well as wrote, manage, and edit content on the SharePoint portal.
   • Manage live streaming for NARAL Facebook during NARAL's lobby day, as well as assisting in attendee organization.
   • Work through several medical software databases to generate SQL to pass on to Java developers for their programs.
   • Develop computer program to visualize EOS data in Java.
   • Include writing python scripts to parse poorly structure text into tabular data.

   More fellow duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, fellows' average salary in north dakota is 53% less than in tennessee.
   • Seniority. Entry-level fellows 51% less than senior-level fellows.
   • Certifications. A fellow 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 fellow's salary.

   Average fellow salary

   $66,364yearly

   $31.91 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level fellow salary

   $46,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 24, 2025

   Average fellow salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Tennessee	$94,447	$45
   2	California	$83,775	$40
   3	Connecticut	$81,280	$39
   4	Rhode Island	$78,493	$38
   5	Maine	$77,817	$37
   6	Arizona	$74,334	$36
   7	Indiana	$73,144	$35
   8	Massachusetts	$71,614	$34
   9	New York	$70,132	$34
   10	Illinois	$69,576	$33
   11	Pennsylvania	$68,758	$33
   12	Wisconsin	$68,212	$33
   13	Minnesota	$68,153	$33
   14	Maryland	$67,472	$32
   15	Washington	$66,787	$32
   16	District of Columbia	$66,635	$32
   17	Oregon	$65,534	$32
   18	Ohio	$61,790	$30
   19	Michigan	$61,704	$30
   20	Virginia	$61,457	$30

   Average fellow salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Peterson Institute for International Economics	$116,044	$55.79
   2	American Enterprise Institute	$112,674	$54.17	6
   3	Center for American Progress	$110,904	$53.32
   4	CSIS	$107,030	$51.46	5
   5	The Brookings Institution	$106,786	$51.34
   6	Resources for the Future	$99,132	$47.66
   7	Earthjustice	$98,977	$47.59
   8	Icma-rc	$94,588	$45.48
   9	Amd	$92,279	$44.36	4
   10	Novartis	$92,120	$44.29
   11	McKinsey & Company Inc	$91,416	$43.95
   12	Eli Lilly and Company	$91,078	$43.79	2
   13	Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation	$90,841	$43.67
   14	Schrödinger Inc	$89,014	$42.80
   15	Biogen	$88,954	$42.77
   16	Intel	$87,399	$42.02
   17	Micron Technology	$87,031	$41.84	2
   18	TechnoServe	$86,205	$41.44
   19	East-West Center	$86,117	$41.40
   20	Boston Public Schools	$85,925	$41.31	1

4. Writing a fellow job description

   A fellow 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 fellow job description:

   Fellow job description example

   The National Public Health Week fellowship is designed to provide experience in program management, including outreach and graphic design, through the 2023 celebration of NPHW. The fellow will work to provide support to staff leading NPHW efforts, lead outreach efforts in APHA's activity challenge and NPHW Twitter chat and participate in all aspects of planning and execution of the week's events. The fellow will also provide evaluation of this year's NPHW events and outreach, and suggest improvements for the future.
   This is a temporary grant-funded position, not to exceed April 30, 2023. Responsibilities Act as the liaison between APHA staff, vendors and participants in the activity challenge leading up to NPHW. Assist in developing promotional material for NPHW, including communications plan and editorial calendar, social media shareables, fact sheets and other tools. Lead web efforts to connect with NPHW partners and sponsors. Lead outreach and partner engagement for NPHW Twitter Chat. Help plan for, promote, support and execute virtual NPHW events for APHA. Evaluate success of programs, events and outreach after NPHW is over. Qualifications Recent graduate, master's student or senior undergraduate studying public health, global health, communications or related field. Event planning experience required. Graphic design experience (Photoshop, InDesign, Canva or similar) preferred. Candidates must have strong communication skills (including with social media, particularly Twitter) and be able to juggle multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously. Familiarity with Associated Press style desired but not essential.
   
   Role will require some evening/weekend work leading into and during NPHW.
   
   The role is a full-time contract position and can be entirely remote.
   
   Hours: 35 hours a week, full-time, Monday - Friday (daytime). Number of openings: 1.
   
   Applicants who meet the requirements and are interested in being considered for this position should upload the following information:
   
   cover letter;
   resume;
   2 one-page writing samples;
   1 graphic design sample and;
   At least 2 supervisory references and 1 professional reference (name, title, company name and phone number and email).
   
   
   CLOSING DATE: October 31, 2022 at 5 pm (EST)
   
   EEO/AA/VETS/DISABILITY. APHA is strongly and actively committed to diversity in its workplace.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right fellow for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

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

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with fellow candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   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 fellow

   Once you've decided on a perfect fellow 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.

   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.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new fellow. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

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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