How to hire a field service specialist

How to hire a field service specialist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step field service specialist hiring guide:

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

What does a field service specialist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your field service specialist 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 field service specialist 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 field service specialist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, field service specialists 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.

   The following list breaks down different types of field service specialists and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Field Service Specialist	Description	Hourly rate
   Field Service Specialist	Computer support specialists provide help and advice to people and organizations using computer software or equipment. Some, called computer network support specialists, support information technology (IT) employees within their organization... Show more	$15-38
   Field Service Technician	Field service technicians are skilled professionals who manage the technical needs of their clients outside the company's physical office space. They are usually on the field to visit their clients and check up on clients' equipment... Show more	$16-39

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Satisfaction
   • Provide Customer Support
   • Customer Support
   • Troubleshooting Support
   • Technical Support
   • Level Troubleshooting
   • Customer Service
   • Hand Tools
   • Honeywell
   • Customer Sites
   • Preventive Maintenance
   • Ladders
   • Work Ethic
   • HVAC

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage and service access control technology to include Honeywell's StarII and TEMA, and PCSC MicroLPM and IQ series controllers.
   • Assist major corporations in establishing new PC systems.
   • Redesign TVM, LAN functionality to meet companies growing needs
   • Ensure compliance with OSHA requirements and regulations on a daily basis.
   • Resolve customer printing and scanning issues from primarily PC computer systems.
   • Learned and apply HVAC repair techniques on refrigerator containers, trailers and vehicles.

   More field service specialist duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, field service specialists' average salary in nebraska is 42% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level field service specialists 59% less than senior-level field service specialists.
   • Certifications. A field service specialist 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 field service specialist's salary.

   Average field service specialist salary

   $51,832yearly

   $24.92 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level field service specialist salary

   $33,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average field service specialist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$73,062	$35
   2	Pennsylvania	$65,860	$32
   3	Texas	$61,824	$30
   4	Maryland	$58,456	$28
   5	District of Columbia	$56,922	$27
   6	Rhode Island	$56,550	$27
   7	Georgia	$55,387	$27
   8	Virginia	$53,152	$26
   9	Tennessee	$52,021	$25
   10	Oregon	$51,344	$25
   11	Washington	$50,581	$24
   12	Oklahoma	$50,493	$24
   13	Missouri	$49,379	$24
   14	Arizona	$49,035	$24
   15	Massachusetts	$48,998	$24
   16	Alabama	$48,531	$23
   17	New Mexico	$48,058	$23
   18	Ohio	$47,778	$23
   19	Minnesota	$46,824	$23
   20	Florida	$45,331	$22

   Average field service specialist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	SAP	$127,799	$61.44	5
   2	BP America Inc	$127,669	$61.38	9
   3	Wabtec Corporation	$89,404	$42.98	1
   4	Altice USA	$89,031	$42.80	3
   5	Metso	$84,396	$40.58
   6	Westinghouse Appliances Australia	$79,558	$38.25	22
   7	Baker Hughes	$78,557	$37.77	65
   8	Tetra Tech	$75,175	$36.14	31
   9	Schlumberger	$73,846	$35.50	18
   10	City of Detroit	$73,656	$35.41	1
   11	Aequor Technologies	$72,422	$34.82
   12	Yokogawa Electric Corp.	$66,350	$31.90	4
   13	Lucid Motors	$66,145	$31.80	17
   14	Pentair	$65,940	$31.70	19
   15	UofL Hospital	$64,425	$30.97
   16	Valmet	$64,040	$30.79	7
   17	GATX	$62,954	$30.27
   18	General Electric	$62,948	$30.26	9
   19	Experis US Inc	$62,845	$30.21
   20	Enel X	$61,141	$29.39

4. Writing a field service specialist job description

   A job description for a field service specialist 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 a field service specialist job description:

   Field service specialist job description example

   The Field Service Specialist is responsible for providing expert technical direction and support to customers on operation and maintenance of company products. Serve as customer contact on technical and service related problems. Demonstrate uses and advantages of products. Works closely with sales and marketing, QA/QC with research and development to address customer concerns, determine corrective action and customer follow-up. May be responsible for a designated region. Has responsibility of completing analytical analysis for trends within the field.
   The ideal candidate will live in the Los Angeles, CA area.
   
   Responsibilities
   
   Install, check out, operate, repair, maintain, and upgrade equipment within time requirements established by service management.Provide preventative maintenance in accordance with published procedures. Keeps performance and maintenance records on the equipment.Provides guidance and training to customer personnel in establishing operation, maintenance, inspection procedures, and techniques.Investigates and analyzes complex technical issues or equipment failures. Provides innovative, thorough, and functional solutions to more complex technical issues.Independently determines and develops approach to improve equipment efficiency and/or reduce cost of operations.Identify root cause and solve customer problems.Certified to train customers & others on technical repair of selected devices.Develop, implement and monitor account strategies Analyze service reports for technical, administrative completeness and accuracy.Analyze service documentation to determine technical trends and improvement opportunities.Assumes Area leadership role Actively participates in installation planning phase.Maintains customer good will through: effective communication of all services rendered; effective communication of on-site arrival time; effective and early communication of late on-site arrival time; effective communication of service and operator issues; effective presentation of positive attitude for the company, products, employees, and customers; and maintaining a proper business appearance as defined by service management.Effectively manage company assets to include vehicle, computer, trunk stock parts inventory, test equipment and tools.Serve as a technical resource to lower level personnel.Must maintain all requirements for access to customer sites, including those required through credentialing agencies.
   
   Requirements
   Computer skills are essential. Must be familiar with Microsoft Windows operating system and Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and AccessValid driver's license.Able to obtain credit approval for Corporate Credit card.Good verbal and written communication skills Independent ThinkingDetail OrientedStrong Problem solving skills Strong Interpersonal Skills
   
   Additional Information
   
   We offer an excellent salary and benefits package including medical, dental and vision coverage, as well as life insurance, disability, 401K with company match, and wellness program.
   
   Fresenius Kabi is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship, immigration status, disabilities, or protected veteran status.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right field service specialist for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with field service specialists they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit field service specialists who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your field service specialist job on Zippia to find and recruit field service specialist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting field service specialists 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.

   While interviews are great, you will only sometimes learn enough from a conversation with a field service specialist applicant. In those cases, having candidates complete a test project can go a long way in figuring out who's the most likely to succeed in the role. If you aren't a technical person and don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to create it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   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 field service specialist

   Once you've found the field service specialist candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   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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How much does it cost to hire a field service specialist?