How to hire a graduate clinician

How to hire a graduate clinician, step by step

Here's a step-by-step graduate clinician hiring guide:

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

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a graduate clinician, 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

   A graduate clinician's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, graduate clinicians 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.

   Here's a comparison of graduate clinician salaries for various roles:

   Type of Graduate Clinician	Description	Hourly rate
   Graduate Clinician	Mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists help people manage and overcome mental and emotional disorders and problems with family and other relationships. They listen to clients and ask questions to help the clients understand their problems and develop strategies to improve their lives.	$20-41
   Licensed Professional Counselor	A licensed professional counselor is a healthcare professional who specializes in providing therapy and counseling to patients with emotional and mental health issues. They listen to their patients and utilize various techniques to address concerns and help through the healing procedures... Show more	$35-58
   Residential Counselor	A residential counselor is responsible for guiding and providing the residents with their basic needs and other resources to support them in their daily living. Residential counselors' duties include maintaining the safety of the community by enforcing safety guidelines and procedures for the residents' compliance, organizing productive and engaging community activities, updating the residents of any changes and policies in the community, and resolving conflicts by counseling and understanding each resident's differences... Show more	$12-20

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Motor Speech Disorders
   • Patients
   • Autism
   • Dysphagia
   • Group Therapy Sessions
   • Traumatic Brain Injury
   • Aphasia
   • Expressive Language
   • Hearing Screenings
   • AAC
   • Autism Spectrum Disorder
   • Communication Disorders
   • Individual Therapy
   • Evaluation Reports

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Learned different therapeutic techniques by working with individuals with communication disorders including: receptive and expressive language disorders and aphasia.
   • Provide assessment and intervention for adults with a variety of developmental disorders, acquire communication disorders, and dysphagia.
   • Plan activities for expressive language disorders, articulation, phonological processes, literacy, phonological awareness, fluency, and autism.
   • Serve individuals with aphasia by administering assessments that addressed cognitive/language deficits and providing language therapy in both individual and group settings.
   • Work with patients in an acute-care setting under the direct supervision of Kristen Higgins M.A, CCC-SLP.
   • Evaluate and treat tracheostomy and ventilator patients for speaking valve placement.

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, graduate clinicians' average salary in massachusetts is 35% less than in washington.
   • Seniority. Entry-level graduate clinicians earn 51% less than senior-level graduate clinicians.
   • Certifications. A graduate clinician 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 graduate clinician's salary.

   Average graduate clinician salary

   $61,509yearly

   $29.57 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level graduate clinician salary

   $43,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 23, 2026

4. Writing a graduate clinician job description

   A graduate clinician 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 graduate clinician job description:

   Graduate clinician job description example

   Northern Light Acadia Hospital
   
   Department: Psychiatric Unit (Adults)
   
   Position is located: Acadia
   
   Work Type: Part Time Eligible
   
   20 hours per week
   
   Work Schedule: Saturday and Sunday 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM
   
   Competencies and skills:
   
   Essential:
   
   * Behaves with Integrity and Builds Trust: Acts consistently in line with the core values, commitments and rules of conduct. Leads by example and tells the truth. Does what they say they will, when and how they say they will, or communicates an alternate plan.
   
   * Cultivates Respect: Treats others fairly, embraces and values differences, and contributes to a culture of diversity, inclusion, empowerment and cooperation.
   
   * Fosters Accountability: Creates and participates in a work environment where people hold themselves and others accountable for processes, results and behaviors. Takes appropriate ownership not only of successes but also mistakes and works to correct them in a timely manner. Demonstrates understanding that we all work as a team and the quality and timeliness of work impacts everyone involved.
   
   * No previous experience required.
   
   * Practices Compassion: Exhibits genuine care for people and is available and ready to help; displays a deep awareness of and strong willingness to relieve the suffering of others.
   
   * Promotes Health and Safety: Promotes a healthy and safe environment for patients, employees and visitors. Advocates and models healthy physical and mental health behaviors even in challenging circumstances. Sets high quality standards and strives for continuous improvement and quality assurance by reporting and encouraging others to report near misses and safety issues.
   
   * Serves Others: Strives to understand, meet and exceed the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers which may include the people and communities in our service areas. Develops and maintains relationships, alliances and coalitions within and outside the organization and leverages them in order to obtain information, support, and promote cooperation and collaboration.
   
   Education:
   
   Essential:
   
   * Master's Degree in Social Work or Counseling
   
   Northern Light Acadia Hospital is a broad behavioral health delivery system centrally managed from its location in Bangor, Maine. Acadia Hospital is a leader in providing comprehensive inpatient and outpatient services, tele-psychiatry, consultations to regional emergency departments, school-based and employer-based services, and integration into primary and specialty care practices. Northern Light Acadia Hospital offers innovative programming in the form of eating disorder services and a geriatric mood and memory clinic, which is involved in multiple clinical trials for promising Alzheimer's medications. The hospital is also the parent organization of Northern Light Acadia Healthcare which provides a substance use disorder treatment program, case management, and other outpatient mental health services serving patients from all corners of Maine. Acadia Hospital embraces service excellence and high quality care as evidenced by its commitment to achieve Center of Excellence status in the delivery of behavioral health services.
   
   Northern Light Acadia Hospital is a member of Northern Light Health, an integrated statewide health delivery system that is raising the bar with no-nonsense solutions that are leading the way to a healthier future for our state. Northern Light Health offers a broad range of providers and services, including ten hospitals, primary care and specialty physician practices, long-term care, home health and hospice agencies, and emergency ground and air transport.
   
   Bangor, Maine is a vibrant small city with easy access to Maine's spectacular coast, mountains, and lakes. Schools rank among New England's best with the flagship campus of the University of Maine located in the neighboring town of Orono. Bangor serves as the regional hub for medicine, the arts, and commerce. Bangor International Airport offers direct and one-stop service to many major destinations.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right graduate clinician 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 graduate clinician job on Zippia to find and recruit graduate clinician 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 graduate clinicians, 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 graduate clinician

   Once you have selected a candidate for the graduate clinician 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 equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with 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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