How to hire a graduate research associate

How to hire a graduate research associate, step by step

Here's a step-by-step graduate research associate 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 research associate job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new graduate research associate
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your graduate research associate 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 graduate research associate 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

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a graduate research associate 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 graduate research associate that fits the bill.

   This list presents graduate research associate salaries for various positions.

   Type of Graduate Research Associate	Description	Hourly rate
   Graduate Research Associate		$13-33
   Inventory Analyst	An inventory analyst is a professional who is responsible for managing inventory items and the daily inventory operations of an organization. Inventory analysts are required to analyze inventory statistics and perform financial analytics to determine which products are selling the most and which are under-performing... Show more	$20-38
   Inventory Control Analyst	An Inventory Control Analyst is responsible for managing the adequacy of inventories for distribution and business operations. Inventory Control Analysts inspect the quality of tools and materials required for the production and identify cost-reduction opportunities without compromising the quality standards... Show more	$18-35

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • R
   • Technical Reports
   • Cell Culture
   • Research Projects
   • Chemistry
   • Protein Expression
   • Data Analysis
   • Graduate Research
   • Molecular Biology
   • Data Collection
   • Synthesis
   • Statistical Analysis
   • C++
   • Research Findings

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Evaluate patients' study eligibility via medical history, obtain informed consent, enroll patients, and achieve enrollment quotas.
   • Perform DNA extractions, protein purifications, RT-PCR, ELISA.
   • Experience with HPLC, GC, FTIR, NMR, and chiral GC/LC analysis
   • Elucidate its DNA targeting mechanism by solution NMR structure determination.
   • Evaluate data using SAS statistical package.
   • Study physical principles of NMR in advance level.

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, graduate research associates' average salary in vermont is 51% less than in new jersey.
   • Seniority. Entry-level graduate research associates earn 58% less than senior-level graduate research associates.
   • Certifications. A graduate research associate 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 research associate's salary.

   Average graduate research associate salary

   $45,012yearly

   $21.64 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level graduate research associate salary

   $29,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

4. Writing a graduate research associate job description

   A graduate research associate 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 research associate job description:

   Graduate research associate job description example

   Working at Atlassian
   
   Atlassian can hire people in any country where we have a legal entity. Assuming you have eligible working rights and a sufficient time zone overlap with your team, you can choose to work remotely or return to an office as they reopen (unless it's necessary for your role to be performed in the office). Interviews and onboarding are conducted virtually, a part of being a distributed-first company.
   
   Your future team
   The Partner Solutions Acceleration Team is part of the Customer Success & Innovation (CSI) team with the objective of accelerating Channel by enabling and collaborating with partners to build, market, and sell our market-leading Scaled Agile and DevOps, Work Management, and ITSM solutions. This is a specialist team with deep industry and technology solutions expertise, and is responsible for channel-driven business. We are doubling down on building out this high-impact team as a compliment to our Channel Organization - all in synergy with our uniquely-powerful, low-friction flywheel that adds thousands of new customers per quarter!
   Not eligible for Visa sponsorship. Unfortunately, we do not offer U.S. work visa sponsorship to F-1/OPT, J-1/TN, or H-1B student graduates at this time.
   What you'll do Work with leaders to establish a global practice development strategy in collaboration with broader team Collaborate with team members to create packaged Enterprise Agility implementation services, solutions and GTM strategy based on Jira, Jira Align, and other Atlassian SolutionsBuild and deliver a coordinated enablement model Become a solution specialist in one of our solution areas Align and collaborate with team members in the Customer Success, Channel, and Sales organizations to achieve results Collaborate with the team on Enterprise Agility thought leadership and evangelism
   Your background Be currently enrolled in a full-time Bachelors or Masters program and graduating by June 2023Pursuing a degree in economics, business, or other STEM majors Prior product, consulting, or sales internship experience, preferably within a tech company An extreme sense of responsibility and accountability Please note: At this time, this role is only open to entry-level candidates with less than a year of professional experience (this does not include internships/co-ops)
   
   Our perks & benefits
   
   To support you at work and play, our perks and benefits include ample time off, an annual education budget, paid volunteer days, and so much more.
   
   About Atlassian
   
   The world's best teams work better together with Atlassian. From medicine and space travel, to disaster response and pizza deliveries, Atlassian software products help teams all over the planet. At Atlassian, we're motivated by a common goal: to unleash the potential of every team.
   
   We believe that the unique contributions of all Atlassians create our success. To ensure that our products and culture continue to incorporate everyone's perspectives and experience, we never discriminate based on race, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, or marital, veteran, or disability status. All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.
   
   To learn more about our culture and hiring process, explore our Candidate Resource Hub.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right graduate research associate 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 graduate research associates they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit graduate research associates 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 graduate research associate job on Zippia to find and recruit graduate research associate candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting graduate research associates 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 graduate research associate

   Once you've selected the best graduate research associate candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   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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