How to hire a health care specialist

How to hire a health care specialist, step by step

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

What does a health care specialist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your health care 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 health care 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

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a health care specialist 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 health care specialist that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of health care specialist salaries for various roles:

   Type of Health Care Specialist	Description	Hourly rate
   Health Care Specialist	Home health aides help people with disabilities, chronic illness, or cognitive impairment with activities of daily living. They often help older adults who need assistance... Show more	$14-45
   Group Home Worker	A group home worker is an employee who assists with different types of patients staying in group homes to help them develop life skills until they are ready to live independently. Group home workers must assist different types of patients, such as adults diagnosed with mental illness, seniors with disabilities, or young residents who cannot live with their families due to behavioral issues... Show more	$13-25
   Residential Aide	A residential aide is responsible for assisting residents and patients in a community facility, supporting them in their daily activities and personal routines. Residential aides monitor the patients' health conditions, coordinate with medical professionals, and ensure that they receive the proper medications... Show more	$9-15

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patient Care
   • Rehabilitation
   • Medical Care
   • Emergency Care
   • Medical Readiness
   • Patients
   • Lawn Care
   • Social Work
   • Primary Care
   • CPR
   • Patient Education
   • Triage
   • Vital Signs
   • IV

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Train and certify soldiers in CPR and first aid classes and achieve significant improvements in their productivity.
   • Manage a team of 12 sailors in three departments including manpower, inpatient and outpatient behavioral health, and pediatrics.
   • Manage ventilator settings, suction tracheostomy, tube-feeding assistance.
   • Provide nursing care of patients including medical examinations, administering immunizations, and assisting with triage of mass casualties.
   • Ensure compliance with CLIA, EMA, and FDA operating guidelines.
   • Provide emotional support and companionship to clients.

   More health care specialist duties

3. Make a budget

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

   Average health care specialist salary

   $53,766yearly

   $25.85 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level health care specialist salary

   $30,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 23, 2026

   Average health care specialist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$75,108	$36
   2	New Hampshire	$74,075	$36
   3	Connecticut	$73,669	$35
   4	Pennsylvania	$68,644	$33
   5	Maryland	$65,027	$31
   6	Oregon	$62,473	$30
   7	New York	$59,510	$29
   8	Virginia	$56,116	$27
   9	Ohio	$55,632	$27
   10	Nevada	$55,264	$27
   11	Michigan	$54,257	$26
   12	Washington	$52,024	$25
   13	Illinois	$51,551	$25
   14	Texas	$46,894	$23
   15	Arizona	$46,741	$22
   16	Minnesota	$45,334	$22
   17	North Carolina	$45,065	$22
   18	Indiana	$44,656	$21
   19	South Carolina	$44,123	$21
   20	Kansas	$42,630	$21

   Average health care specialist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Moss Adams	$101,533	$48.81
   2	Ohio's Hospice	$95,442	$45.89	10
   3	Baxter International	$92,571	$44.51	1
   4	Deloitte	$90,801	$43.65	10
   5	University of California	$85,029	$40.88	38
   6	Mount Sinai Health System	$75,530	$36.31	77
   7	Park Nicollet Medical Center Inc	$75,168	$36.14
   8	Hca Hospital Services Of San Diego	$73,414	$35.30
   9	HCSC	$70,965	$34.12	1
   10	Ohio's Hospice of Dayton	$70,100	$33.70	14
   11	Missouri State University	$69,226	$33.28
   12	CDC Foundation	$66,723	$32.08	3
   13	University of Michigan	$65,127	$31.31	17
   14	Oregon Health & Science University	$63,007	$30.29	12
   15	RWJBarnabas Health	$62,308	$29.96	32
   16	St. Elizabeth Healthcare	$59,241	$28.48	6
   17	P&G	$58,910	$28.32	2
   18	Sharp HealthCare	$56,695	$27.26	1
   19	Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center	$56,036	$26.94	25
   20	Novant Health	$55,559	$26.71	14

4. Writing a health care specialist job description

   A job description for a health care 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 health care specialist job description:

   Health care specialist job description example

   This position pays between $18-23/hr + benefits

   SavATree's mission is to take our passion for nature and keep this country's outdoors beautiful and flourishing. Through our comprehensive tree, shrub, and lawn care we work hard to make sure our discerning customers have attractive, healthy and cared-for green spaces to enjoy. Over the last thirty years, we have opened new offices across the country, and we are looking for people who want to grow with us.

   The Plant Health Care team are specialists dedicated to inspecting plant material, identifying problems, and ethically treating or preventing the many problems that trees and shrubs may face. They are our team of “detectives”; looking at each plant disease/infestation as a puzzle they can't wait to solve.

   In this role, you will have the opportunity to work outside and visit beautiful properties in your community.

   We want everyone to be able to identify and achieve their own version of success, which means giving each employee the room and opportunity to grow. To ensure that everyone has the best chance to succeed, we invest heavily in training and continuing education. We make it easy for you to reach out and get the help you need, even when it's from the other side of the country. This means actively fostering a collaborative culture where we come together to learn from each other and help each other succeed. We pride ourselves on creating an environment where each employee has the resources and opportunities to advance his or her career and become a go-to subject matter expert. That's why we often say that when you work here, you thrive here.

   What a day is like:

   Your focus will be ensuring the health and wellbeing of trees and shrubs on a clients' landscape in your territory. This involves monitoring, diagnosing, and treating any pest and/or disease infestations occurring on the property. You'll be responsible for selecting the most appropriate product or treatment for each problem. You will also be interacting with our clients, educating them with written diagnostic reports detailing the conditions on their landscape, as well as ensuring complete customer satisfaction.

   What kind of person are we looking for? Someone with:

   • A desire to grow, craves opportunity, loves problem solving and process improvement
   • A Degree in Arboriculture, Urban Forestry, Horticulture, Plant Science, Plant Pathology, Environmental Sciences, Landscape Management, Turfgrass, or similar experience.
   • Tree/Plant Identification experience
   • The knowledge of safely and properly using spray and application equipment
   • The responsibility and independence to work autonomously
   • Excellent listening, verbal and written communication skills to understand and meet client needs
   • A valid driver's license, CDL a plus

   Why you might love working here:

   • We have lots of training and development opportunities and will support your continuing education in the industry
   • You'll work alongside some of the best trained and equipped teams in the industry, with an emphasis on quality and safety
   • We're collaborative, so you'll have the ability to connect and collaborate with people who are experts in the field
   • We offer a competitive salary and benefits, including health and dental, paid time off, and a matched 401(K)

   SavATree is an equal opportunity employer and a Drug Free Workplace

   #sponsor

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right health care 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 health care specialists they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit health care 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 health care specialist job on Zippia to find and attract quality health care specialist candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with health care specialist 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 health care specialist

   Once you've selected the best health care specialist 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 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.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new health care specialist. 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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How much does it cost to hire a health care specialist?