How to hire a high school music instructor

How to hire a high school music instructor, step by step

Here's a step-by-step high school music instructor hiring guide:

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

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The high school music instructor 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

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a high school music instructor 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 high school music instructor that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of high school music instructor salaries for various roles:

   Type of High School Music Instructor	Description	Hourly rate
   High School Music Instructor	High school teachers help prepare students for life after graduation. They teach academic lessons and various skills that students will need to attend college and to enter the job market.	$11-32
   Secondary Teacher	A secondary teacher plans subject lessons and presents them to learners using creative and engaging teaching methods. They assess the learners' abilities, strengths, and weaknesses and handle them appropriately... Show more	$18-37
   Science Teacher	A science teacher is responsible for teaching scientific concepts and disciplines, helping learners to understand systems, procedures, and generate ideas using scientific evidence and approaches. Science teachers create engaging lesson plans and activities for the learners, including laboratory works, group research, and field experiments... Show more	$19-41

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • at-Risk
   • Social Studies
   • School Administration
   • IEP
   • Student Performance
   • Public Schools

   Responsibilities:

   • Own and manage a small business as a CPR and first aid instructor and consultant for diverse clients.
   • Serve as theory instructor for medical-surgical nursing and pharmacology for junior students and leadership and management nursing for senior students.
   • Serve as theory instructor for medical-surgical nursing and pharmacology for junior students and leadership and management nursing for senior students.

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, high school music instructors' average salary in montana is 65% less than in maryland.
   • Seniority. Entry-level high school music instructors earn 66% less than senior-level high school music instructors.
   • Certifications. A high school music instructor 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 high school music instructor's salary.

   Average high school music instructor salary

   $40,429yearly

   $19.44 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level high school music instructor salary

   $23,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 24, 2025

4. Writing a high school music instructor job description

   A high school music instructor 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 high school music instructor job description:

   High school music instructor job description example

   French American + International is a PK-12 independent school in San Francisco. Founded in 1962, the school is a multicultural, multilingual educational institution with over 1,100 students across an urban campus in the heart of the city. Guided by the principles of academic rigor and diversity, the French American International School offers programs of study in French and English to prepare its graduates for a world in which the ability to think critically and to communicate across cultures is of paramount importance.

   Mission and Values

   Our international community brings together people from many backgrounds. Together we strive to create a shared culture that develops compassionate, confident, and principled people who will make the world better. We base our community on these values: Respect, Integrity, Inclusion, Collaboration, and Curiosity.

   Opportunity

   Working at French American + International opens up a myriad of opportunities – both personal and professional. Critical to our Strategic Plan in creating a proud, engaged community, we appreciate our faculty and staff by fostering a community of ongoing learning, respect, and collegiality and by providing competitive compensation and benefits. It is also of paramount importance to us that we continue to foster an environment of diversity, equity, and inclusion as we build a school community of individuals who are an actual representation of the world we live in.

   Position Overview:

   The French American + International Conservatory offers after-school 1-1 instrumental/vocal lessons

   1-1 Lesson Job Description

   ● To provide 1-1 lesson that are engaging, challenging, taught imaginatively, and that align with the learning styles of the student - the aim being to provide students with great teaching, mentoring, and a lifelong desire to pursue music lessons throughout their education and beyond

   ● To take attendance, submit hours, and follow up with the Director of Extended Care in the event of student/teacher absence

   ● To follow up on any musical needs with the Head of Creative and Performing Arts ● To prepare students to perform at least once per year in one of three scheduled conservatory concerts

   ● To attend conservatory concerts whenever available to support students and liaise with parents

   ● 1-1 lesson are 30 mins (grades 1-5) and 60 mins (grades 6-12)

   ● We are potentially looking to provide all orchestral instruments, guitars, voice, piano, drums/percussion, theory/composition, and music technology. To apply please click here

   EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY POLICY

   French American International School is committed to providing an open, fair, inclusive, non-discriminatory environment for all individuals across differences of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, socio-economic status, ethnicity, age, physical ability, or medical condition. We seek to increase the presence, representation, and inclusion of U.S. historically under-represented people of color, international, bilingual, and bicultural students, faculty, and staff; and, to provide an environment that will attract and retain individuals identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning and intersex (LGBTQI)

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5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find high school music instructors for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your high school music instructor job on Zippia to find and recruit high school music instructor candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as k12jobspot, learn4good, serious teachers, teachingjobs.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting high school music instructors 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.

   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 high school music instructor

   Once you've found the high school music instructor 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.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new high school music instructor. 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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