How to hire a housing specialist

How to hire a housing specialist, step by step

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

What does a housing specialist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The housing specialist 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 housing 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 housing specialist that fits the bill.

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

   Type of Housing Specialist	Description	Hourly rate
   Housing Specialist	Social and human service assistants provide client services, including support for families, in a wide variety of fields, such as psychology, rehabilitation, and social work. They assist other workers, such as social workers, and they help clients find benefits or community services.	$13-27
   Outreach Worker	An outreach worker is responsible for supporting community events and relief efforts to assist citizens with their needs, providing them resources, and facilitating lifestyle programs. Outreach workers coordinate with participants, suppliers, and sponsors for funding and promotions... Show more	$13-23
   Children's Program Coordinator	A children's program coordinator is someone who develops programs for children and toddlers. The children's program coordinator creates child-centered programs to educate and entertain children and infants... Show more	$13-26

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Landlords
   • Social Work
   • Mental Health
   • Housing Assistance
   • Veterans
   • Community Resources
   • Rehabilitation
   • Crisis Intervention
   • Customer Service
   • Affordable Housing
   • Data Entry
   • Mental Illness
   • Social Security
   • HMIS

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage all group information in PMS, MARSHA and Delphi information systems.
   • Work with management team to review current guidelines and prepare for REAC and MOR inspections with expectations of achieving maximum scores/ratings.
   • Assist clients with ADL's, housekeeping, and meal prep
   • Assist in ADL's, transporting, med passes, daily chores in house, outings.
   • Compose PowerPoint flyers to promote on campus events.
   • Maintain RDMS, Sybase utilizing UNIX and PL/SQL.

   More housing specialist duties

3. Make a budget

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

   Average housing specialist salary

   $40,842yearly

   $19.64 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level housing specialist salary

   $29,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 30, 2026

   Average housing specialist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Hawaii	$51,629	$25
   2	California	$51,509	$25
   3	New York	$48,451	$23
   4	Washington	$48,193	$23
   5	Pennsylvania	$45,250	$22
   6	Maryland	$45,216	$22
   7	Massachusetts	$44,967	$22
   8	Minnesota	$43,277	$21
   9	Arizona	$42,979	$21
   10	Illinois	$42,594	$20
   11	Ohio	$41,279	$20
   12	Texas	$40,714	$20
   13	Oregon	$39,863	$19
   14	Michigan	$39,091	$19
   15	Colorado	$38,237	$18
   16	Georgia	$36,599	$18
   17	Indiana	$36,370	$17
   18	Florida	$36,214	$17
   19	Utah	$35,358	$17
   20	Montana	$35,154	$17

   Average housing specialist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	GeoLogics	$59,806	$28.75
   2	Washington State University	$54,325	$26.12	1
   3	Boston College	$54,067	$25.99
   4	University of California-Berkeley	$54,012	$25.97
   5	Centene	$51,327	$24.68	24
   6	Multicare Companies Inc.	$50,693	$24.37	11
   7	Madison County Health Care System	$49,661	$23.88
   8	International Rescue Committee	$48,169	$23.16	1
   9	Synovus	$48,099	$23.12
   10	Pokagon Band Of Potawatomi	$47,844	$23.00
   11	Beacon Hill Staffing Group	$47,584	$22.88
   12	DESC	$47,452	$22.81	7
   13	Yukon Kuskokwim Health	$46,823	$22.51
   14	Tampa Housing	$46,133	$22.18	2
   15	County of Riverside	$45,884	$22.06	4
   16	The Road Home	$45,247	$21.75	7
   17	Restore NYC	$45,071	$21.67
   18	Day & Zimmermann	$44,710	$21.50	1
   19	BronxWorks	$44,406	$21.35	36
   20	LifeWorks	$44,240	$21.27	5

4. Writing a housing specialist job description

   A job description for a housing 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 housing specialist job description:

   Housing specialist job description example

   Part time: Monday – Friday, 8:00am – 2:00pm

   Non-Exempt: $14.31/hour

   The people we care for come from all walks of life, and so do we. We strive to diversify our workforce, not because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes our agency stronger!

   About Us

   With a history stretching back more than 70 years, AccessCNY is continually growing and expanding our reach. Offering person-centered services that empower individuals of all ages and abilities to reach their full potential as part of our community. Our focus is supporting individuals by ways of residential housing, mental health and clinical services, and immersing our participants in community engagement. Working closely with the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities and the Office of Mental Health, we support 27 housing locations and 3 administrative buildings.

   About the Role

   We are looking for a proactive employee to provide necessary supports to eligible persons that promote success at the highest level of independence possible.

   Responsibilities include:

   • Understanding and adhering to all regulations, policies and procedures, including, but not limited to, Corporate Compliance, Personnel Policies, HIPPA, and Code of Conduct for Custodians of People with Special Needs
   • Develop supportive relationships with individuals and get to know their unique capabilities, personality and potential
   • Maintaining ongoing relationships with community residence staff to support individuals interested in exploring housing options
   • Maintaining appropriate service, statistical, and financial records as required Promote independence in medication self-administration
   • Providing situational counseling, benefits, entitlement counseling, and crisis intervention

   
   

   Education & Experience:

   High school diploma/GED required.

   Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

   Must have computer experience for documentation of services.

   
   

   Conditions of Employment

   Must possess a valid driver’s license and transportation necessary to meet program needs.

   Did you know that AccessCNY offers great health, dental and vision insurance? Additionally we provide a 401(k) match upon hire, PTO, and 11 paid holidays.

   
   

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

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

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit housing specialists, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up 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 housing specialist

   Once you have selected a candidate for the housing specialist 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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How much does it cost to hire a housing specialist?