How to hire a language specialist

How to hire a language specialist, step by step

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

What does a language specialist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your language 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 language 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

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

   This list shows salaries for various types of language specialists.

   Type of Language Specialist	Description	Hourly rate
   Language Specialist	Postsecondary teachers instruct students in a wide variety of academic and career and technical subjects beyond the high school level. They also conduct research and publish scholarly papers and books.	$16-36
   Spanish Teacher	A Spanish teacher is responsible for teaching the Spanish language, including its history and culture, both written and conversational. Spanish teachers follow the curriculum, depending on the students' expertise level and evaluate their progress through oral and written assessments... Show more	$18-33
   ESL Instructor	An ESL instructor is responsible for teaching the English language, usually to non-native speakers, discussing all the disciplines of the English language, both written and verbal, and in some cases, even its nature and history. ESL instructors create a comprehensive lesson plan for the English language learners, prepare learning materials, and conduct individual and group activities to test the learners' knowledge and progress... Show more	$17-37

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • English Language
   • Language
   • Foreign Language
   • Proofreading
   • Professional Development
   • Language Services
   • Instructional Strategies
   • Reading Comprehension
   • Target Language
   • Language Acquisition
   • Language Arts
   • Translation Services
   • K-12
   • ESL

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Supervise and manage class; facilitate and teach conversational Tagalog including cultural aspects.
   • Administer speech and language treatment to students with learning disabilities, developmental delays, specific language impairments, and autism.
   • Service children Pre-k through 6th grade.
   • Evaluate and treat public school age children with pervasive developmental disorders and autism.
   • Programmed/Creat and maintain high and low-tech AAC devices and train staff to use.
   • Mix ingredients with contrast to formulate specific consistencies according to SLP and patient needs.

   More language specialist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your language specialist job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A language specialist can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, language specialists' average salary in new mexico is 60% less than in new hampshire.
   • Seniority. Entry-level language specialists 55% less than senior-level language specialists.
   • Certifications. A language specialist with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a language specialist's salary.

   Average language specialist salary

   $51,084yearly

   $24.56 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level language specialist salary

   $34,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 17, 2025

   Average language specialist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$79,288	$38
   2	Massachusetts	$71,267	$34
   3	New York	$71,260	$34
   4	New Jersey	$68,672	$33
   5	District of Columbia	$66,722	$32
   6	Maryland	$61,044	$29
   7	Pennsylvania	$59,216	$28
   8	Washington	$58,089	$28
   9	Connecticut	$57,932	$28
   10	Indiana	$50,470	$24
   11	Florida	$50,078	$24
   12	Oregon	$50,067	$24
   13	Louisiana	$49,741	$24
   14	Arizona	$46,493	$22
   15	Illinois	$46,351	$22
   16	Missouri	$45,230	$22
   17	Utah	$44,384	$21
   18	Texas	$43,998	$21
   19	Colorado	$42,383	$20
   20	North Carolina	$41,738	$20

   Average language specialist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Apple	$124,334	$59.78
   2	PayPal	$119,233	$57.32
   3	eBay	$106,787	$51.34
   4	Uber Technologies	$97,272	$46.77
   5	MSCI	$92,200	$44.33
   6	Duolingo	$91,922	$44.19
   7	Children's Hospital Los Angeles	$72,020	$34.63
   8	International Rescue Committee	$71,278	$34.27
   9	Boston Medical Center	$68,574	$32.97	6
   10	HCL Technologies	$67,987	$32.69
   11	Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College	$67,553	$32.48
   12	Lawndale Elementary School District	$64,280	$30.90
   13	Santa Rosa City Schools	$60,837	$29.25
   14	Missouri State University	$58,055	$27.91
   15	The Norwich Free Academy	$56,799	$27.31
   16	University of Notre Dame	$56,294	$27.06
   17	Welocalize	$55,375	$26.62
   18	Hackensack Meridian Health	$54,697	$26.30
   19	Rocketship Education	$53,570	$25.75	11
   20	Oregon Health & Science University	$53,123	$25.54	2

4. Writing a language specialist job description

   A job description for a language 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 language specialist job description:

   Language specialist job description example

   - Translate utterances and intent markers from English to German
   - Create variations of translated utterances and intents that comply with linguistic and data diversity guidelines.
   - Develop and augment lists of domain-specific terminology and apply these to AI data to enhance diversity.
   - Annotated data sets using client labels and taxonomies.
   - Iterate on the translation, content generation, variation implementation, vocabulary development based on test score provided by the client.
   
   Content Type:
   Task Type: AI Data Generation
   
   RequirementsMinimum of 1-2 years experience performing translation from English to German.Knowledge of and ability to localize measures, currencies, and other conventions to the local standard. Strong terminology research skills. Experience with transcreation (ability to take a phrase in English and express in multiple locally fluent ways that maintain the intention of the phrase while varying the syntax, vocabulary, and usage) and/or software localization experience is ideal. Ability to imagine how people in the local market from a wide range of demographics might interact with a customer service chatbot in written format. Minimum of 1-2 years experience in data annotation for machine learning (annotation, utterance creation, triggers, intents). Ability to produce flawless data (translated content and creatively generated content) with no editing or proofreading. Native-level fluency in designated language and English. Significant cultural understanding of locale. Familiarity with subject matter domains: IT, HR, CSM. Familiarity working in automated, KPI-centric, testing platforms. Availability of 20 hours per week needed on project basis with regular project phases.
   When you join Welocalize, you have the opportunity to bring your career to the next level:
   ... receive steady volume of work and long-term partnership {where this applies}
   ... professional development: work on exciting projects that will empower you keep learning and growing
   ... work with multicultural, international team with a great variety of documents and content types
   ... 24-hour 6-day a week support from our Community team.
   
   If this opportunity sounds appealing to you, apply below.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find language specialists 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 language specialist job on Zippia to find and recruit language specialist 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

   To successfully recruit language 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 language specialist

   Once you've decided on a perfect language specialist candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your 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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How much does it cost to hire a language specialist?