How to hire a mental health technician

How to hire a mental health technician, step by step

Here's a step-by-step mental health technician hiring guide:

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

What does a mental health technician do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your mental health technician 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 mental health technician 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 mental health technician's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, mental health technicians 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.

   The following list breaks down different types of mental health technicians and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Mental Health Technician	Description	Hourly rate
   Mental Health Technician	Psychiatric technicians and aides care for people who have mental illness and developmental disabilities. Technicians typically provide therapeutic care and monitor their patients’ conditions... Show more	$12-18
   Therapist	A therapist is responsible for improving the patients' health conditions by evaluating their needs and providing physical and mental support. Therapists are licensed, medical professionals who specialize in different areas to perform treatments and bring relief to patients... Show more	$18-38
   Residence Counselor	Residence counselors are professionals who are responsible for providing services such as one-to-one therapy and crisis support to clients who are living in group homes or assisted-living facilities. These counselors must assist adults with moderate intellectual disabilities to find employment while monitoring their work performance... Show more	$13-20

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Vital Signs
   • CPR
   • Social Work
   • Crisis Intervention
   • Patient Safety
   • Direct Patient Care
   • Therapeutic Milieu
   • Substance Abuse
   • Phone Calls
   • Mental Illness
   • Therapeutic Environment
   • CPI
   • Behavioral Issues

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Prevent and manage aggressive behavior among patients and administer CPR in emergency intervention.
   • Assist and organize workshops consisting of education, personal self-defense, CPR, and other techniques relating to mental health patients.
   • Assist in taking care of mental health patients, doing rounds on the ward, helping patients with compassion and care.
   • Apply immeasurable levels of compassion to preserve and safeguard the dignity of patients at all times.
   • Observe patient behaviors, if patients become physically violent, CPI training restraint techniques may become necessary.
   • Conduct patient rounds, assist with ADL care, offer therapeutic support, and provide written reports on assign patients

   More mental health technician duties

3. Make a budget

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

   Average mental health technician salary

   $15.44hourly

   $32,118 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level mental health technician salary

   $25,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 20, 2026

   Average mental health technician salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$42,885	$21
   2	Oregon	$39,259	$19
   3	Illinois	$34,205	$16
   4	Colorado	$34,190	$16
   5	New Jersey	$33,742	$16
   6	Nebraska	$32,487	$16
   7	Arkansas	$32,199	$15
   8	Nevada	$31,984	$15
   9	Ohio	$29,442	$14
   10	Alabama	$28,973	$14
   11	Georgia	$28,771	$14
   12	Delaware	$28,658	$14
   13	Texas	$28,500	$14
   14	Missouri	$28,334	$14
   15	Pennsylvania	$27,164	$13
   16	North Carolina	$27,061	$13
   17	Indiana	$27,047	$13
   18	Tennessee	$26,801	$13
   19	Florida	$26,550	$13
   20	Oklahoma	$25,904	$12

   Average mental health technician salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	CARE	$39,850	$19.16	33
   2	Silver Lake	$39,755	$19.11	31
   3	AspenPointe Enterprises	$39,708	$19.09	1
   4	Kettering Health Network	$38,867	$18.69	10
   5	Premier Inc.	$38,208	$18.37	24
   6	Telecare	$37,203	$17.89	168
   7	Northern California Medical Associates	$37,107	$17.84	8
   8	Washington State University	$37,038	$17.81
   9	PHMC	$36,360	$17.48	7
   10	Beacon Health Options	$36,284	$17.44	9
   11	White County	$36,168	$17.39
   12	WakeMed	$35,410	$17.02
   13	Volunteers of America Greater Baton Rouge	$35,404	$17.02
   14	Wellpath	$35,388	$17.01	291
   15	University of Mississippi Medical Center	$35,299	$16.97	5
   16	State of Nevada Employees' Association Inc	$35,288	$16.97
   17	Maine Health/maine Mental Health Partners	$35,227	$16.94	32
   18	State Of Illinois - Illinois Student Assistance Commission	$35,161	$16.90	15
   19	Veritas Collaborative	$35,127	$16.89
   20	Wexford Health Sources	$35,113	$16.88	13

4. Writing a mental health technician job description

   A job description for a mental health technician 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 mental health technician job description:

   Mental health technician job description example

   About us: Step by Step, Inc is a non-profit organization that provides supports to over 2000 individuals with intellectual disabilities, autism, mental illness, and substance abuse. Our community-based programs provide a setting where individuals we serve can be independent.

   What we can offer you :

   · Starting salary of $16.00 per/hour

   · $2000 sign-on bonus and employee referral bonus

   · Weekly pay

   · Work/life balance

   · Paid training

   · Participate in activities while working with the people you support

   · Generous vacation & sick leave & 11 paid holidays

   · Premium holiday pay

   · Health, dental, and vision insurance

   · Short-term and accident insurance

   · Life and long-term disability insurance

   · Retirement plan (401k)
   

   The essential function of the position includes the following:

   · Role models and implements psycho-social rehabilitation philosophy and principles while assisting individuals in their recovery inclusive of reestablishing roles in the community, developing support networks and increasing quality of life.

   · Recognizes, appreciates and incorporates the individual’s culture into the rehabilitative plan to promote recovery.

   · Ensures the cleanliness and safety of the site, both inside and outside, while assisting and teaching individuals.

   · Assumes the defined responsibilities for on-call as shift filler.

   Available shifts : Various hours available. Including but not limited to evenings, overnights, weekends, and holidays.

   Successful Candidates Will:

   · be 18 years of age or older

   · have a current driver’s license with no suspensions or points within the past three years

   · possess a high school diploma or GED

   · have no prohibitive criminal offenses

   · be available to work on weekends and holidays

   Step By Step is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. At Step By Step, we are committed to and value an inclusive and diverse workforce and we believe that diversity and inclusion among our workforce is critical to our success. Equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and staff without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth, lactation and related medical conditions), national origin, age, physical and mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information (including characteristics and testing), military and veteran status, political affiliation, parental status and any other characteristics or protected category prohibited by local, state or federal laws. All employment decisions are based upon qualifications, merit, and business necessity.

   #LI-TW1

   
   

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right mental health technician 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 mental health technicians they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit mental health technicians 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.

   To find mental health technician candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit mental health technicians, 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.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete 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 mental health technician

   Once you've found the mental health technician 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 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 mental health technician first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

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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