How to hire a personal care assistant

How to hire a personal care assistant, step by step

Here's a step-by-step personal care assistant hiring guide:

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

What does a personal care assistant do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the personal care assistant you need to hire. Certain personal care assistant roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A personal care assistant's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, personal care assistants 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.

   Here's a comparison of personal care assistant salaries for various roles:

   Type of Personal Care Assistant	Description	Hourly rate
   Personal Care Assistant	Personal care aides help clients with self-care and everyday tasks. They also provide social supports and assistance that enable clients to participate in their communities.	$8-17
   Companion	A companion is responsible for assisting sick and recovered patients, as well as the elderly. Companions perform housekeeping duties, ensuring that a facility is well-maintained and safe for the use of the patients... Show more	$10-18
   Sitter	A sitter is responsible for assisting medical needs under the supervision of an attending physician, registered nurses, and other health professionals. Sitters monitor the patients' daily activities and perform medical duties such as taking the patient's temperature, administering medications, monitoring food intake, helping with bathing needs, and responding to the patients' inquiries, concerns, and requests... Show more	$9-18

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • CPR
   • Home Health
   • RUN Errands
   • Companionship
   • Patient Care
   • Vital Signs
   • Medical Appointments
   • Meal Prep
   • Medication Reminders
   • ADL
   • Direct Care
   • Oral Hygiene
   • Hair Care

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Conduct and facilitate PCA lead group activities as scheduled
   • Act the utmost compassion and professionalism in providing every client with the highest quality care.
   • Review patients' dietary restrictions, food allergies, and preferences to ensure patient receives appropriate diet.
   • Provide nourishment and medication to pet resort guests and hospitalize patients alike.
   • Assist consumers with outside activates that are planned by PCW
   • Used love and compassion & structure to show young individuals their self worth.

   More personal care assistant duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your personal care assistant job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A personal care assistant salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a personal care assistant in Tennessee may be lower than in Massachusetts, and an entry-level personal care assistant usually earns less than a senior-level personal care assistant. Additionally, a personal care assistant with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average personal care assistant salary

   $12.81hourly

   $26,643 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level personal care assistant salary

   $18,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 25, 2025

   Average personal care assistant salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Massachusetts	$32,437	$16
   2	New York	$31,618	$15
   3	Connecticut	$30,297	$15
   4	New Hampshire	$30,217	$15
   5	California	$29,944	$14
   6	Oregon	$29,086	$14
   7	Wisconsin	$27,796	$13
   8	Minnesota	$27,614	$13
   9	Pennsylvania	$27,363	$13
   10	Alaska	$27,154	$13
   11	Michigan	$26,853	$13
   12	South Dakota	$26,487	$13
   13	Colorado	$25,905	$12
   14	Illinois	$25,747	$12
   15	Arizona	$25,297	$12
   16	Nebraska	$25,087	$12
   17	District of Columbia	$25,057	$12
   18	Idaho	$25,023	$12
   19	Ohio	$23,783	$11
   20	Indiana	$23,455	$11

   Average personal care assistant salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Massachusetts General Hospital	$53,829	$25.88
   2	Unicare Community Health Center	$39,697	$19.09	5
   3	Post Holdings	$37,555	$18.06	6
   4	HMS School for Children with Cerebral Palsy	$33,688	$16.20
   5	East Bay Innovations	$33,635	$16.17	5
   6	Rowland Unified School District	$32,965	$15.85	1
   7	Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey	$32,786	$15.76
   8	Paychex	$32,347	$15.55
   9	Erickson Senior Living	$32,315	$15.54	34
   10	Charter Oak Health Center	$32,216	$15.49	3
   11	University Of Minnesota Physicians	$31,750	$15.26
   12	OSF HealthCare	$31,609	$15.20	118
   13	Tenet Healthcare	$31,411	$15.10	167
   14	SSM Health	$31,376	$15.08	71
   15	Providence Health & Services	$31,243	$15.02	108
   16	Kaiser Permanente	$31,214	$15.01	117
   17	Cape Cod Healthcare	$31,050	$14.93	17
   18	Physicians East	$30,962	$14.89	7
   19	Atria Senior Living	$30,908	$14.86	109
   20	Benedictine Health System	$30,886	$14.85	68

4. Writing a personal care assistant job description

   A good personal care assistant job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a personal care assistant job description:

   Personal care assistant job description example

   · Retirement, 401K with company match.

   · Travel time paid between cases.

   · Paid In-Service.

   · Premium pay for Live-in.

   · Premium pay for Mutual cases.

   · Premium holiday pay.

   · Weekly pay.

   MUST BE COVID VACCINATED

   Responsibilities:

   · Help patients with personal hygiene, dressing, bathing, and other daily tasks.

   · Perform basic health care services for patients including checking vital signs or administering prescription medication.

   · Help with general light housekeeping.

   Communityhomecare.us

   Job Types: Full-time, Part-time

   Pay: $19.09 per hour

   Benefits:

   401(k)

   401(k) matching

   Employee discount

   Flexible schedule

   Flexible spending account

   Health insurance

   Life insurance

   Paid time off

   Parental leave

   Referral program

   Retirement plan

   Vision insurance

   Schedule:

   10 hour shift

   12 hour shift

   8 hour shift

   Monday to Friday

   Weekend availability

   Supplemental Pay:

   Bonus pay

   Signing bonus

   COVID-19 considerations:

   Must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

   License/Certification:

   HHA/PCA Certificate (Preferred)

   Work Location: One location

   Company Introduction

   Community Home Care has served more than 10,000 patients since 1973, remaining at the forefront of elderly patient care through the hard work and dedication of our trusted aides and passionate leadership team. Our extensive industry expertise and caring personal touch allow us to deliver the highest quality home care services offered in the state of New York. Let Community Home Care quickly become an extension of your family as we take the time to get to know your loved one on a personal level, understanding their needs and wants so they can live a healthy and happy life under our care.
   Whether patients need long-term or short-term care in the home, the skilled and personable aides at Community Home Care are trained to deliver the appropriate level of medical and personal assistance and attention patients need to live life to the fullest. Our proven matching process takes into consideration the backgrounds, locations, languages and cultures of both the patient and their aide to ensure a comfortable, easy transition to receiving care and allow a rich relationship to form between both as long-term care is delivered.
   .

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find personal care assistants for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any personal care assistants they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level personal care assistants with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your personal care assistant job on Zippia to find and recruit personal care assistant candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit personal care assistants, 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 personal care assistant

   Once you have selected a candidate for the personal care assistant 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.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new personal care assistant. 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 personal care assistant?