How to hire a principal

How to hire a principal, step by step

Here's a step-by-step principal hiring guide:

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

What does a principal do?

Post a principal job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

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

   Type of Principal	Description	Hourly rate
   Principal	Elementary, middle, and high school principals manage all school operations, including daily school activities. They coordinate curricula, oversee teachers and other school staff, and provide a safe and productive learning environment for students.	$33-86
   School Director	A school director oversees educational programs, ensuring everything runs smoothly and efficiently. They typically gather and analyze data, review reports, monitor faculty staff's performance and the progress of all teaching methods, and resolve issues should any arise... Show more	$22-48
   School Business Manager	A school business manager is responsible for providing leadership and management of all teaching and non-teaching staff in a school setting and ensuring they perform their duties accordingly to achieve the required standards of learning. The duties and responsibilities include attending senior managerial meetings and taking the lead of all school responsibilities in the absence of the headteacher.	$20-42

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • CRM
   • Project Management
   • Financial Services
   • Healthcare
   • Professional Services
   • ERP
   • Business Development
   • Professional Development
   • Risk Management
   • Data Analysis
   • Business Strategy
   • Product Development
   • Human Resources
   • Curriculum Development

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage all documentation associate with FMLA, ADA, & DOL requests.
   • Develop schedules, payroll, and manage recruiting, hiring and company standards to ensure customer satisfaction.
   • Launch, continue to manage, and act as primary portfolio manager and trader for boutique investment consulting firm.
   • Manage the RFP process for a new medical plan TPA delivering a savings of almost $1MM in fix costs.
   • Achieve 7-digit annual revenues from start-up in one year by capitalizing on accurate niche market gap and consumer demand identification.
   • Manage all human resource matters, including payroll and benefits administration.

   More principal duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, principals' average salary in hawaii is 61% less than in new york.
   • Seniority. Entry-level principals earn 61% less than senior-level principals.
   • Certifications. A principal 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 principal's salary.

   Average principal salary

   $111,719yearly

   $53.71 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level principal salary

   $69,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 23, 2025

   Average principal salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New York	$134,786	$65
   2	Connecticut	$134,397	$65
   3	California	$131,173	$63
   4	Massachusetts	$120,774	$58
   5	New Jersey	$116,238	$56
   6	District of Columbia	$114,147	$55
   7	Pennsylvania	$111,129	$53
   8	Washington	$104,893	$50
   9	Virginia	$104,841	$50
   10	North Carolina	$99,728	$48
   11	Ohio	$98,198	$47
   12	Indiana	$98,195	$47
   13	Illinois	$95,741	$46
   14	Minnesota	$88,089	$42
   15	Texas	$87,970	$42
   16	Arizona	$86,399	$42
   17	Georgia	$83,763	$40
   18	Missouri	$78,992	$38
   19	Utah	$76,599	$37
   20	Florida	$76,173	$37

   Average principal salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	KKR & Co. L.P.	$237,657	$114.26	2
   2	Cornerstone Research	$226,644	$108.96
   3	The Carlyle Group	$225,349	$108.34	2
   4	Oliver Wyman	$222,181	$106.82
   5	McKinsey & Company Inc	$221,076	$106.29
   6	Bain & Company	$211,198	$101.54	3
   7	Boston Consulting Group	$209,906	$100.92	19
   8	New Foundations Charter School	$207,392	$99.71
   9	A.T. Kearney	$204,423	$98.28	1
   10	Sagent Advisors	$201,356	$96.81
   11	ZS	$197,276	$94.84	2
   12	Oak Hill Advisors	$196,888	$94.66
   13	Point B	$190,194	$91.44
   14	Coatue Management	$185,333	$89.10
   15	Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation	$185,311	$89.09	2
   16	ACON Investments	$181,441	$87.23
   17	Playground Global	$181,399	$87.21
   18	Ampere	$178,746	$85.94
   19	Citi	$178,277	$85.71	84
   20	Centerbridge Partners	$178,210	$85.68

4. Writing a principal job description

   A job description for a principal 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 principal job description:

   Principal job description example

   Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey is seeking a Principal Receptionist/PatientScheduler in Patient Business Services for Eric B. Chandler Health Center.
   
   The primary purpose of the Principal Receptionist/PatientScheduler position is to act as a receptionist, schedules and maintains patient appointments. Provides general office support for the Eric B. Chandler Health Center and its affiliate sites under limited supervision.
   Among the key duties of this position are the following:
   Functions as a receptionist at the Eric B. Chandler Health Center. Answers telephone, screens calls, take messages, and greets patients in a prompt, courteous and helpful manner. Sends appointment recalls and/or other patient correspondence as needed. Schedules and maintains appointments through the Practice Management scheduling ( IDX ) program. Determines purpose of call, and forwards call to appropriate department. Retrieves messages from voicemail and forwards to appropriate personnel on a daily basis. Answers questions regarding organization and provides callers with address, directions and other pertinent information. Responsible for patient follow up regarding appointment changes. Assures appointment scheduling is completed in accordance with the criteria of the practice.
   
   Minimum Education and Experience
   
   One (1) years of prior clerical/general office experience. At least one (1) year of receptionist and scheduling duties.
   
   Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
   
   Demonstrated effective interpersonal skills. Ability to read, write, speak, understand or communicate in English sufficiently to perform the duties of the position. Demonstrated ability to verbally communicate effectively with patient population and facility staff. Requires working with office equipment and confidential patient records and correspondence. Required to proofread and check documents for accuracy.
   
   Overview
   
   New Jersey's academic health center, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences ( RBHS ) takes an integrated approach to educating students, providing clinical care, and conducting research, all with the goal of improving human health. Aligned with Rutgers University-New Brunswick and collaborating university wide, RBHS includes eight schools, a behavioral health network, and five centers and institutes that focus on cancer treatment and research, neuroscience, advanced biotechnology and medicine, environmental and occupational health, and health care policy and aging research.
   
   Our faculty are teachers, clinicians, and scientists with unparalleled experience who advance medical innovation and provide patient care informed by the latest research findings. We offer an outstanding education in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, public health, nursing, biomedical research, and the full spectrum of allied health careers.
   
   Our clinical and academic facilities are located throughout the state-at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, including Piscataway; and at locations in Newark, Scotch Plains, Somerset, Stratford, and other locations. Clinical partners include Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, Newark's University Hospital in Newark, and other affiliates.
   
   Through this community of healers, scientists, and scholars, Rutgers is equipped as never before to transform lives.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right principal for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your principal job on Zippia to find and recruit principal 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

   During your first interview to recruit principals, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   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 principal

   Once you've found the principal 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.

   To prepare for the new principal 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.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a principal?