How to hire a project management associate

How to hire a project management associate, step by step

Here's a step-by-step project management associate hiring guide:

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

What does a project management associate do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The project management associate 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

   A project management associate's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, project management associates 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 project management associates.

   Type of Project Management Associate	Description	Hourly rate
   Project Management Associate		$28-63
   Communications Project Manager	A communications project manager is in charge of overseeing the development of internal and external communication materials. Their responsibilities typically revolve around performing research and analysis to identify client or company needs, developing effective communication strategies, coordinating different teams to ensure the quality and accuracy of projects, setting objectives and goals, and managing schedules and budgets... Show more	$28-58
   Project Director	A project director is a professional responsible for supervising workers from various departments given specific tasks to complete a given project. They create a budget to complete a job while monitoring the amount of money spent to ensure that overspending is avoided... Show more	$33-77

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Project Management
   • PowerPoint
   • SharePoint
   • Process Improvement
   • Client Facing
   • Resource Management
   • Project Scope
   • Administrative Tasks
   • Meeting Minutes
   • Operational Aspects
   • PMO
   • Financial Reports
   • Portfolio Management
   • Project Issues

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage preparation of RFP and review of vendor proposals.
   • Manage key PMO projects and operations at bio-pharmaceutical production site.
   • Streamline and centralize usage of project management tools to manage dependencies and transparent delivery milestones for highly complex SaaS platforms
   • Prepare reports, minutes, presentations, and post all project documentation on SharePoint.
   • Update and post status reports to SharePoint for client review.
   • Provide subject matter expertise to PMs on project management tools.

   More project management associate duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, project management associates' average salary in nebraska is 38% less than in district of columbia.
   • Seniority. Entry-level project management associates 55% less than senior-level project management associates.
   • Certifications. A project management associate 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 project management associate's salary.

   Average project management associate salary

   $89,544yearly

   $43.05 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level project management associate salary

   $60,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average project management associate salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$112,096	$54
   2	District of Columbia	$106,658	$51
   3	Michigan	$103,015	$50
   4	New Jersey	$102,247	$49
   5	Virginia	$100,664	$48
   6	Delaware	$99,407	$48
   7	Washington	$98,371	$47
   8	Massachusetts	$97,492	$47
   9	Nevada	$95,626	$46
   10	New York	$95,059	$46
   11	Ohio	$92,894	$45
   12	Texas	$92,289	$44
   13	Arizona	$91,430	$44
   14	Connecticut	$90,548	$44
   15	Pennsylvania	$88,335	$42
   16	Illinois	$88,162	$42
   17	North Carolina	$87,189	$42
   18	Minnesota	$86,685	$42
   19	Colorado	$82,689	$40
   20	Louisiana	$80,658	$39

   Average project management associate salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Bridgewater Associates	$140,466	$67.53	2
   2	Blackstone Group	$124,108	$59.67
   3	MUFG EMEA	$122,963	$59.12
   4	Goldman Sachs	$117,793	$56.63	39
   5	Visa	$112,181	$53.93	34
   6	Regeneron	$110,074	$52.92	19
   7	Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group	$109,398	$52.60
   8	BlackRock	$107,795	$51.82	6
   9	RSM US	$106,693	$51.29	67
   10	Mattel	$105,698	$50.82
   11	MSCI	$104,528	$50.25	1
   12	AbbVie	$103,977	$49.99	123
   13	CAI	$103,768	$49.89	48
   14	FibroGen	$102,204	$49.14
   15	Thales	$101,670	$48.88	1
   16	Organon	$100,733	$48.43	7
   17	Ch2M Hill	$100,189	$48.17	2
   18	Gilead Sciences	$96,488	$46.39	36
   19	Trustco Bank	$95,163	$45.75
   20	General Electric	$94,938	$45.64	30

4. Writing a project management associate job description

   A project management associate job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a project management associate job description:

   Project management associate job description example

   The HGSC Clinical Informatics (HGSC-CL) team is looking for an IT Project Manager to oversee the execution of multiple high-throughput clinical sequencing projects. Our center is involved in multiple large, NIH-funded, next-generation sequencing (NGS) initiatives, with partners around the United States. As part of that work, we need to develop and operate systems that analyze that data and allow our collaborators to access it. As a member of the HGSC Clinical Informatics team, you will directly contribute to the HGSC's pioneering work in Mendelian genomics and multiple NIH Precision Medicine initiatives. The HGSC-CL informatics team focuses on the center's growing list of clinical projects and partnerships. The many well-defined and funded HGSC projects offer our talented staff the freedom to innovate and the satisfaction of delivering actionable results.
   Manages Clinical Informatics projects
   Creates project plans and tracking development of engineering components; leading 3 times a week team meetings and overseeing daily tasks of technical personnel. Develops and maintains appropriate procedures to track and manage the systems development life cycle. Ensures implementation of engineering components by developing testing plans for each new release and taking the lead in testing in the staging and production environments. Oversees the sample tracking system, a database which collects sample state information from across the center. Uses this data to identify any systematic problems in data production as well as build a sample tracker dashboard through AWS Quicksight. Analyzes data collected by sample tracker to perform root-cause analyses. Works with a relevant team and directors to identify and implement solutions.
   
   Minimum Qualifications
   
   Bachelor's degree. Four years of relevant experience may substitute for degree requirement. Two years of relevant experience.
   
   Baylor College of Medicine requires employees to be fully vaccinated -subject to approved exemptions-against vaccine-preventable diseases including, but not limited to, COVID-19 and influenza.
   
   Baylor College of Medicine is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Equal Access Employer.
   
   13251

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right project management associate 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 project management associate job on Zippia to find and recruit project management associate candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting project management associates requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you 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 project management associate

   Once you've selected the best project management associate candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the 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.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new project management associate. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are 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 project management associate?