How to hire a psychiatric technician

How to hire a psychiatric technician, step by step

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

What does a psychiatric technician do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your psychiatric 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 psychiatric 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

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a psychiatric technician to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a psychiatric technician that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of psychiatric technician salaries for various roles:

   Type of Psychiatric Technician	Description	Hourly rate
   Psychiatric 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	$12-29
   Mental Health Nurse	A mental health nurse is responsible for assisting with the diagnosis and treatment plans of patients with mental health complications. Mental health nurses handle high-quality nursing care under mental health professionals' supervision within a hospital or mental health institution... Show more	$29-87
   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

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Mental Health
   • Social Work
   • Vital Signs
   • Patient Behavior
   • Rehabilitation
   • Crisis Intervention
   • Compassion
   • Therapeutic Milieu
   • Restraints
   • Therapeutic Environment
   • CPI
   • CPR
   • Patient Safety

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Prioritize and utilize therapeutic communication and CPI skills to diffuse and manage difficult situations.
   • Participate in rehabilitation and treatment programs, also lead prescribed individual and group therapy sessions as part of specific therapeutic procedures.
   • Respond to emergency situations such as fire evacuation or the administration of first aid and/or CPR.
   • Observe patients comfort levels and mood changes, show compassion and respect to minimize clients stress levels.
   • Demonstrate triage and emergency assistance when need, including suicide prevention plans (currently CPR and CPI certify).
   • Participate in rehabilitation and treatment programs, help with personal hygiene, and assist with administration of oral medications.

   More psychiatric technician duties

3. Make a budget

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

   Average psychiatric technician salary

   $39,662yearly

   $19.07 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level psychiatric technician salary

   $25,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 18, 2025

   Average psychiatric technician salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$67,858	$33
   2	New York	$54,557	$26
   3	Maryland	$43,790	$21
   4	Montana	$42,203	$20
   5	Maine	$36,989	$18
   6	Indiana	$35,470	$17
   7	Michigan	$33,592	$16
   8	Virginia	$33,390	$16
   9	Minnesota	$33,359	$16
   10	Pennsylvania	$33,204	$16
   11	North Carolina	$32,951	$16
   12	Texas	$31,730	$15
   13	Tennessee	$30,336	$15
   14	Ohio	$29,999	$14
   15	Utah	$28,856	$14
   16	Missouri	$28,090	$14
   17	Idaho	$26,421	$13

   Average psychiatric technician salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	St. Tammany Health System	$61,647	$29.64	1
   2	Regional Medical Center- Orangeburg	$50,130	$24.10	5
   3	University of California-Berkeley	$49,400	$23.75
   4	Kern Community College District	$49,232	$23.67
   5	Careerstaff Unlimited - A Genesis Healthcare Company	$47,498	$22.84
   6	UC Merced	$46,619	$22.41
   7	Great Plains Regional Medical Center	$45,905	$22.07	1
   8	UC Santa Barbara	$45,502	$21.88
   9	New York State Restaurant Association	$43,290	$20.81
   10	Hca Hospital Services Of San Diego	$41,488	$19.95	2
   11	Archbold Medical Center	$40,879	$19.65
   12	The Arora Group	$40,743	$19.59	9
   13	Lifespan	$40,066	$19.26
   14	South Coast Community Services	$39,141	$18.82	1
   15	Wisconsin	$39,141	$18.82
   16	Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas	$39,023	$18.76	3
   17	Kings County Education Office	$38,881	$18.69
   18	Luke & Associates	$38,657	$18.59
   19	Kaiser Permanente	$37,992	$18.27	76
   20	Rutland Regional Medical Center	$37,585	$18.07	3

4. Writing a psychiatric technician job description

   A job description for a psychiatric 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 psychiatric technician job description:

   Psychiatric technician job description example

   Full-time, Days, 7am-3:30pm Job Description:
   
   Under the direct supervision of the Manager of Behavioral Health or Milieu Manager assists the professional staff in the care of psychiatric patients. Facilitates the maintenance of the therapeutic environment in the psychiatric unit.
   Duties and Responsibilities
   + Provides care to patients in a manner that considers safety, comfort, and the therapeutic environment.
   + Assists the team members in the care and evaluation of patients.
   + Assists patients with activities of daily living.
   + Checks patient's vital signs.
   + Charts observations on assigned patients' in legible, accurate and appropriate format following hospital and unit procedures.
   + May apply physical restraints or assist with placing a patient in seclusion under the direct supervision of the physician or RN.
   + Facilitates educational groups and supervises recreational activities as directed by the RN.
   Qualifications
   + Notes:
   + Other combinations of formal education, training and experience may be considered.
   + Minimum Experience:
   + 1 - 3 months
   + Minimum Education:
   + High School or G.E.D. Prefer Certified Nursing Assistant or some college level social science
   + credits
   + Required Certification:
   + BLS certification
   + Required Courses:
   + Must provide clearance per the Child Protective Services Law amended by PA Act 33 of 1985
   + Must possess a valid driver’s license in the current state of residence. Driving record must meet requirements established by WellSpan Risk Management.
   Federal law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job or to perform your job. Examples of reasonable accommodation include making a change to the application process or work procedures, providing documents in an alternate format, using a sign language interpreter, or using specialized equipment. WellSpan Health is an Equal Opportunity Employer. It is the policy and intention of the System to maintain consistent and equal treatment toward applicants and employees of all job classifications without regard to age, sex, race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, national origin, ancestry, veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected characteristic.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find psychiatric technicians 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 psychiatric technician job on Zippia to find and attract quality psychiatric technician candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting psychiatric technicians 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.

   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 psychiatric technician

   Once you've found the psychiatric 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 also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new psychiatric 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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How much does it cost to hire a psychiatric technician?