How to hire a research assistant/technician

How to hire a research assistant/technician, step by step

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

What does a research assistant/technician do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The research assistant/technician 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 research assistant/technician's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, research assistant/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.

   Here's a comparison of research assistant/technician salaries for various roles:

   Type of Research Assistant/Technician	Description	Hourly rate
   Research Assistant/Technician	Market research analysts study market conditions to examine potential sales of a product or service. They help companies understand what products people want, who will buy them, and at what price.	$12-26
   Graduate Research Student	Graduate research students are learners who conduct degree program-related research in a research unit or an academic department. These students manage themselves independently as well as their work... Show more	$9-28
   Research Fellow	A research fellow is an academic researcher who conducts research and analysis of comprehensive literature, data, and results and provides literature reviews. He/She supervises research assistants and recruits study participants to interview them for a particular study... Show more	$18-34

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Analyze Data
   • Data Collection
   • PCR
   • Cell Culture
   • Molecular Biology
   • Western Blotting
   • RNA
   • Research Projects
   • Literature Searches
   • FDA
   • CRISPR
   • Data Analysis
   • DNA

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage social media publications to spread awareness and notifications on Facebook.
   • Screen for antibody selection an affinity validation by ELISA and colony lift.
   • Determine the allergenic potential of thermally process (fry, moist and dry heated) milk using commercial ELISA kits.
   • Perform mouse experiments including lymphocyte extractions and genotyping.
   • Administer EEG and psychological assessments to patients with psychiatric disorders.
   • Analyze, monitor, and maximize performance of genotyping calls using Illumina software.

   More research assistant/technician duties

3. Make a budget

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

   Average research assistant/technician salary

   $39,567yearly

   $19.02 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level research assistant/technician salary

   $27,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 20, 2026

   Average research assistant/technician salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New York	$51,062	$25
   2	Connecticut	$50,401	$24
   3	District of Columbia	$49,218	$24
   4	Pennsylvania	$48,418	$23
   5	Massachusetts	$47,873	$23
   6	Texas	$45,771	$22
   7	California	$43,757	$21
   8	Virginia	$43,670	$21
   9	Maryland	$42,879	$21
   10	North Carolina	$40,952	$20
   11	Minnesota	$40,841	$20
   12	Oregon	$40,701	$20
   13	Wisconsin	$39,094	$19
   14	Hawaii	$38,488	$19
   15	Michigan	$38,177	$18
   16	Iowa	$38,142	$18
   17	Ohio	$37,484	$18
   18	Nevada	$37,310	$18
   19	Illinois	$36,960	$18
   20	Tennessee	$36,466	$18

   Average research assistant/technician salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	MDRC	$59,318	$28.52
   2	Ford Motor	$55,930	$26.89	13
   3	Northeastern University	$52,921	$25.44	174
   4	The University of Alabama in Huntsville	$46,594	$22.40	50
   5	Brigham and Women's Hospital	$45,924	$22.08	125
   6	California Institute of Technology	$45,882	$22.06	6
   7	Humana	$44,430	$21.36	52
   8	IEDC	$42,422	$20.40
   9	PSEA	$42,130	$20.25	92
   10	Neogen	$41,772	$20.08
   11	The Research Corporation of the University of Hawai'i	$40,446	$19.45
   12	Children's Hospital of Philadelphia	$40,345	$19.40	24
   13	Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings	$39,394	$18.94	7
   14	Partners Healthcare Solutions Inc	$38,956	$18.73
   15	Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science	$38,794	$18.65	8
   16	Synergy Enterprises	$38,775	$18.64
   17	Charles River Labs	$38,306	$18.42	88
   18	Drexel University	$38,257	$18.39	2
   19	Charles River Center	$38,101	$18.32	7
   20	University of Iowa Center for Advancement	$37,500	$18.03	47

4. Writing a research assistant/technician job description

   A research assistant/technician 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. Below, you can find an example of a research assistant/technician job description:

   Research assistant/technician job description example

   The candidate will work with the Department of Neurology, Taub Institute on clinical studies involving patients with Alzheimer's disease, related disorders, and healthy volunteers. The Technician B will be assisting other lab members in ensuring the appropriate reporting to regulatory boards such as the Institutional Review Board and the Food and Drug Administration. In addition, the candidate will be trained to process PET and MR images and will be assisting research staff in processing data for the lab studies. The Technician B may have the opportunity to conduct research participant visits in the future but will begin by working on regulatory compliance and image processing.
   Requirements
   
   Responsibilities
   
   Characteristic Duties: May include but are not limited to the following:
   
   Submitting protocols to the institutional review board (IRB)
   
   Submitting documents to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
   
   Assisting in data collation and input into computerized databases
   
   Assisting with basic analysis and statistics
   
   Performing standardized tests on research participants
   
   Eliciting information from participants in accordance with a structured interview
   
   Providing quality control for data and regulatory reporting
   
   Minimum Qualifications
   
   Bachelor's degree in chemistry, biology or physics or a completed animal husbandry program or equivalent in education, training and experience
   
   Skills Verbal and written fluency in English
   
   Good communication and interpersonal skills. Must be able to work with healthy volunteers and patients with cognitive impairment.
   
   Ability to work independently
   
   Knowledge in researching literature applicable to the field
   
   Ability to present experimental data to principal investigator
   
   Must be able to learn new computer programs to collect data for a digital database. Must have basic typing skills, experience in data entry and MS-Office.
   
   Ability to perform work in an organized manner in accordance with safety regulations
   
   Will require training modules in IRB-approved courses such as Columbia University's Human Subjects Protection and HIPAA training modules
   
   Other Requirements
   
   Nature of Duties:
   
   Level of ComplexityAssignments are complex and require technical proficiency and adeptness at making extremely find observations and manipulations required to achieve accurate and consistent results.
   
   Supervision required Work under two levels of observation from senior lab members
   
   Consequence of error Errors are usually difficult to detect and may result in different and costly adjustments which may adversely affect the result of the research study.
   
   Choice of action Requires some initiative and good judgment
   
   Contact outside of work area Regular

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right research assistant/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 research assistant/technicians they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit research assistant/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.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your research assistant/technician job on Zippia to find and recruit research assistant/technician candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as swipe files, exit five, marketinghire, american marketing association.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit research assistant/technicians, 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.

   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 research assistant/technician

   Once you've decided on a perfect research assistant/technician candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your 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 research assistant/technician. 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 research assistant/technician?