How to hire a Residence Director

How to hire a residence director, step by step

Here's a step-by-step residence director hiring guide:

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

What does a Residence Director do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a residence director, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine Employee vs Contractor Status

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

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   Hiring the perfect residence director also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list shows salaries for various types of residence directors.

   Type Of Residence Director	Description	Hourly Rate
   Residence Director	A Residence Director serves as the supervisor of a residence hall community on campus. They supervise the day-to-day operations of a residence hall, including staff supervision, organizational planning, programming, and counseling.	$15-34
   Community Advisor	The duties of a community advisor depend on their line of work or place of employment. In universities, a community advisor plays a vital role in helping residing students attain a positive learning and living environment... Show More	$18-52
   Residential Supervisor	This job varies depending on the building and tenants. They oversee all activities involved in the premises, as well as repairs, chores, and banking activities... Show More	$13-25

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common Skills:

   • State Regulations
   • Customer Service
   • Oversight
   • Medication Management
   • Medication Administration
   • Memory Care
   • Staff Development
   • Quality Care
   • Desk Assistants
   • Professional Development
   • Crisis Management
   • Student Development
   • Direct Supervision
   • On-Call Rotation

   Check All Skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Motivate, train and lead a team of nine ministry coordinators.
   • Train 40 staff members on effective communication, mediation and conflict resolution and judicial affairs.
   • Attend CPR and medication trainings.
   • Collaborate with work base learning coordinators in the development, maintenance of job sites.
   • Mediate roommate conflicts to provide effective customer service and promote a positive living experience.
   • Conduct disciplinary and peer mediation sessions.

   More Residence Director duties

3. Make a budget

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

   Average residence director salary

   $48,265yearly

   $23.20 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level residence director salary

   $32,000 yearly salary

   Updated May 17, 2025

   Average residence director salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
   1	Washington	$63,592	$31
   2	California	$62,813	$30
   3	New York	$57,680	$28
   4	Virginia	$55,791	$27
   5	New Jersey	$55,179	$27
   6	Alaska	$53,057	$26
   7	Vermont	$52,286	$25
   8	Massachusetts	$51,409	$25
   9	Illinois	$50,426	$24
   10	Colorado	$50,421	$24
   11	Louisiana	$49,724	$24
   12	Maryland	$48,665	$23
   13	Pennsylvania	$48,254	$23
   14	Michigan	$45,335	$22
   15	Utah	$44,619	$21
   16	Nebraska	$43,992	$21
   17	South Carolina	$43,592	$21
   18	Missouri	$43,097	$21
   19	Indiana	$42,621	$20
   20	Florida	$42,404	$20

   Average residence director salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
   1	University of California	$75,562	$36.33	2
   2	Bank of America	$73,809	$35.49
   3	Gannon University	$63,494	$30.53
   4	Westfield State University	$61,975	$29.80
   5	Mount Aloysius College	$59,310	$28.51	2
   6	Mandarin Oriental	$59,201	$28.46	1
   7	Jackson Physician Search	$58,070	$27.92
   8	Highgate Hotels	$57,966	$27.87
   9	Rochester Regional Health	$57,779	$27.78
   10	University of Washington	$57,236	$27.52
   11	St. Vincent's Services, Inc.	$56,864	$27.34
   12	New York University	$56,326	$27.08
   13	Gordon State College	$55,269	$26.57
   14	Columbia University in the City of New York	$55,052	$26.47	1
   15	Portland State University	$54,140	$26.03	1
   16	Montage Hotels & Resorts	$54,082	$26.00
   17	Boston College	$53,995	$25.96	1
   18	Culver Academies	$53,685	$25.81
   19	Crouse Hospital	$53,556	$25.75
   20	Santa Clara University	$53,457	$25.70	5

4. Writing a Residence Director Job Description

   A residence director 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 residence director job description:

   Residence Director job description example

   Department: The Department of Resident Life serves a highly diverse population of approximately 12,000 undergraduate students living in traditional residence halls, apartments, and suites including some public/private partnership properties. About 46% of all resident students are enrolled in ten living-learning programs covering a wide array of academic areas. Resident Life employs a diverse workforce of over 95 full-time and graduate staff members and about 400 undergraduate student staff members. The Department actively seeks candidates who can represent and serve the diversity of persons who live and work in the University of Maryland's residence halls. The University of Maryland campus is located in the greater Washington, D.C. metro area just eight miles from downtown D.C. and 30 miles from Baltimore, MD. Additional information about the Department of Resident Life is available at www.reslife.umd.edu.
   
   Position: The Resident Director (RD) is a live-on, full-time position requiring approximately 40 hours per week in the office and evening activities. The Resident Director is responsible for planning, organizing and directing community development, staffing functions, student conduct processes, and administrative details for up to 700 residents in one or more residence halls. The RD directly supervises a highly diverse undergraduate, part-time paraprofessional staff of 8-16 Resident Assistants (RAs). Most RDs advise a hall or area council. The RD is entrusted to guide the development of students and connect classroom learning to a residence hall setting. RDs participate in the Resident Director overnight duty rotation and respond to a variety of complex and/or emergency situations after business hours.
   Conditions of Employment
   
   * The Resident Director is a 12-month, live-in position.
   * Although the position requires approximately 40 hours per week, the nature of the position, at times, necessitates unpredictable workweeks including nights and weekends. Some weeks requiring more than 40 hours.
   * The nature of the position requires that the Resident Director live on campus in a furnished, assigned apartment located within the hall/area of responsibility.
   * The Resident Director position is provided the same holidays as other full-time Department of Resident Life community staff. Exceptions to this schedule may be made upon the mutual agreement between the Resident Director and their Community Director.
   * Resident Directors rotate in the after business hours duty system by side of campus during the academic year. Resident Directors will be required to rotate into the duty system during all break periods, including holidays and summer. Resident Directors must remain within a certain distance of campus while on duty.
   * This position is listed as an essential employee and may be asked to report for work during periods when the university is closed.
   * We are unable to sponsor an employment visa for this position.
   
   Benefits include tuition remission, retirement programs, and health insurance. Resident Directors are provided 22 days of annual leave, 14-15 paid holidays, 15 days of sick leave and 3 days of personal leave each year. This is a twelve-month, live-in position. RDs are required to live on-campus in an assigned staff apartment.

   Copy This Example

   

5. Post your job

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

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit residence directors, 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 residence director

   Once you've decided on a perfect residence director 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 important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new residence director. 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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