How to hire a residence hall director

Residence hall director hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring residence hall directors in the United States:

There are currently 12,297 residence hall directors in the US, as well as 6,713 job openings.
Residence hall directors are in the highest demand in New York, NY, with 4 current job openings.
The median cost to hire a residence hall director is $1,633.
It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new residence hall director to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire a residence hall director, step by step

To hire a residence hall director, you need to identify the specific skills and experience you want in a candidate, allocate a budget for the position, and advertise the job opening to attract potential candidates. To hire a residence hall director, you should follow these steps:

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

What does a residence hall director do?

A Residence Hall Director spearheads and oversees campus residential areas' daily operations to ensure students' safety and welfare. They are responsible for managing staff, setting goals and guidelines, establishing budgets and timelines, delegating duties among managers, implementing programs and protocols, and monitoring all procedures, resolving issues and concerns if any arise. Moreover, a Residence Hall Director encourages staff to reach goals while implementing policies and regulations to help maintain a healthy and safe community for the students.

Learn more about the specifics of what a residence hall director does

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Identify your hiring needs

First, determine the employments status of the residence hall director you need to hire. Certain residence hall director roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

Determine employee vs contractor status

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

A residence hall director's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, residence hall directors 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 presents residence hall director salaries for various positions.

Type of Residence Hall Director	Description	Hourly rate
Residence Hall Director	Postsecondary education administrators oversee student services, academics, and faculty research at colleges and universities. Their job duties vary depending on the area of the college they manage, such as admissions, student life, or the office of the registrar.	$14-33
Dean	A dean is responsible for overseeing the educational operations of the assigned department, enforcing school policies, and monitoring the students' progress by coordinating with the teachers and setting up procedures to improve teaching methods. Deans administer educational training and programs for the students, as well as extra-curricular activities to develop the students' social behavior, maximize their potentials, and increase their self-confidence... Show more	$23-72
Co-Chair	A co-chair is responsible for supporting the duties and responsibilities under the supervision of a chair. Co-chairs help with the implementation of effective plans and programs that would benefit the organization... Show more	$10-167

Create an ideal candidate profile
Common skills:
- Residence Life
- Desk Assistants
- Student Development
- Community Development
- Student Conduct
- Professional Development
- Crisis Intervention
- Conflict Resolution
- Crisis Management
- Learning Environment
- On-Call Rotation
- Staff Development
- Residential Community
- Emergency Situations
Check all skills
Responsibilities:
- Motivate, train and lead a team of nine ministry coordinators.
- Develop nightly social programs and weekly educational programs to encourage healthy lifestyle choices and embracement of multicultural diversity.
- Direct resident relations by providing oversight of resident retention, leasing and marketing programs.
- Cultivate, coordinate, and assist in the development of student leadership and responsibility through programming and direct involvement with students.
More residence hall director duties

Make a budget

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

Average residence hall director salary

$47,193yearly

$22.69 hourly rate

Entry-level residence hall director salary

$31,000 yearly salary

Updated December 14, 2025

Average residence hall director salary by state

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	New Jersey	$57,231	$28
2	Michigan	$55,511	$27
3	Connecticut	$54,709	$26
4	Wisconsin	$54,325	$26
5	New York	$52,037	$25
6	Illinois	$50,089	$24
7	Nevada	$49,429	$24
8	Florida	$48,543	$23
9	Ohio	$46,015	$22
10	Minnesota	$45,293	$22
11	North Dakota	$44,349	$21
12	Kentucky	$43,715	$21
13	Colorado	$42,867	$21
14	Texas	$42,636	$21
15	Virginia	$40,134	$19
16	Arizona	$39,372	$19
17	Indiana	$38,231	$18
18	North Carolina	$36,484	$18

Average residence hall director salary by company

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
1	School of Visual Concepts	$72,238	$34.73
2	Cornell University	$55,702	$26.78	6
3	Mercy College	$55,286	$26.58
4	University of Connecticut	$54,614	$26.26
5	State University of New York College at Cortland	$54,426	$26.17
6	Highgate Hotels	$54,351	$26.13
7	Michigan State University	$54,268	$26.09
8	New Jersey Institute of Technology	$54,134	$26.03
9	The Culinary Institute of America	$50,600	$24.33
10	Illinois Institute of Technology	$49,232	$23.67
11	Baylor University	$48,320	$23.23	1
12	University at Buffalo	$47,709	$22.94	1
13	University of Mary	$47,581	$22.88	2
14	University at Albany	$47,528	$22.85	1
15	SUNY College at Old Westbury	$47,468	$22.82	1
16	Univ Of Colorado-Colorado Spgs	$45,711	$21.98
17	Marquette University	$44,891	$21.58
18	Livingstone College	$43,786	$21.05
19	Quinnipiac University	$42,406	$20.39	2
20	The Ohio State University	$42,190	$20.28

Writing a residence hall director job description
A job description for a residence hall director 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 residence hall director job description:
Residence hall director job description example
Job Title: Residence Hall Director for 23rd Street Residence

Department: Student Affairs

Reports To: Associate Director of Residence Life

Position Overview:

Assist in the development and implementation of a residence life program for the 23rd Street Residence

Duties and Responsibilities:
- Responsible for the overall administration of a first-year student residence hall that houses approximately 325 first year students.
- Responsible for the recruitment, selection, supervision, and evaluation of 10 Resident
- Assistants.
- Facilitate weekly staff meetings; organize staff development activities
- Have regular one-on-one meetings with student staff.
- Maintain office hours at the Office of Residence Life
- Oversee building maintenance and repairs, maintain building inventory, and key logs.
- Implement and oversee building check-in and check-out processes.
- Organize and implement yearly room inspections, set standards for student billing, and provide information to facilities for cleaning and upkeep for all student rooms.
- Develop and enforce standard of living policies in the residence halls.
- Serve on an on-call basis and respond to any crisis or emergency situations.
- Responsible for crisis intervention, conflict mediation and regulated follow up procedures.
- Serve as a hearing officer for judicial and disciplinary cases.
- Perform other duties as assigned
Qualifications:
- Master's degree required
- Two or more years residence life experience
- Supervision experience
- Excellent communication, interpersonal and organizational skills
- Computer literacy
School of Visual Arts has been a leader in the education of artists, designers, and creative professionals for nearly seven decades. With a faculty of distinguished working professionals, dynamic curriculum, and an emphasis on critical thinking, SVA is a catalyst for innovation and social responsibility. Comprised of more than 6,000 students at its Manhattan campus and 35,000 alumni in 100 countries, SVA also represents one of the most influential artistic communities in the world.

To apply for this position, click here

No walk-ins or phone calls, please.

The School of Visual Arts is an equal opportunity employer. Diversity and inclusion is a core principle of the College. SVA enjoys a community that represents a significant number of historically underrepresented communities, ethnic and religious backgrounds, gender identities, diverse abilities, and foreign countries, and all are encouraged to apply.

Job Posted by ApplicantPro
Post your job
There are various strategies that you can use to find the right residence hall 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 hall director job on Zippia to find and recruit residence hall director candidates who meet your exact specifications.
- Use field-specific websites such as k12jobspot, learn4good, serious teachers, teachingjobs.com.
- Post a job on free websites.
Interview candidates
Your first interview with residence hall director candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.
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.
Send a job offer and onboard your new residence hall director
Once you've selected the best residence hall director 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.
You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.
To prepare for the new residence hall director 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.
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 residence hall director?

There are different types of costs for hiring residence hall directors. One-time cost per hire for the recruitment process. Ongoing costs include employee salary, training, onboarding, benefits, insurance, and equipment. It is essential to consider all of these costs when evaluating hiring a new residence hall director employee.

You can expect to pay around $47,193 per year for a residence hall director, as this is the median yearly salary nationally. This can vary depending on what state or city you're hiring in. If you're hiring for contract work or on a per-project basis, hourly rates for residence hall directors in the US typically range between $14 and $33 an hour.

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Updated December 14, 2025

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How to hire a residence hall director