How to hire a social services aide

How to hire a social services aide, step by step

Here's a step-by-step social services aide hiring guide:

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

What does a social services aide do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The social services aide 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

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a social services aide 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 social services aide that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of social services aides.

   Type of Social Services Aide	Description	Hourly rate
   Social Services Aide	Social and human service assistants provide client services, including support for families, in a wide variety of fields, such as psychology, rehabilitation, and social work. They assist other workers, such as social workers, and they help clients find benefits or community services.	$12-19
   Family Counselor	A Family Counselor treats married couples or family members in order to help them overcome mental or emotional problems. They provide effective treatment measures to help the family members resolve their issues.	$12-29
   Family Worker	A family worker's role is to provide an intervention with parents, children, and young persons to help improve outcomes for families and children. The job they do includes working with parents to help strengthen family relationships and their ability to provide support and be community involved closely... Show more	$13-23

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Social Work
   • Community Resources
   • Home Health
   • Rehabilitation
   • Child Care
   • Mental Health
   • Foster Care
   • Foster Children
   • Support Services
   • Referral Services
   • Developmental Disabilities
   • Anger Management
   • Community Agencies
   • Computer System

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage a caseload TANF clients, assess clients eligibility to receive benefits, assist with placement of clients in various programs.
   • Assist with input of Medicare data, per legal deadlines.
   • Collaborate with patients for vocational rehabilitation for family members who qualify.
   • Confer with physicians, psychologists, occupational therapists, and other professionals to develop and implement client rehabilitation programs.
   • Collaborate with community partners and non profit organizations to find best services for veterans.

   More social services aide duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your social services aide job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A social services aide salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, social services aides' average salary in louisiana is 38% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level social services aides earn 39% less than senior-level social services aides.
   • Certifications. A social services aide with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a social services aide's salary.

   Average social services aide salary

   $15.60hourly

   $32,458 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level social services aide salary

   $25,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average social services aide salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$38,414	$18
   2	Hawaii	$34,107	$16
   3	Minnesota	$33,268	$16
   4	Nevada	$32,057	$15
   5	Illinois	$31,822	$15
   6	Massachusetts	$31,252	$15
   7	Oregon	$30,942	$15
   8	Pennsylvania	$30,298	$15
   9	Indiana	$30,036	$14
   10	Wyoming	$28,995	$14
   11	Kentucky	$28,444	$14
   12	Florida	$24,169	$12
   13	Virginia	$23,931	$12

   Average social services aide salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania	$35,405	$17.02
   2	Cano Health	$33,728	$16.22	7
   3	SHASTA COUNTY	$33,671	$16.19	3
   4	The Garden	$33,423	$16.07
   5	Forest Manufacturing Co	$33,295	$16.01
   6	Monarch Healthcare	$33,289	$16.00	53
   7	Charter Schools USA	$32,250	$15.50	1
   8	Prime Healthcare	$32,183	$15.47	59
   9	City of El Dorado	$32,038	$15.40
   10	Indian Health Service	$32,036	$15.40	41
   11	State Of South Dakota	$32,002	$15.39	51
   12	Mission Regional Medical Center	$31,754	$15.27	81
   13	Alden Poplar Creek Rehabilitation & Health Care Center	$31,590	$15.19
   14	Pennsylvania State Treasurer	$31,474	$15.13	23
   15	Keiro Northwest	$31,221	$15.01
   16	Wyoming	$31,068	$14.94	11
   17	Trilogy Health Services	$30,998	$14.90	149
   18	Committee for Public Counsel Services	$30,085	$14.46
   19	The Salvation Army	$29,904	$14.38	456
   20	State of Georgia: Teachers Retirement System of Georgia	$29,589	$14.23	81

4. Writing a social services aide job description

   A job description for a social services aide 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 social services aide job description:

   Social services aide job description example

   Located near I-40 and Sycamore, Tennessee, on Dovecrest Road, Signature HealthCARE of Memphis is a 140-bed skilled nursing facility. The center is approximately three miles from Baptist East Memorial Hospital in a lovely part of East Shelby County. This facility has a warm family-like atmosphere where patients and staff interact on positive and friendly levels. The in-house therapy team offers speech, occupational, and physical therapy services, and ongoing restorative therapy helps maintain the patients highest level of mobility and independence. The day-to-day programs and leisure activities are well designed for each patients enjoyment while healthy meals are prepared by a certified chef. The facility chaplain is an important part of the team and provides counseling and spiritual guidance for patients, their families, and staff, regardless of religious affiliation.
   
   Signature HealthCARE is a family-based healthcare company that offers integrated services in 10 states across the continuum of care: skilled nursing, rehabilitation, assisted living, memory care, home health, cognitive care, and telemedicine.
   
   A growing number of our centers are earning quality assurance accreditation and pioneering person - directed care. Many of our skilled nursing facilities have achieved a 4 or 5-star overall rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Additionally, we have been awarded as a certified Great Place to Work for three years in a row and Modern Healthcare's "Best Places to Work!"
   
   Signature HealthCARE has a vision to radically change the landscape of healthcare forever. It's more than a corporation… it's a Revolution. We are currently seeking an innovative and progressive leader to join the mission as our Social Services Assistant.
   
   Signature HealthCARE is an industry leader in post-acute, long term care and rehabilitation services. We operate more than 115 locations across 10 states employing over 17,000 Stakeholders (our thoughtful and loving employees).
   
   A growing number of Signature centers are earning Five-Star ratings from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. We were also named one of Modern Healthcare's "Best Places to Work" three times! Signature's culture is unparalleled and founded on three pillars: Learning, Spirituality, and Innovation. Come see what the Revolution is all about!
   As Social Services Assistant you will be responsible for:
   
   * Identify and participate in process improvement initiatives that improve the customer experience, enhance work flow, and/or improve the work environment.
   * Assist in collecting social history data and in the development of a comprehensive discharge plan, including the MDS and Care Plan for new admits, as directed by the Social Services Director.
   * Orient and assist new residents in adjusting to the facility. Assist residents and families with adjustment to changes, including room changes.
   * Assist families with the engraving and/or marking of resident's personal items.
   
   Requirements for Consideration include:
   
   * At least one (2) year experience in social work, preferably in a long-term care facility.
   * Bachelors or Master's degree in social work, sociology or psychology or in a related human services field, including but not limited to, special education, rehabilitation and counseling.
   * Effective verbal and written English communication skills.
   * Highest level of professionalism with the ability to maintain confidentiality.
   * Ability to communicate at all levels of organization and work well within a team environment in support of company objectives.
   * Customer service oriented with the ability to work well under pressure.
   * Strong attention to detail and accuracy, excellent organizational skills with ability to prioritize, coordinate and simultaneously maintain multiple projects with high level of quality and productivity.
   
   SignatureHealthcare is an Equal Opportunity-Affirmative Action Employer - Minority / Female / Disability / Veteran and other protected categories.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find social services aides 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 social services aide job on Zippia to find and recruit social services aide candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit social services aides, 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 social services aide

   Once you've decided on a perfect social services aide 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.

   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 social services aide 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 social services aide?