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How to hire a social services counselor

Social services counselor hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring social services counselors in the United States:

  • There are currently 112,175 social services counselors in the US, as well as 151,229 job openings.
  • Social services counselors are in the highest demand in Albuquerque, NM, with 12 current job openings.
  • The median cost to hire a social services counselor 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 social services counselor to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire a social services counselor, step by step

To hire a social services counselor, you should clearly understand the skills and experience you are looking for in a candidate, and allocate a budget for the position. You will also need to post and promote the job opening to reach potential candidates. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to hire a social services counselor:

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

What does a social services counselor do?

Social service counselors provide a wide range of counselling such as psychological assessment, diagnosis, and therapy. They must evaluate patient data, do psychological tests, and apply their observations. They may also review clinical issues and programs. Typically, they work in institutions or private practices.

Learn more about the specifics of what a social services counselor does
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  1. Identify your hiring needs

    First, determine the employments status of the social services counselor you need to hire. Certain social services counselor 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 social services counselor's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, social services counselors 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.

    The following list breaks down different types of social services counselors and their corresponding salaries.

    Type of Social Services CounselorDescriptionHourly rate
    Social Services CounselorSocial workers help people solve and cope with problems in their everyday lives. One group of social workers—clinical social workers—also diagnose and treat mental, behavioral, and emotional issues.$14-31
    Family WorkerA 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
    Mental Health ClinicianA Mental Health Clinician provides psychotherapeutic and rehabilitation services for patients with mental health problems. They manage the treatment of clients and help them to obtain stable physical health.$17-38
  2. Create an ideal candidate profile

    Common skills:
    • Social Work
    • Patients
    • Social Services
    • Financial Assistance
    • Scheduling Appointments
    • Direct Services
    • Psychosocial Assessments
    • Substance Abuse
    • Medical Equipment
    • Criminal Justice
    • Rehabilitation
    • Discharge Planning
    • Mental Health
    • Child Abuse
    Check all skills
    Responsibilities:
    • Case manage in-district and out-of-district students with emotional disabilities, autism, other health impair and physical disabilities.
    • Serve as liaison/advocate between patients and/or families/caregivers and community agencies, other companies as deemed need.
    • Develop and write the IRP with the client and Treatment/rehabilitation team.
    • Administer first aid/ CPR as well as handled emergency situations when necessary in the aquatics area and the workout facility.
    • Escort residents to appointments to train in community integration and other relate rehabilitation services.
    • Provide individual, group and family therapy to patients and their families in an acute-care crisis stabilization psychiatric hospital.
    More social services counselor duties
  3. Make a budget

    Including a salary range in the social services counselor job description is a good way to get more applicants. A social services counselor 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 social services counselor in Ohio may be lower than in New Jersey, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level social services counselor. Additionally, a social services counselor with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

    Average social services counselor salary

    $45,514yearly

    $21.88 hourly rate

    Entry-level social services counselor salary
    $31,000 yearly salary
    Updated January 30, 2026

    Average social services counselor salary by state

    RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
    1New Jersey$75,179$36
    2California$54,074$26
    3Louisiana$53,834$26
    4Illinois$48,558$23
    5Iowa$45,743$22
    6Utah$44,932$22
    7Georgia$43,030$21
    8Nebraska$40,907$20
    9Kentucky$37,362$18
    10Florida$36,862$18

    Average social services counselor salary by company

    RankCompanyAverage salaryHourly rateJob openings
    1Mission Regional Medical Center$53,534$25.7483
    2Prime Healthcare$53,204$25.5863
    3Oaks Christian School$52,659$25.32
    4Universal Health Services$49,248$23.68366
    5Louisiana State Police$48,180$23.16
    6My Florida Regional Mls$46,289$22.25
    7Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City$45,826$22.032
    8Trilogy Health Services$43,777$21.0511
    9RiversEdge USA$42,375$20.37
    10Cano Health$41,471$19.946
    11Emory Healthcare$38,554$18.5430
    12Broward Health$36,039$17.3332
    13State Of Florida$34,042$16.37106
    14Florida Department of Transportation$33,583$16.15
    15Florida Dept. of Health$32,727$15.731
    16The Salvation Army$30,818$14.82450
  4. Writing a social services counselor job description

    A social services counselor 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 social services counselor job description:

    Social services counselor job description example

    Department: Multi Systemic Therapy
    FTE: 1.00
    Full Time (30 - 40 hours per week)
    Shift: Days

    Sign On Bonus For New Hire

    MST experience preferred. Bi-lingual preferred. Eligible for independent licensure within six months of hire given consideration.

    Position Summary:
    Provide, oversee, and/or administer a wide range of psychosocial evaluation/assessment, diagnostic, counseling therapy, crisis intervention, and/or case management services in a high-intensity clinical environment which requires a high degree of independent decision-making and program administration. Lead and train lower level counselors/social workers, students, and/or interns engaged in related therapeutic/patient care activities, as appropriate to the individual position. Ensure adherence to Hospitals and departmental policies and procedures. Patient care assignment may include neonate, pediatric, adolescent, adult and geriatric age groups.

    Detailed responsibilities:
    * PATIENT CARE - Provide counseling, therapy, and/or psychotherapy to clients and families as appropriate to the position
    * PATIENT CARE - Prepare treatment plans, discharge plans, and follow up care programs
    * CONSULTATION - Consult with other therapists and related professional and paraprofessional staff, as appropriate, in the performance of therapeutic and/or casework; refers clients to appropriate service agencies as required
    * INTERVENTION - Provide and/or arrange for therapeutic interventions to include but not limited to emergency services and crisis intervention for individuals with serious emotional or behavioral disturbances
    * REFERRAL - Refers clients to appropriate social service agencies for financial assistance and other required services; may visit patients and families in their homes to provide counseling and outreach services
    * DOCUMENTATION - Follow up to determine reliability of treatment used; change method and degree of therapy when appropriate
    * CONSULTATION - Consult with other legal and treatment agencies and individuals in relation to patient/client records, rights, and responsibilities
    * CASE MANAGEMENT - Prepare related timely documentation for civil commitment hearings or other legal proceedings
    * ADMINISTRATION - Perform various administrative functions such as monitoring expenditures and preparing reports and correspondence; may participate in a variety of research projects to develop service plans; may propose changes to program policies and procedures
    * TRAINING - Provide clinical supervision to lower level therapists and/or graduate social work students/interns, as appropriate, and/or consulting services to other patient care professionals
    * TRAINING - May provide formal teaching, consultation, and in-service training to relevant professionals in immediate proper handling of and/or referral of a variety of matters
    * QUALITY - Promote and use best practices in treatment; may include specialized training
    * QUALITY - Meet published departmental expectations for client access and productivity
    * DEVELOPMENT - Enhance professional growth and development through participation in educational programs, reading current literature, attending in-services, meetings and workshops
    * PATIENT SAFETY 1 - Follow patient safety-related policies, procedures and protocols
    * PATIENT SAFETY 2 - Demonstrate proactive approach to patient safety by seeking opportunities to improve patient safety through questioning of current policies and processes
    * PATIENT SAFETY 3 - Identify and report/correct environmental conditions and/or situations that may put a patient at undue risk
    * PATIENT SAFETY 4 - Report potential or actual patient safety concerns, medical errors and/or near misses in a timely manner
    * PATIENT SAFETY 5 - Encourage patients to actively participate in their own care by asking questions and reporting treatment or situations that they don't understand or may "not seem right"

    Qualifications

    Education:
    Essential:
    * Master's Degree
    Education specialization:
    Essential:
    * Related Discipline

    Experience:
    Essential:
    3 years directly related experience
    Documented experience in age appropriate environment

    Nonessential:
    Bilingual English, Spanish, Keres, Tewa, Tiwa, Towa, Zuni, or Navajo

    Credentials:
    Essential:
    * LPCC/CMHC or LCSW or LMFT in New Mexico

    Physical Conditions:
    Light Work: Exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly (Constantly: activity or condition exists 2/3 or more of the time) to move objects. Physical demand requirements are in excess of those for Sedentary Work. May require walking or standing to a significant degree or requires sitting most of the time but entails pushing and/or pulling of arm or leg controls; and/or may require working at a production rate pace entailing the constant pushing and/or pulling of materials even though the weight of materials is negligible.

    Working conditions:
    Essential:
    * Sig Hazard: Chemicals, Bio Hazardous Materials req PPE
    * May be credentialed by UNMH Credentialing Committee

    Department: Behavioral and Mental Health

  5. Post your job

    To find the right social services counselor 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 social services counselors they would recommend.
    • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit social services counselors 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 social services counselor job on Zippia to find and recruit social services counselor candidates who meet your exact specifications.
    • Use field-specific websites.
    • Post a job on free websites.
  6. Interview candidates

    During your first interview to recruit social services counselors, 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.

    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 counselor

    Once you've found the social services counselor 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 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.

    To prepare for the new social services counselor 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 counselor?

Before you start to hire social services counselors, it pays to consider both the one-off costs like recruitment, job promotion, and onboarding, as well as the ongoing costs of an employee's salary and benefits. While most companies that hire social services counselors pay close attention to the initial cost of hiring, ongoing costs are much more significant in the long run.

The median annual salary for social services counselors is $45,514 in the US. However, the cost of social services counselor hiring can vary a lot depending on location. Additionally, hiring a social services counselor for contract work or on a per-project basis typically costs between $14 and $31 an hour.

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