How to hire a student clinician

How to hire a student clinician, step by step

Here's a step-by-step student clinician hiring guide:

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

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your student clinician job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a student clinician for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   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 student clinician 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 student clinician that fits the bill.

   This list presents student clinician salaries for various positions.

   Type of Student Clinician	Description	Hourly rate
   Student Clinician	Speech-language pathologists (sometimes called speech therapists) assess, diagnose, treat, and help to prevent communication and swallowing disorders in patients. Speech, language, and swallowing disorders result from a variety of causes, such as a stroke, brain injury, hearing loss, developmental delay, Parkinson’s disease, a cleft palate or autism.	$19-40
   Speech Therapist	Speech Therapists work with patients across multiple age groups to facilitate the treatment of speech and language disorders, such as stammers and stutters. They work with people who cannot produce speech sounds or cannot produce them clearly.	$25-44
   Speech Pathologist	The job of speech pathologists is to diagnose, treat, and prevent speech, social communication, language, swallowing, and cognitive-communication disorders in both children and adults. They are responsible for providing aural rehabilitation for people with hearing impairment and hearing loss, and alternative and augmentative systems for people with severe language comprehension disorders such as progressive neurological disorders and the autism spectrum... Show more	$20-42

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Language Disorders
   • Patients
   • Autism
   • Traumatic Brain Injury
   • Group Therapy Sessions
   • Aphasia
   • Expressive Language
   • Hearing Screenings
   • AAC
   • Individual Therapy Sessions
   • Autism Spectrum Disorder
   • Communication Disorders
   • Diagnostic Evaluations
   • Speech-Language Therapy

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Provide group base intervention for elementary age students who use AAC, with and without communication disorders
   • Deliver speech therapy in individual and group settings; focuse on improving overall functional communication in patients with non-fluent aphasia.
   • Evaluate patients in the acute care setting for communication disorders, develop and implement therapy for acute care and rehabilitation patients.
   • Provide speech and language intervention for a varying population with stuttering, receptive-expressive language delay, aphasia, and articulation deficits.
   • Addressed concerns such as articulation, augmentative alternative communication, autism-spectrum disorders, pragmatic issues, expressive and receptive language issues.
   • Provide AAC training utilizing communications book.

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, student clinicians' average salary in maine is 41% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level student clinicians earn 52% less than senior-level student clinicians.
   • Certifications. A student clinician 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 student clinician's salary.

   Average student clinician salary

   $59,506yearly

   $28.61 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level student clinician salary

   $41,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

4. Writing a student clinician job description

   A student clinician 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. To help get you started, here's an example of a student clinician job description:

   Student clinician job description example

   The University of Pennsylvania, the largest private employer in Philadelphia, is a world-renowned leader in education, research, and innovation. This historic, Ivy League school consistently ranks among the top 10 universities in the annual U.S. News & World Report survey. Penn has 12 highly-regarded schools that provide opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and continuing education, all influenced by Penn's distinctive interdisciplinary approach to scholarship and learning. As an employer Penn has been ranked nationally on many occasions with the most recent award from Forbes who named Penn one of America's Best Employers By State in 2021.
   
   Penn offers a unique working environment within the city of Philadelphia. The University is situated on a beautiful urban campus, with easy access to a range of educational, cultural, and recreational activities. With its historical significance and landmarks, lively cultural offerings, and wide variety of atmospheres, Philadelphia is the perfect place to call home for work and play.
   
   COVID-19 vaccination is a requirement for all positions at the University of Pennsylvania. New hires are expected to be fully vaccinated before beginning work at the University. For more information about Penn's vaccine requirements, visit the Penn COVID-19 Response website for the latest information.
   Posted Job Title
   
   MLAS Student (Gene Therapy Program)
   
   Job Profile Title
   
   Temporary Employee - Co-op Worker
   
   Job Description Summary
   
   Job Description
   
   The Gene Therapy Program (GTP) at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine is excited to host one Drexel Master Of Laboratory Animal Science (MLAS) student displaying interest in laboratory animal medicine. The start date is negotiable, though anticipated to begin in early 2023. GTP is a fast-paced research program dedicated to the development of innovative vector technology for close to three decades. The student will be exposed to veterinary care, husbandry and facility operations, colony management, protocol development, animal behavior, and research implementation for both rodent and nonhuman primate colonies. This preceptorship schedule is flexible with the ability to tailor activities to the individual's interests.
   
   Job Location - City, State
   
   Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
   
   Department / School
   
   Perelman School of Medicine
   
   Pay Range
   
   $7.25 - $155.75
   
   Affirmative Action Statement
   
   Penn adheres to a policy that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected class.
   
   Special Requirements
   
   Background check may be required after a conditional job offer is made. Consideration of the background check will be tailored to the requirements of the job.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find student clinicians 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 student clinician job on Zippia to find and attract quality student clinician candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit student clinicians, 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. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   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 student clinician

   Once you have selected a candidate for the student clinician position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize 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 employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is 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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