How to hire a taxonomist

How to hire a taxonomist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step taxonomist hiring guide:

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

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a taxonomist, 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?

   Yes

   No

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

   The following list breaks down different types of taxonomists and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Taxonomist	Description	Hourly rate
   Taxonomist		$15-55
   Collector Of Aquarium Specimens	Collectors of specimen work under the supervision of nurse case managers in determining the authorization based upon the diagnosis of physicians and medical documentation. The collectors improve the reputation of hospitals and phlebotomy departments through ownership for new and different needs... Show more	$10-18
   Biological Scientist	A biological scientist's duties will vary depending on one's industry of employment. Typically, they are responsible for studying and conducting research and analysis on living organisms, collaborating with fellow scientists, traveling to different areas, and keeping an accurate record of all observations, results, and processes... Show more	$20-51

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • SEO
   • Architecture
   • Search Engine
   • Digital Assets
   • Water Quality

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead teams involve in preclinical toxicity assessment of anticancer NCEs and establishment of GLP compliant toxicology division.
   • Evaluate off-shore content analysis and tagging resources and train them in the document tagging process and CMS database structure.
   • Develop information architecture, interaction and UI designs for a web-base customer support tool used by a large mobile communications client.
   • Organize and participate in elk population helicopter survey, utilizing census data to determine big game harvest values for upper management.
   • Perform wildlife studies for ESA species, priority species, and species of local significance.
   • Disseminate research findings through oral and written communication in academic, professional, and interagency settings.

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, taxonomists' average salary in indiana is 47% less than in alaska.
   • Seniority. Entry-level taxonomists earn 71% less than senior-level taxonomists.
   • Certifications. A taxonomist 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 taxonomist's salary.

   Average taxonomist salary

   $62,066yearly

   $29.84 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level taxonomist salary

   $33,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 18, 2025

   Average taxonomist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Maryland	$80,642	$39
   2	Alaska	$77,012	$37
   3	Massachusetts	$76,031	$37
   4	South Carolina	$75,212	$36
   5	Connecticut	$74,455	$36
   6	New Hampshire	$73,176	$35
   7	California	$72,900	$35
   8	Virginia	$65,853	$32
   9	Arizona	$65,327	$31
   10	Texas	$64,161	$31
   11	New York	$63,715	$31
   12	North Carolina	$61,820	$30
   13	Pennsylvania	$61,421	$30
   14	North Dakota	$60,496	$29
   15	Kentucky	$59,889	$29
   16	Georgia	$57,861	$28
   17	Louisiana	$57,232	$28
   18	Iowa	$56,961	$27
   19	Arkansas	$56,683	$27
   20	Mississippi	$56,530	$27

   Average taxonomist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Apple	$148,594	$71.44
   2	Meta	$142,198	$68.36
   3	Capgemini	$91,331	$43.91
   4	DoorDash	$67,341	$32.38
   5	Amazon	$64,878	$31.19
   6	Crystal Equation	$63,131	$30.35
   7	EMSI	$59,890	$28.79
   8	Qurate Retail	$48,827	$23.47

4. Writing a taxonomist job description

   A taxonomist 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 taxonomist job description:

   Taxonomist job description example

   Udacity is on a mission to change lives, businesses and nations through radical talent transformation in digital technologies. We offer a unique and immersive online learning platform, powering corporate technical training in fields such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, Autonomous Systems, Cloud Computing and more. Our rapidly growing global organization is revolutionizing how the enterprise market bridges the talent shortage and skills gaps during their digital transformation journey. Udacity is proud to be backed by respected investors like Andreessen Horowitz, Charles River Ventures, Bertelsmann and Drive Capital, among other leading VC firms, and provides a powerful and differentiated solution inside of a $32b total addressable market opportunity. Udacity has more than 100 enterprise customers including Airbus, Bertelsmann, BNP Paribas, Leidos, Mazda, and the United States Air Force.

   Udacity's mission is to power careers through tech education. We're an immersive online learning platform offering practitioner-level education in fields such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, Autonomous Systems, Cloud Computing, Product Management, and more.

   Udacity transforms the world by providing life-long learners an opportunity to develop cutting-edge skills and enhance their professional and personal lives. We similarly help enterprises transform their workforces and empower employees with the skills of the future.

   As a Learning Skills Taxonomist, you will help build out the Knowledge Graphs for Udacity's growing skills library. You will partner with our content and product development team to build out ontology for our existing and new content. As the taxonomy expert within Udacity, you will evangelize and educate internal teams on taxonomies.

   Job Responsibilities

   • Build out tooling using third-party tools (Mondeco) to create and update Udacity's models.
   • Work with content, product, and data teams to build out necessary and scalable tooling and processes for content skills.
   • Own the data labeling process and structured data entities, and collaborate with internal teams (content, data) to build out the models for the knowledge graph.
   • Work with data science and machine learning roles to build and augment knowledge graphs.
   • Integrate Content Skills into other skill-based initiatives for our learners and customers.
   • Create communication tools and artifacts to evangelize and educate others internally on information management principles.
   • Collaborate with important stakeholders and experts (both internal and external) to develop a common vocabulary for the taxonomies.

   What We Value

   • A background in Library Science, Information Management, or other related fields
   • 3+ years of experience managing and creating taxonomies or ontologies
   • Basic engineering skills (scripting, automation) and familiarity with SQL, SPARQL, and Javascript for data labeling and cleaning.
   • Ability to communicate with a diverse set of audiences and stakeholders with clarity and depth.
   • Life long learner with a passion to educate others.
   • Experience working collaboratively across teams to build out scalable systems.
   • Detail-oriented with a flexible, can-do attitude.

   Our teams proudly embrace and embody Udacity's values:

   • Better Together
   • Students First
   • Entrepreneurial
   • Data-Driven
   • Candid and Direct
   • Talent-Obsessed

   Learn more about Udacity's Values Students First - Better Together - Entrepreneurial - Data Driven - Candid and Direct - Talent Obsessed

   Udacity is committed to creating economic empowerment and a more diverse and equitable world. To ensure that our products and culture continue to incorporate everyone's perspectives and experience we never discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry, disability, medical condition (including genetic information), age, veteran status or military status, denial of pregnancy disability leave or reasonable accommodation.

   Udacity's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find taxonomists for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any taxonomists they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level taxonomists with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your taxonomist job on Zippia to find and recruit taxonomist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit taxonomists, 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.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates 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.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new taxonomist

   Once you've decided on a perfect taxonomist 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.

   To prepare for the new taxonomist 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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