How to hire a teaching assistant

How to hire a teaching assistant, step by step

Here's a step-by-step teaching assistant hiring guide:

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

What does a teaching assistant do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a teaching assistant, 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 teaching assistant 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 teaching assistant that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of teaching assistants.

   Type of Teaching Assistant	Description	Hourly rate
   Teaching Assistant	A Teaching Assistant supports learning activities in schools and nurseries. They are involved in various activities, such as preparing the classroom for lessons, setting up art equipment, and preparing computers.	$10-28
   Math Tutor	A math tutor's role is to provide mathematical lessons on an individual or small group setting. Most sessions take place after class or during the weekends, usually outside school premises or at home... Show more	$11-23
   Tutor	Tutors are individual contributors who make sure that students assigned to them can understand classroom lessons. They are often full-time educators themselves, but they may also be working in other fields and are only passionate about teaching... Show more	$10-25

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Lab Experiments
   • Laboratory Experiments
   • TA
   • Organic Chemistry
   • Mathematics
   • Undergraduate Courses
   • Course Materials
   • Review Sessions
   • R
   • Lab Reports
   • C++
   • Classroom Management
   • Anatomy
   • Physiology

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead well-received labs aim at students learning SAS including: data step, general regression models building and plots generating.
   • Develop and lead ELA lessons at the 8th grade level, with an emphasis on critical reading and literary analysis.
   • Assist classmates with developing positive study habits and strategies for managing classroom material.
   • Lead discussion sections for students to understand concepts including introductory quantum theory and statistical thermodynamics as well as their applications.
   • Develop expanded communication and teaching skills on explaining the human anatomy and its functions to achieve student understanding and patient education.
   • Organize and run review sessions design to help students better understand concepts of animal anatomy and physiology.

   More teaching assistant duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, teaching assistants' average salary in utah is 47% less than in pennsylvania.
   • Seniority. Entry-level teaching assistants earn 63% less than senior-level teaching assistants.
   • Certifications. A teaching assistant 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 teaching assistant's salary.

   Average teaching assistant salary

   $36,519yearly

   $17.56 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level teaching assistant salary

   $22,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 18, 2025

   Average teaching assistant salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Pennsylvania	$50,218	$24
   2	Massachusetts	$49,448	$24
   3	Maryland	$47,246	$23
   4	New York	$44,983	$22
   5	Connecticut	$44,918	$22
   6	Michigan	$40,655	$20
   7	Illinois	$40,062	$19
   8	Ohio	$38,651	$19
   9	Minnesota	$36,712	$18
   10	District of Columbia	$36,298	$17
   11	California	$36,268	$17
   12	Washington	$32,703	$16
   13	Missouri	$32,115	$15
   14	Texas	$31,457	$15
   15	Georgia	$30,342	$15
   16	Colorado	$30,105	$14
   17	Kansas	$28,076	$14

   Average teaching assistant salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Pace University	$74,540	$35.84	11
   2	Harvard University	$68,331	$32.85
   3	Data	$60,197	$28.94
   4	Emory University	$58,581	$28.16	25
   5	The Culinary Institute of America	$58,347	$28.05	1
   6	New York Film Academy	$58,071	$27.92
   7	Park University	$57,251	$27.52	2
   8	Kern Community College District	$55,430	$26.65	2
   9	Ross Institute	$55,185	$26.53
   10	San Diego College of Continuing Education	$54,924	$26.41	6
   11	Gettysburg College	$54,039	$25.98	11
   12	UC Merced	$52,878	$25.42
   13	Yale University	$52,766	$25.37	5
   14	Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College	$51,702	$24.86	10
   15	Carnegie Mellon University	$51,515	$24.77	41
   16	New York State Restaurant Association	$51,128	$24.58
   17	The University of Chicago	$51,057	$24.55	24
   18	Oak Hill School	$50,893	$24.47
   19	Hilton CSD	$50,489	$24.27
   20	Sotheby's Institute of Art	$49,986	$24.03	4

4. Writing a teaching assistant job description

   A good teaching assistant job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a teaching assistant job description:

   Teaching assistant job description example

   Make a difference in the community with Early Learning Essentials (ELE)! We are a non profit organization that offers preschool services to children and families who encounter life's challenges and need a hand up.
   
   Enjoy exceptional benefits with medical, dental, life, and a 401(k). We are a family friendly company as all staff enjoy gym benefits, weekends off, and twice the normal holidays! We also offer a $600 sign-on incentive for selected positions working with children and families.
   
   Assists the teacher to provide instruction, supervision, and provision of appropriate learning activities for all enrolled children at a specified site
   
   Under the direction of the teacher, delivers comprehensive educational services to Head Start children, including those with Individualized Education Plan's (IEP), behavioral support or health plans and English language learners, helping them develop socially, intellectually, physically, and emotionally in a developmentally appropriate manner toward the overall goal of social competence and school readiness, as outlined in the Head Start Performance Standards, the 2007 Improving Head Start for School Readiness Act and Early Learning Essentials' policies and procedures and ensures services support the agency's school readiness plan.
   
   Position is full-time with 185 days; a typical work week is Monday - Friday with an expectation of no more than 40 hours per week. For weeks with less than five working days, daily hours only apply.
   
   Position offers full benefits, including: Health, Dental, Life, HSA Contributions, 401K, and EAP counseling.
   MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Must have a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential or enrolled in a CDA credential program that will be completed within two (2) years. Early Learning Essentials may assist with the cost of obtaining a CDA as long as funds are available. Experience working with preschool children or preschool lab work leading to a degree in Early Childhood Education (ECE) from a recognized institution is preferred. DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS: An Associate or Baccalaureate degree (in any area) from a recognized institution or be enrolled in a program leading to a degree; or An Associate or Baccalaureate degree in ECE, Elementary Education, Child Development, or other closely related field from a recognized institution is preferred. Official or unofficial transcript which shows the award or confer date of the degree must be attached to the employment application. Bilingual Spanish-speaking is desirable. Additional Information The pay structure for classroom staff is set up similar to a school district's with annualized paychecks spread out through the year in bi-weekly pay periods, thus allowing our staff to receive paychecks even when they are off during the summer months. Job Posted by ApplicantPro

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find teaching assistants 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.

   To find teaching assistant candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as k12jobspot, learn4good, serious teachers, teachingjobs.com.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit teaching assistants, 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 teaching assistant

   Once you've found the teaching assistant 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 teaching assistant 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 teaching assistant?