How to hire a trainee

How to hire a trainee, step by step

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

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

What does a trainee do?

Post a trainee job for free, promote it for a fee

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The trainee 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

   Hiring the perfect trainee also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list shows salaries for various types of trainees.

   Type of Trainee	Description	Hourly rate
   Trainee	Computer networks are critical parts of almost every organization. Network and computer systems administrators are responsible for the day-to-day operation of these networks.	$12-26
   Help Desk Analyst	Help Desk Analysts generally provide technical support by assisting customers with their system issues. These analysts are expected to be highly knowledgeable about application processes and basic troubleshooting... Show more	$12-25
   Support	A support employee is responsible for assisting the business operations and responding to customers' inquiries and concerns regarding its goods and services. Support logs all customers' interaction and escalates potential complaints to the appropriate department... Show more	$11-25

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • CDL
   • Training Programs
   • Work Ethic
   • Basic Math
   • Math
   • C++
   • Safety Standards
   • HR
   • Individual Therapy
   • Payroll
   • Substance Abuse
   • Group Therapy
   • Windows

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Establish and manage Microsoft SharePoint services to servers to achieve higher productivity for each project.
   • Design scripts to automate the build of developer, QA, and production servers.
   • Accomplish the experiments on PCB layout, core circuit board of hardware via PCB manufacturing.
   • Maintain BOM (bill of materials) and manage the team in maintaining coordination between the customer requirements.
   • Involve using HTML, CSS, PHP, bootstrap, and Jquery throughout the work.
   • Assist in the creation of a python base ArcGIS profile elevation script tool.

   More trainee duties

3. Make a budget

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

   Average trainee salary

   $39,185yearly

   $18.84 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level trainee salary

   $27,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 21, 2025

   Average trainee salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$46,125	$22
   2	Oregon	$43,908	$21
   3	District of Columbia	$42,747	$21
   4	Washington	$42,719	$21
   5	Connecticut	$42,526	$20
   6	Nevada	$42,113	$20
   7	New York	$40,709	$20
   8	Arizona	$40,627	$20
   9	Ohio	$40,183	$19
   10	Massachusetts	$40,176	$19
   11	Illinois	$39,638	$19
   12	Louisiana	$39,479	$19
   13	Minnesota	$39,316	$19
   14	Texas	$38,888	$19
   15	Alabama	$38,847	$19
   16	South Carolina	$37,706	$18
   17	Pennsylvania	$37,139	$18
   18	Utah	$36,870	$18
   19	Wisconsin	$36,441	$18
   20	North Carolina	$35,708	$17

   Average trainee salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Clifford Chance	$61,954	$29.79
   2	Commerce Bank	$61,354	$29.50	5
   3	Amphenol	$60,396	$29.04	1
   4	Battelle	$58,628	$28.19	1
   5	IBM	$57,498	$27.64	6
   6	UT Southwestern Medical Center	$57,481	$27.64
   7	Columbia University in the City of New York	$56,721	$27.27
   8	Allianz Life	$55,719	$26.79
   9	Katerra	$55,459	$26.66	5
   10	Mount Sinai Health System	$54,812	$26.35
   11	University of Southern California	$54,637	$26.27	1
   12	McLane	$54,454	$26.18	1
   13	Howard University	$54,231	$26.07
   14	Massachusetts General Hospital	$53,758	$25.85
   15	Brigham and Women's Hospital	$53,301	$25.63
   16	Huntsville Hospital	$53,255	$25.60
   17	EMC Insurance	$53,222	$25.59
   18	Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center	$52,000	$25.00
   19	Emory University	$51,813	$24.91	2
   20	The Travelers Companies	$51,812	$24.91	2

4. Writing a trainee job description

   A trainee 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 trainee job description:

   Trainee job description example

   OVERVIEW OF THE COMPANY
   Fox TV Stations
   
   Fox Television Stations is one of the nation's largest owned-and-operated network broadcast groups, comprising 29 stations in 18 markets and covering over 37% of U.S. television homes. This includes seven duopolies in the top 10 markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Houston; as well as duopolies in Minneapolis, Phoenix, Orlando and Seattle.
   
   JOB DESCRIPTION
   Are you a recent college graduate looking for a dynamic opportunity to work at a #6 DMA station (temporary - 6 months)? We are hiring a Creative Services Trainee who will assist the team on our new show “Portia”.
   
   Does this sound like you? You desire to learn new techniques. You're creative and have a passion for digital and social media platforms. You love a fast paced environment and can work under the pressure of deadlines.
   
   Responsibilities: Assist Creative Services Department in creating and publishing multi-platform promotional content in support of FOX 5's social/digital initiatives and new show, “Portia”.
   
   Plan social content to promote launch of “Portia” show Serve as lead creator of social content promoting weekly episodes of “Portia”Provide social/digital content ideas for upcoming projects during creative pitch meetings Solid understanding of content creation tools within popular social apps Ability to write engaging social copy across various channels Capture social content during promotional image campaign shoots Solid news judgement and a grasp of local news, politics, and current events Cut video/sound and create graphics as needed for social content Create, write and schedule promotional emails within the Salesforce Marketing CloudAssist Digital Content Marketing Manager in weekly social posts Performs other duties as assigned
   
   Requirements:
   Excellent writing, production and social content creation skills Team-player mentality with excellent communication skills Attention to detail Ability to meet deadlines Passionate about social media Knowledge of television and studio production Basic computer skills are required
   
   College degree preferably in Journalism, Broadcasting or Digital Media. Must be a recent graduate (within one year or less).
   
   We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with applicable law.
   
   At FOX, we foster a culture and environment where everyone feels welcome and can thrive. We are deeply committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, including attracting, retaining, and promoting diverse talent across our company. We live in a diverse world, with different ideas and different perspectives that come together to spark new ideas and make great things happen. That means reflecting the diversity of the world around us is critical to our company's success. We ensure that our viewers, communities and employees feel heard, represented, and celebrated both on screen and off.Click here to learn more about the diverse communities of people behind our brands.

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5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right trainee for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your trainee job on Zippia to find and recruit trainee candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit trainees, 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.

   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.

   While interviews are great, you will only sometimes learn enough from a conversation with a trainee applicant. In those cases, having candidates complete a test project can go a long way in figuring out who's the most likely to succeed in the role. If you aren't a technical person and don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to create it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   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 trainee

   Once you've decided on a perfect trainee 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 trainee 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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