Define the role around host-site recruitment, student matching and placement monitoring, then set pay from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 national median of $77,440. BLS counts this role within Instructional Coordinators, an occupation with 227,760 wage-and-salary workers. Test employer-outreach skills with a work sample, then check references before you offer.
| Fact | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| National employment (Instructional Coordinators) | 227,760 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Annual median wage | $77,440 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Annual 10th–90th percentile spread | $47,980–$121,670 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
How to hire a work-based learning coordinator: the short answer
Write duties that match the program of study you actually run, set a pay range from the BLS figures for SOC 25-9031, and screen for the work this person will do with industry partners. Then check references on relationship building and follow-through.
This hire is not a classroom teacher with extra paperwork. The coordinator sits between the school and employers: recruiting host sites, matching and preparing students, monitoring placements, and connecting what students do at work back to coursework, the lab or shop, and the career pathway.
What a work-based learning coordinator does
School districts, career centers and colleges use this role to run internships, job shadowing and apprenticeships. Day to day, the coordinator recruits and maintains employer host sites; prepares students and matches them to placements; visits sites, monitors placements and resolves problems; and tracks participation so the experience ties back to classroom learning.
O*NET OnLine (accessed September 24, 2026) places the occupation under Instructional Coordinators. Tasks that map to this assignment include advising students, addressing public audiences to explain program objectives and elicit support, establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships, communicating with people outside the organization, organizing and prioritizing work, and documenting information.
O*NET work context is heavy on contact: 100% of respondents said they use e-mail every day, 95% have face-to-face discussions every day, 83% reported constant contact with others, and 94% reported a typical work week of more than 40 hours. Public speaking showed 41% at once a week or more but not every day—the pattern you see with advisory committees, student-organization events and employer breakfasts.
BLS counts this role within Instructional Coordinators. If the same search will also fill a related student-support seat, use the same discipline you would for how to hire a career coach. Put host-site recruiting, student matching, site visits and record keeping in the posting so applicants do not treat this as a curriculum-office job.
Skills, knowledge and tools to look for
O*NET lists coordination, speaking, active listening, social perceptiveness and time management among the skills for this occupation. Those are the skills that show up when a coordinator is booking a new host, preparing a nervous student, and keeping a CTE teacher informed without dropping the employer.
Name tools only as the job will use them. O*NET reports spreadsheet and database software such as Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access, e-mail such as Microsoft Outlook, word processing such as Microsoft Word, and learning platforms including Blackboard software, Google Classroom, Moodle and Schoology, plus Microsoft SharePoint. Add whatever student information system and placement-tracking tool your district or college already runs; do not require a product the candidate has never seen if Excel-level tracking is enough to start.
| Must-have on day one | Evidence in screening | Train after hire |
|---|---|---|
| Employer outreach and relationship building | Named host sites, advisory committee or industry-partner work | Your local employer list and partnership forms |
| Student preparation and matching to a career pathway | Examples of matching by program of study and readiness | Your placement procedures and shop or lab norms |
| Monitoring placements and solving problems | Work sample on a placement that is going badly | Who to call inside the building when a site visit goes wrong |
| Record keeping and follow-through | Spreadsheets, databases or placement logs | Your SIS and tracking templates |
| Coordination, speaking and active listening | Live work sample and structured interview | Pathway-specific vocabulary in each program of study |
O*NET education respondents for Instructional Coordinators said a master's degree is required (60%), a bachelor's degree is required (25%), or a post-master's certificate is required (11%). Set the education line to match this assignment, not the generic occupation title. Keep must-haves on employer contact, matching and follow-through; treat software and local procedures as training in the first weeks.
Setting the pay range
Use the BLS national figures for Instructional Coordinators as the market reference, not as an exact rate for this specialty. The annual spread is $47,980 (10th percentile), $60,780 (25th), $77,440 (median), $98,820 (75th) and $121,670 (90th). The hourly median is $37.23 and the annual mean is $80,920. Treat that percentile spread as the range of pay across the occupation.
| Percentile | Annual wage |
|---|---|
| 10th | $47,980 |
| 25th | $60,780 |
| Median | $77,440 |
| 75th | $98,820 |
| 90th | $121,670 |
Place the offer by your state's row, the candidate's experience, and the scope of duties (one pathway versus a full career center; internships only versus internships, job shadowing and apprenticeships). Texas employment is 31,970 with a location quotient of 1.55; a location quotient above 1 means the occupation is more concentrated in that area's employment than nationally.
| Rank | State | Employment | Annual median | Hourly median | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 1,220 | $105,990 | $50.96 | 1.19 |
| 2 | Maryland | 4,350 | $102,220 | $49.15 | 1.08 |
| 3 | Washington | 4,720 | $97,250 | $46.76 | 0.91 |
| 4 | California | 20,950 | $97,010 | $46.64 | 0.79 |
| 5 | Connecticut | 1,780 | $96,170 | $46.24 | 0.72 |
| 6 | New Jersey | 3,770 | $96,090 | $46.20 | 0.6 |
| 7 | Hawaii | 1,130 | $96,080 | $46.19 | 1.23 |
| 8 | Massachusetts | 6,170 | $95,320 | $45.83 | 1.16 |
| 9 | Oregon | 2,940 | $84,620 | $40.68 | 1.02 |
| 10 | Virginia | 5,830 | $83,230 | $40.01 | 0.97 |
Print the range in the posting so CTE directors and HR staff are aligning to the same BLS reference before interviews start.
Writing the posting and finding candidates
Use the title the building already uses, then spell out the program. A one-pathway coordinator in a health-science program of study is a different job from a career-center coordinator covering every internship, job-shadow and apprenticeship slot. Borrow structure from the work-based learning coordinator job description template and name the setting, calendar and extra duties in plain language: site visits during the school day, evening advisory committee meetings, summer placement calls, student-organization support.
State the schedule honestly. O*NET's more-than-40-hours pattern is the job when employers return calls after the bell. Say whether the person reports to a CTE director, a principal or a college dean, and whether they share students with classroom teachers who still own the lab or shop.
Post where career and technical educators look, including ACTE Job Bank. A clear title, host-site duties and a posted range will do more than a generic “instructional coordinator” ad to pull people who have already booked placements.
Screening and interviewing
Resume screens should find employer-facing work, not only curriculum writing. Advance people who can name host sites, describe student matching and show a tracking habit. Give every remaining candidate the same work sample.
Work sample
Ask for a mock outreach call or email to a local employer inviting it to host students, plus a short written plan for a placement that is going badly (missed days, a task mismatch, or a breakdown between the student and the supervisor). Score tone with the employer, clarity of student expectations, how they would loop in the CTE teacher, and the next three follow-up steps. Follow your district's or college's own placement procedures in the prompt; do not ask the candidate to invent legal rules.
| Interview theme | Ask every candidate |
|---|---|
| Employer outreach and relationship building | Walk through how you would recruit a new host site for one of our career pathways. |
| Student preparation and matching | How do you prepare a student who has never been on a worksite and decide the placement is a fit? |
| Monitoring placements and solving problems | A student and a supervisor disagree about tasks. What do you do in the first two days? |
| Record keeping and follow-through | How do you track participation and connect the placement back to coursework? |
Use the same job-related questions with every candidate. Pair this table with the work-based learning coordinator interview questions so the panel does not drift. Under the laws enforced by the EEOC (accessed September 24, 2026), it is illegal to discriminate because of race, color, religion, sex (including transgender status, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. Do not ask about those subjects, family status or similar topics. This guide is general information as of September 24, 2026, not legal advice.
References, verification and the offer
Call references who saw the candidate work with employers. Ask how they built host-site relationships, how they organized placements, and whether they followed through when a site visit uncovered a problem. Stay on job performance.
Verify any degree, license or credential the candidate lists with the body that issued it, and follow your district's or college's own clearance process before the start date. Put duties, schedule, site-visit expectations and pay in writing so the first week is about introducing industry partners, not renegotiating the job.
More hiring guides
FAQ
What does a work-based learning coordinator do?
A work-based learning coordinator recruits and maintains employer host sites, prepares and matches students to internships, job shadowing and apprenticeships, monitors placements, and connects what students do at work back to their coursework. BLS counts this role within Instructional Coordinators.
How much should I pay a work-based learning coordinator?
Use the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 figures for Instructional Coordinators as the market reference: national annual median $77,440, with a 10th-to-90th percentile spread of $47,980 to $121,670. Place the offer by your state's table, the candidate's experience and the scope of duties.
What experience should I look for?
Look for employer outreach, student matching and follow-through on placements, plus coordination, speaking, active listening, social perceptiveness and time management. O*NET OnLine (accessed September 24, 2026) reports that 60% of Instructional Coordinator respondents said a master's degree is required and 25% said a bachelor's degree is required; set your education bar to match this assignment.
How do I test a work-based learning coordinator candidate before hiring?
Give a work sample: a mock outreach call or email asking a local employer to host students, plus a short plan for a placement that is going badly. Score employer tone, student preparation, how they involve the CTE teacher and the next follow-up steps.
What should I ask a work-based learning coordinator in an interview?
Ask every candidate the same job-related questions on employer outreach, student preparation and matching, monitoring placements and record keeping. Do not ask about race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information or other subjects the EEOC lists as protected.
