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Human Resources Specialists

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Recruit, screen, interview, or place individuals within an organization. May perform other activities in multiple human resources areas.

Related: Compensation, Benefits, & Job Analysis Specialists Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs First-Line Supervisors of Office & Administrative Support Workers Human Resources Assistants Human Resources Managers

Industries: Administration & Support Services Professional, Science, & Technical Health & Counseling

Summary
Details

Interpret and explain human resources policies, procedures, laws, standards, or regulations.
Prepare or maintain employment records related to events, such as hiring, termination, leaves, transfers, or promotions, using human resources management system software.
Review employment applications and job orders to match applicants with job requirements.
Select qualified job applicants or refer them to managers, making hiring recommendations when appropriate.
Schedule or conduct new employee orientations.
Schedule or administer skill, intelligence, psychological, or drug tests for current or prospective employees.
Evaluate selection or testing techniques by conducting research or follow-up activities and conferring with management or supervisory personnel.
Evaluate recruitment or selection criteria to ensure conformance to professional, statistical, or testing standards, recommending revisions, as needed.
Coordinate with outside staffing agencies to secure temporary employees, based on departmental needs.
Perform searches for qualified job candidates, using sources such as computer databases, networking, Internet recruiting resources, media advertisements, job fairs, recruiting firms, or employee referrals.
Confer with management to develop or implement personnel policies or procedures.
Provide management with information or training related to interviewing, performance appraisals, counseling techniques, or documentation of performance issues.
Develop or implement recruiting strategies to meet current or anticipated staffing needs.
Maintain current knowledge of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and affirmative action guidelines and laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Inform job applicants of details such as duties and responsibilities, compensation, benefits, schedules, working conditions, or promotion opportunities.
Conduct reference or background checks on job applicants.
Evaluate selection or testing techniques by conducting research or follow-up activities and conferring with management or supervisory personnel.
Analyze employment-related data and prepare required reports.
Administer employee benefit plans.
Administer employee benefit plans.
Maintain and update human resources documents, such as organizational charts, employee handbooks or directories, or performance evaluation forms.
Review and evaluate applicant qualifications or eligibility for specified licensing, according to established guidelines and designated licensing codes.
Contact job applicants to inform them of the status of their applications.
Address employee relations issues, such as harassment allegations, work complaints, or other employee concerns.
Schedule or conduct new employee orientations.
Advise management on organizing, preparing, or implementing recruiting or retention programs.
Evaluate recruitment or selection criteria to ensure conformance to professional, statistical, or testing standards, recommending revisions, as needed.
Hire employees and process hiring-related paperwork.
Interview job applicants to obtain information on work history, training, education, or job skills.
Conduct exit interviews and ensure that necessary employment termination paperwork is completed.
Analyze employment-related data and prepare required reports.

Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.

Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.

Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Education

Bachelor's degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

83230/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

40.01/hr

Currently Employed

25,380

Yearly Projected Openings

2630

Enterprising: People interested in this work like activities that include leading, making decisions, and business. They do well at jobs that need:

Integrity
Cooperation
Attention to Detail
Self Control
Dependability
Adaptability/Flexibility

Desktop calculator
Desktop computers
Digital video disk players or recorders
Digital voice recorders
Inkjet printers
Laser fax machine
Liquid crystal display projector
Multimedia projectors
Notebook computers
Personal computers
Photocopiers
Scanners
Special purpose telephones
Video conference cameras

Accounting software
Analytical or scientific software
Application server software
Business intelligence and data analysis software
Cloud-based data access and sharing software
Communications server software
Configuration management software
Customer relationship management CRM software
Data base management system software
Data base reporting software
Data base user interface and query software
Data mining software
Desktop communications software
Desktop publishing software
Development environment software
Document management software
Electronic mail software
Enterprise application integration software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
Enterprise system management software
Financial analysis software
Geographic information system
Graphics or photo imaging software
Human resources software
Information retrieval or search software
Internet browser software
Medical software
Object or component oriented development software
Office suite software
Operating system software
Presentation software
Process mapping and design software
Project management software
Sales and marketing software
Spreadsheet software
Time accounting software
Video conferencing software
Video creation and editing software
Web page creation and editing software
Web platform development software
Word processing software

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