Human Resources Specialists
Business, Management and AdministrationO*NET 13-1071.00United States
Recruit, screen, interview, or place individuals within an organization. May perform other activities in multiple human resources areas.
- Median annual earnings
- $75,862
- Projected change
- +8.8%
- Typical education
- Bachelor's degree
- Employment
- 988.75K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
48.3% of the workforce
Growing to 1.08M by 2035
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The work
What human resources specialists do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Interpret and explain human resources policies, procedures, laws, standards, or regulations.
- Hire employees and process hiring-related paperwork.
- Maintain current knowledge of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and affirmative action guidelines and laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
- Address employee relations issues, such as harassment allegations, work complaints, or other employee concerns.
- Prepare or maintain employment records related to events, such as hiring, termination, leaves, transfers, or promotions, using human resources management system software.
- Inform job applicants of details such as duties and responsibilities, compensation, benefits, schedules, working conditions, or promotion opportunities.
- Review employment applications and job orders to match applicants with job requirements.
- Schedule or conduct new employee orientations.
- Select qualified job applicants or refer them to managers, making hiring recommendations when appropriate.
- Confer with management to develop or implement personnel policies or procedures.
- Maintain and update human resources documents, such as organizational charts, employee handbooks or directories, or performance evaluation forms.
- Conduct exit interviews and ensure that necessary employment termination paperwork is completed.
- Contact job applicants to inform them of the status of their applications.
- Interview job applicants to obtain information on work history, training, education, or job skills.
- 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.
- Provide management with information or training related to interviewing, performance appraisals, counseling techniques, or documentation of performance issues.
- Analyze employment-related data and prepare required reports.
- Develop or implement recruiting strategies to meet current or anticipated staffing needs.
- Advise management on organizing, preparing, or implementing recruiting or retention programs.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $46,778
- 25th percentile
- $58,302
- 50th percentile
- $75,862
- 75th percentile
- $99,931
- 90th percentile
- $131,165
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $75,862 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+8.8%faster than average
2025988,750 jobs
2035 projected1,075,572 jobs
86,822 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Bachelor's degree
- 48.3%
- Master's or Professional degree
- 24.9%
- High school diploma or less
- 13.5%
- Associate degree
- 7.2%
- Some college
- 4.8%
- Certificate
- 1.3%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Human Resources Generalists20,142 postings
- 02Recruiters15,344 postings
- 03Human Resources Specialists5,761 postings
- 04Talent Acquisition Specialists5,309 postings
- 05Human Resources Coordinators3,945 postings
- 06Talent Acquisition Partners3,466 postings
- 07Staffing Coordinators2,906 postings
- 08Talent Acquisition Coordinators1,989 postings
- 09Technical Recruiters1,933 postings
- 10HRIS Analysts1,729 postings
- 11Onboarding Specialists1,709 postings
- 12Human Resources Representatives1,527 postings
- 13Healthcare Recruiters1,267 postings
- 14Human Resources Interns1,224 postings
- 15Corporate Recruiters1,176 postings
- 16Human Resources Analysts1,162 postings
- 17Human Resources Recruiters1,157 postings
- 18Bilingual Recruiters1,120 postings
- 19Talent Acquisition Recruiters1,065 postings
- 20Staffing Specialists1,040 postings
Top employers
- 01GPAC5,180 postings
- 02Robert Half4,702 postings
- 03Aston Carter1,404 postings
- 04Beacon Hill Staffing Group896 postings
- 05Kelly Services831 postings
- 06Randstad782 postings
- 07ManpowerGroup752 postings
- 08Adecco743 postings
- 09General Motors686 postings
- 10Walmart645 postings
- 11Target570 postings
- 12Maximus497 postings
- 13System One Holdings474 postings
- 14Accenture469 postings
- 15Intermountain Health469 postings
- 16Vaco466 postings
- 17TEKsystems445 postings
- 18Amazon423 postings
- 19Creative Financial Staffing419 postings
- 20Lee Hecht Harrison418 postings
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