Human Resources Assistant: Career Information

Job Description of Human Resources Assistants: Human resources assistants (HR assistants) keep an organization's personnel records up-to-date. They keep track of employees' address changes, changes in job titles, benefits, and salaries. Tasks may vary depending on the size of the organization. At a larger company, for example, an HR assistant may perform additional clerical duties or screen job candidates.

Employment Facts for Human Resources Assistants: There were 168,000 working HR assistants in 2006. About 17 percent of them worked for the Federal government or for state and local governments. Other HR assistants worked in a variety of industries in the public and private sector.

Educational Requirements for Human Resources Assistants : Employers prefer human resources assistant job candidates who have at least a high school diploma or a General Equivalency Diploma (GED). Successful candidates should also have training in computers, filing and maintaining filing systems, organizing, and human resources practices.

Other Qualifications for Human Resources Assistants: Human resources assistants must be tactful, diplomatic and possess the ability to communicate with individuals at all levels of an organization.

Job Outlook for Human Resources Assistants: The job outlook for hr assistants is good — the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that employment in this field will grow about as fast as the average for all occupations through 2016.

Earnings of Human Resources Assistants: Median Annual Earnings for Human Resources Assistants were $33,750 (U.S., 2006).

Use the Salary Wizard at Salary.com to find out how much human resources assistants currently earn in your city.

A Day in a Human Resources Assistant's Life: On a typical day an HR assistant might perform some of the following duties:

• update the appropriate form when an employee receives a promotion or switches health insurance plans;
• prepare reports for managers elsewhere within the organization;
• provide authorized information from the employee's personnel records when requested by credit bureaus and finance companies;
• screen job applicants to obtain information such as education and work experience;
• administer aptitude, personality, and interest tests;
• explain the organization's employment policies and refer qualified applicants to the employing official;
• request references from present or past employers of applicants;
• inform job applicants of their acceptance or rejection for employment;
• conduct Internet research to locate resumes

*This is the most recent year for which this information is available.

Information courtesy of Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-09 Edition, Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos150.htm (visited March 28, 2008).