Business and finance
Human resources specialist
Recruit, screen, interview, or place individuals within an organization. May perform other activities in multiple human resources areas.
Median pay
$75,940
Growth to 2035
+6%
faster than average
Openings a year
73,700
Time to qualify*
Minimal
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Human resources specialist
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- On-the-job training
- None
- Prior experience
- None
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Human resources specialist: 28% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- 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).
- Prepare or maintain employment records related to events, such as hiring, termination, leaves, transfers, or promotions, using human resources management system software.
- Address employee relations issues, such as harassment allegations, work complaints, or other employee concerns.
- Review employment applications and job orders to match applicants with job requirements.
- Inform job applicants of details such as duties and responsibilities, compensation, benefits, schedules, working conditions, or promotion opportunities.
- Select qualified job applicants or refer them to managers, making hiring recommendations when appropriate.
Also called: Corporate Recruiter · Employment Representative · HR Analyst (Human Resources Analyst) · HR Coordinator (Human Resources Coordinator) · HR Generalist (Human Resources Generalist) · Human Resources Representative (HR Rep) · Human Resources Specialist (HR Specialist) · Personnel Analyst
Outlook and AI
Human resources specialists held 939,700 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 999,700 by 2035 (+6%, faster than average; all jobs: +3.5%).
Compare with
- Human resources specialist vs. Human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping
- Human resources specialist vs. Human resources manager
- Human resources specialist vs. Eligibility interviewers, government programs
- Human resources specialist vs. First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers
- Human resources specialist vs. Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists
- Human resources specialist vs. Industrial-organizational psychologist
- Human resources specialist vs. Compensation and benefits managers
- Human resources specialist vs. Training and development managers
- Human resources specialist vs. Administrative services manager
- Human resources specialist vs. Training and development specialists