Business and Financial Operations · Holland code ECS

Human Resources Specialists

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

Also called: HR Coordinator (Human Resources Coordinator), HR Generalist (Human Resources Generalist), Human Resources Specialist (HR Specialist), Recruiter, Corporate Recruiter, Employment Representative, HR Analyst (Human Resources Analyst), Human Resources Representative (HR Rep).

O*NET 13-1071.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $75,940; Middle half earn $58,610 to $99,380. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 47% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +6% · Faster than average; 944,300 jobs in 2024, projected 1,002,700. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Human resources specialists".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Interpret and explain human resources policies, procedures, laws, standards, or regulations.
Hire employees and process hiring-related paperwork.
Administer employee benefit plans.
Maintain current knowledge of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and affirmative action guidelines and laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Schedule or administer skill, intelligence, psychological, or drug tests for current or prospective employees.
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.
Conduct reference or background checks on job applicants.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Speaking4.1 / 5
Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
Active Listening4.0 / 5
Writing3.9 / 5
Critical Thinking3.9 / 5
Active Learning3.3 / 5

Knowledge areas

Personnel and Human Resources4.6 / 5
Administrative3.9 / 5
Administration and Management3.8 / 5
English Language3.8 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.5 / 5
Law and Government3.3 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic1
Investigative25
Artistic6
Social46
Enterprising78
Conventional75

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

branch manager · DE Niederlassungsleiter/Niederlassungsleiterin · FR directeur régional/directrice régionale
human resources manager · DE Führungskraft im Personalwesen · FR directeur des ressources humaines/directrice des ressources humaines
career guidance advisor · DE Berufsberater/Berufsberaterin · FR conseiller d’orientation/conseillère d’orientation
employment and vocational integration consultant · DE Berater für Beschäftigung und berufliche Eingliederung/Beraterin für Beschäftigung und berufliche Eingliederung · FR conseiller en emploi et en insertion professionnelle/conseillère en emploi et en insertion professionnelle
human resources officer · DE Personalberater/Personalberaterin · FR directeur des ressources humaines/directrice des ressources humaines -DRH-
labour relations officer · DE Beauftragter für Arbeitsbeziehungen/Beauftragte für Arbeitsbeziehungen · FR responsable des relations de travail

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Human resource managers and directors (1136)229,100 employed
Human resources administrative occupations (4136)60,300 employed
Human resources and industrial relations officers (3571)196,000 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.36. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (13-1071).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test