Human Resources Specialists
Recruit, screen, interview, or place individuals within an organization. May perform other activities in multiple human resources areas.
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Human Resources Specialists. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
Hourly wage thresholds
USD per hour
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $47,180 | $22.69 |
| 25th | $58,610 | $28.18 |
| 50th · Median | $75,940 | $36.51 |
| 75th | $99,380 | $47.78 |
| 90th | $128,720 | $61.89 |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
Where does your number sit?
Compare an entered wage with the published thresholds for United States. Your entry stays on this page.
This compares wage amounts to published percentile thresholds. It does not estimate your personal percentile, adjust for your experience, or compare total compensation. Match the wage definition and occupation group before using the result.
Compare this career across states.
See state medians, published percentile ranges and differences from the US median.
Compare 51 state/DC wage marketsWhat this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
Expand more title examples (48)
Typical 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.
Expand more tasks (20)
- 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.
- Schedule or conduct new employee orientations.
- Maintain and update human resources documents, such as organizational charts, employee handbooks or directories, or performance evaluation forms.
- Confer with management to develop or implement personnel policies or procedures.
- Contact job applicants to inform them of the status of their applications.
- Conduct exit interviews and ensure that necessary employment termination paperwork is completed.
- 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.
- Advise management on organizing, preparing, or implementing recruiting or retention programs.
- Develop or implement recruiting strategies to meet current or anticipated staffing needs.
- Administer employee benefit plans.
- Schedule or administer skill, intelligence, psychological, or drug tests for current or prospective employees.
- Conduct reference or background checks on job applicants.
- Review and evaluate applicant qualifications or eligibility for specified licensing, according to established guidelines and designated licensing codes.
- 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.
- Evaluate selection or testing techniques by conducting research or follow-up activities and conferring with management or supervisory personnel.
Skills used in this work
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- 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.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
Expand more skills (29)
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- 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.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- 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.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
Explore wages by location.
572 retained state and local wage references are available. Start with these selected locations, or search the full market directory for this career.
Selected states
Selected metro and nonmetro areas
Available links reflect retained source coverage for this career.
Find the next step that fits.
Look at current disclosed job ranges, explore supported employer salary evidence, or build a proposed hiring range with your own assumptions.