How to hire a Benefit Specialist

How to hire a benefit specialist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step benefit specialist hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a benefit specialist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new benefit specialist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a Benefit Specialist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a benefit specialist, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine Employee vs Contractor Status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a benefit specialist to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a benefit specialist that fits the bill.

   The following list breaks down different types of benefit specialists and their corresponding salaries.

   Type Of Benefit Specialist	Description	Hourly Rate
   Benefit Specialist	Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists conduct an organization’s compensation and benefits programs. They also evaluate position descriptions to determine details such as a person’s classification and salary.	$16-32
   Human Resources Coordinator	A human resources coordinator is responsible for cooperating with the company's human resources department, supporting its processes and procedures, and assisting with employees' concerns. Human resources coordinators' duties include maintaining business files and employees' records, processing documents and submitting required reports, administering background checks for the recruitment process, reviewing and referring to company's handbook for corrective action and performance review, scheduling meetings and facilitating events, and advising effective strategies to human resources management... Show More	$15-28
   Workers Compensation Coordinator	Workers compensation coordinators work with supervisors to identify incident causes and the best corrective actions. They train coordinators and supervisors on reporting and managing workers' compensation claims... Show More	$19-43

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common Skills:

   • Customer Service
   • HR
   • Patients
   • HRIS
   • Life Insurance
   • Cobra
   • Long-Term Disability
   • FMLA
   • HIPAA
   • Health Insurance
   • Open Enrollment
   • Data Entry
   • Benefits Administration
   • PowerPoint

   Check All Skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage various employee program such as life, medical, dental pension, and HSA accounts.
   • Examine HMO documents to verify eligibility to process or reject into or from a manage care plan when necessary.
   • Input daily time and PTO, manage benefits, report new hires, input sales, oversee accounts receivable.
   • Create reports using SQL database and manage reports, perform from internet-base tools for research projects need for client insight.
   • Implement new vendor for FSA administration and manage outstanding issues through continuous follow-up and vendor accountability.
   • Analyze, process and manage FMLA claims to determine eligibility and certification in compliance with state and federal regulations.

   More Benefit Specialist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the benefit specialist job description is a good way to get more applicants. A benefit specialist salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a benefit specialist in West Virginia may be lower than in Connecticut, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level benefit specialist. Additionally, a benefit specialist with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average benefit specialist salary

   $48,756yearly

   $23.44 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level benefit specialist salary

   $34,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 18, 2025

   Average benefit specialist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
   1	California	$56,557	$27
   2	District of Columbia	$56,120	$27
   3	New York	$54,893	$26
   4	Massachusetts	$53,752	$26
   5	Maryland	$50,892	$24
   6	Virginia	$50,266	$24
   7	Pennsylvania	$49,911	$24
   8	Colorado	$49,537	$24
   9	Alaska	$48,948	$24
   10	Oregon	$48,329	$23
   11	Illinois	$47,939	$23
   12	Washington	$47,936	$23
   13	Minnesota	$47,692	$23
   14	Texas	$46,536	$22
   15	North Carolina	$44,720	$22
   16	Ohio	$44,688	$21
   17	Indiana	$44,194	$21
   18	Georgia	$44,172	$21
   19	Missouri	$43,956	$21
   20	Arizona	$41,992	$20

   Average benefit specialist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
   1	Qorvo	$80,718	$38.81
   2	McKinsey & Company Inc	$80,477	$38.69	23
   3	School of Visual Concepts	$77,098	$37.07
   4	Point B	$76,396	$36.73
   5	NV Energy	$74,925	$36.02
   6	Denbury Resources	$74,069	$35.61
   7	Jefferies	$72,893	$35.04
   8	Kent Daniels & Associates	$72,801	$35.00
   9	City of Los Angeles	$70,811	$34.04	2
   10	Brookhaven National Laboratory	$70,723	$34.00
   11	Empower Media Marketing	$69,760	$33.54
   12	Simpson Thacher & Bartlett	$69,719	$33.52	1
   13	Erp Analysts	$69,560	$33.44
   14	City of Seattle	$69,143	$33.24
   15	Capgemini	$68,723	$33.04
   16	Clark Construction Group	$68,496	$32.93
   17	Children's Hospital Colorado	$68,166	$32.77
   18	Mayor Ethan Berkowitz	$67,729	$32.56
   19	T.Y. Lin International	$67,081	$32.25
   20	Willdan	$67,014	$32.22

4. Writing a Benefit Specialist Job Description

   A benefit specialist job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a benefit specialist job description:

   Benefit Specialist job description example

   Are you ready to focus on doing what you love in a place that helps you feel and deliver your best? The Massage Envy brand is the leader in accessible massage and skin care. As a massage therapist at our Spanish River franchised location,* you'll join a team that's passionate about helping people feel their best through total body care. Here's what's in it for you:
   We support and inspire you to be your best inside and outside the treatment room with: The difference you'll make in clients' lives is the biggest reward for any massage therapist, but our environment lets you enjoy more of what you love about your work. We take care of overhead costs and supplies, marketing, and building your book of business so you can focus on performing as many massages as you want. And with the repeat clientele that our membership model provides, you'll get to see the long-term impact your services make for members.
   And the perks don't stop there. We support and inspire you to be your best inside and outside the treatment room with: Benefits that help you take care of you including: A sign on bonus $$ for qualifying shifts A built in clientele base of over 1200 members
   
   A built in system for the company to contribute to student loans A competitive commission that averages at $35 per massage with tips included.
   
   A healthy compensation plan that rewards your hard work with a base hourly and additional bonuses for add-ons, any client that joins because of your work, free monthly services to help you take care of you, and much more. A dedication to self-care with an education program that helps managers understand the physical impact of your work and gives you the tools to prolong the career you love. Continuing education with 12+ free CEs every year. A dedication to self-care with an education program that helps managers understand the physical impact of your work and gives you the tools to prolong the career you love. As well as 12+ free CES every year. A commitment to safety
   What We'll Accomplish Together
   
   As a team, we're committed to offering excellent professional services that help clients do more of the things they love. Your role and the work you do every day is at the very heart of our mission. This includes: Performing quality, therapeutic bodywork that meets clients' needs Customizing massage services within Massage Envy's policies, protocols, and approved modalities to craft truly personalized sessions. Safeguarding the client experience , maintaining client confidentiality, and upholding our commitment to safety. Embracing the Massage Envy core values of optimism, gratitude, excellence, consistency, and empathy. Protecting our workplace culture by recognizing and supporting team goals and building positive relationships with team members.
   What it Takes to Succeed
   
   We only succeed together, so we're looking for people with the passion and experience to be amazing. Those who thrive in this role are: Well-skilled professionals who have a minimum of 500 hours of massage therapy school under their belts and a certificate of completion, licensing requirements for massage therapy in our state, and able to pass a background and reference check Willingness to grow by continuing education to build on their modality mastery Clear communicators who can effectively identify each client's needs, set clear expectations, and stay connected to the client throughout the session to achieve the goals of each service. Total body care champions who can recommend follow-up visits and additional services. Great teammates who show up on time ready to jump in wherever needed to get the job done. *ME SPE Franchising, LLC (“ME SPE”) is a national franchisor of independently owned and operated franchised locations. Each individual franchised location, not ME SPE, Massage Envy Franchising, LLC (“MEF”), or any of their affiliates, is the sole employer for all positions posted by a franchised location, and each individual franchised location is not acting as an agent for ME SPE, MEF, or any of their affiliates. Hiring criteria, benefits and compensation are set by each individually owned and operated franchised location and may vary from location to location.

   Copy This Example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right benefit specialist for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your benefit specialist job on Zippia to find and recruit benefit specialist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting benefit specialists requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new benefit specialist

   Once you've decided on a perfect benefit specialist candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new benefit specialist first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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