There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a head of human resources. For example, did you know that they make an average of $76.04 an hour? That's $158,155 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 7% and produce 10,800 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many heads of human resources have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed interpersonal skills, leadership skills and organizational skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a head of human resources, we found that a lot of resumes listed 7.0% of heads of human resources included eeo, while 6.8% of resumes included ensure compliance, and 5.6% of resumes included business leaders. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the head of human resources job title. But what industry to start with? Most heads of human resources actually find jobs in the finance and technology industries.
If you're interested in becoming a head of human resources, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 40.3% of heads of human resources have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 36.2% of heads of human resources have master's degrees. Even though most heads of human resources have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a head of human resources. When we researched the most common majors for a head of human resources, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on head of human resources resumes include doctoral degree degrees or diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a head of human resources. In fact, many head of human resources jobs require experience in a role such as human resources manager. Meanwhile, many heads of human resources also have previous career experience in roles such as director of human resources or human resources vice president.
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As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a head of human resources can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as director of human resources, progress to a title such as senior director human resources and then eventually end up with the title senior director human resources.
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The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 7.0% of heads of human resources listed eeo on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and leadership skills are important as well.
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a head of human resources. The best states for people in this position are California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Heads of human resources make the most in California with an average salary of $159,807. Whereas in Massachusetts and New Jersey, they would average $150,757 and $150,517, respectively. While heads of human resources would only make an average of $150,382 in Connecticut, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Massachusetts
$150,757
Avg. Salary
2. District of Columbia
$161,509
Avg. Salary
3. California
$159,807
Avg. Salary