How to hire a human resources manager

How to hire a human resources manager, step by step

Here's a step-by-step human resources manager hiring guide:

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

What does a human resources manager do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a human resources manager, 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 human resources manager 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 human resources manager that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of human resources manager salaries for various roles:

   Type of Human Resources Manager	Description	Hourly rate
   Human Resources Manager	Human resources managers plan, direct, and coordinate the administrative functions of an organization. They oversee the recruiting, interviewing, and hiring of new staff; consult with top executives on strategic planning; and serve as a link between an organization’s management and its employees.	$26-54
   Director Of Human Resources	A human resources director is responsible for managing the overall operations of the human resources department, ensuring smooth operations while meeting the company's goals of successful profitability and services. Human resources directors' duties include providing staff consultation, addressing staffing concerns, managing compensation and benefits plans, reviewing plans for training and development programs, and reporting future actions to the management... Show more	$32-70
   Human Resources Vice President	Human resources (HR) vice presidents play a vital role in the effective administration and operation of an organization's HR department. These executives are responsible for directing an organization's staffing goals and developing strategies to support the company's profitable and productive business operations... Show more	$55-118

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Performance Management
   • Customer Service
   • Payroll Processing
   • HRIS
   • Employee Engagement
   • EEO
   • Succession Planning
   • Workers Compensation
   • Safety Program
   • Workforce Planning
   • OSHA
   • Labor Relations
   • Employee Development
   • FMLA

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage audit efforts to ensure compliance with OFCCP and EEOC standards
   • Manage requisitions, rout candidates and determine the disposition of each candidate using iCIMS.
   • Manage all monthly and quarterly financial statement reviews by board as well as A/R, A/P and general ledger.
   • Manage, implement, and administer proper hiring process to reduce turnover in compliance with e-verify processes and federal law.
   • Manage and publish several cost-savings models for Sr. level management.
   • Manage system upgrades, testing and documentation of enterprise-wide PeopleSoft Payroll/HRMS system.

   More human resources manager duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your human resources manager job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A human resources manager salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a human resources manager in Nebraska may be lower than in Washington, and an entry-level human resources manager usually earns less than a senior-level human resources manager. Additionally, a human resources manager with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average human resources manager salary

   $80,442yearly

   $38.67 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level human resources manager salary

   $56,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 21, 2025

   Average human resources manager salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$99,996	$48
   2	Washington	$96,270	$46
   3	New York	$90,405	$43
   4	New Jersey	$89,409	$43
   5	Massachusetts	$82,686	$40
   6	Nevada	$81,274	$39
   7	Pennsylvania	$80,770	$39
   8	Minnesota	$80,425	$39
   9	Virginia	$80,174	$39
   10	District of Columbia	$79,761	$38
   11	Ohio	$79,473	$38
   12	Maryland	$78,776	$38
   13	Michigan	$78,181	$38
   14	Illinois	$77,883	$37
   15	Oregon	$77,483	$37
   16	Indiana	$77,346	$37
   17	Arizona	$75,813	$36
   18	Texas	$74,304	$36
   19	Missouri	$71,053	$34
   20	Colorado	$70,469	$34

   Average human resources manager salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Bain & Company	$184,661	$88.78
   2	McKinsey & Company Inc	$178,310	$85.73
   3	Boston Consulting Group	$169,735	$81.60	2
   4	Meta	$159,291	$76.58	4
   5	Citi	$154,212	$74.14	2
   6	AlixPartners	$149,383	$71.82
   7	First Republic Bank	$148,579	$71.43
   8	Ernst & Young	$142,046	$68.29
   9	Grant Thornton	$139,738	$67.18
   10	Wellington Management	$136,945	$65.84	4
   11	Koch Industries	$135,123	$64.96	1
   12	Accenture	$134,711	$64.76	94
   13	RSM US	$134,433	$64.63	33
   14	Abiomed	$132,841	$63.87
   15	Intuitive Surgical	$132,773	$63.83
   16	Koppers	$132,491	$63.70
   17	Netflix	$132,418	$63.66	3
   18	Yelp	$132,164	$63.54
   19	Intuit	$131,604	$63.27	5
   20	eBay	$131,461	$63.20

4. Writing a human resources manager job description

   A human resources manager 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 human resources manager job description:

   Human resources manager job description example

   Minimum qualifications:
   
   + 7 years of experience with Compliance, Risk Management, Regulatory and/or Legal.
   
   + Experience in leading cross-functional projects and managing multiple projects simultaneously with a focus on drive and execution.
   
   + Experience with privacy by design, GDPR, other privacy laws/regulations, or privacy impact assessments.
   
   Preferred qualifications:
   
   + Experience in taking ownership of complex projects and desire to contribute across a wide array of work streams.
   
   + Experience in working with multiple teams across functions and geographies.
   
   + Experience with Program Leadership in a Regulatory, Compliance or Legal role.
   
   + Ability to influence cross-functionally at all levels in the organization and Client management capabilities.
   
   In this role, you will be part of a team responsible for implementing solutions aimed at reducing risk, ensuring fairness and driving simplicity in Google's people programs, processes, policies and procedures. You'll partner closely with teams across Google to drive programs and initiatives that enhance Google's HR compliance strategy. You'll work to identify privacy/compliance related vulnerabilities, and you'll play an essential role in developing and implementing strategies to improve our HR practices.
   
   Great just isn't good enough for our People Operations team (known elsewhere as "Human Resources"). We bring the world's most innovative people to Google and provide the programs that help them thrive. Whether recruiting the next Googler, refining our core programs, developing talent, or simply looking for ways to inject some more fun into the lives of our Googlers, we bring a data-driven approach that is reinventing the human resources field. You'll play an essential role advancing a more diverse, accessible, equitable, and inclusive Google through our hiring, promotion, retention, and inclusion practices.
   
   + Provide guidance and help set strategy on enterprise risk, privacy, and compliance issues, policy updates, assessment of HR processes, and analyzing internal risk frameworks.
   
   + Drive engagement at all levels for privacy programs pertaining to applicants, candidates, employees, contingent workers, and reporting requirements. Establish expectations and rationale on deliverable for stakeholders and contributors.
   
   + Manage several complex privacy-related initiatives. Manage timelines, identify risks, and clearly communicate goals and impact to stakeholders.
   
   + Review existing practices and policies to identify potential compliance risks and provide recommendations to address deficiencies.
   
   + Collaborate with cross-functional teams such as People Ops, Security and Privacy, Legal, and Engineering. Communicate status and identify any obstacles/paths for resolution in a transparent and timely manner.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find human resources managers for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your human resources manager job on Zippia to find and attract quality human resources manager candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as hrcrossing, ihirehr, hrjobs, shrm hr jobs.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting human resources managers 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.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   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 human resources manager

   Once you've selected the best human resources manager candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new human resources manager. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

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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How much does it cost to hire a human resources manager?