What does a human service specialist do?
Human services specialists provide a range of social services with the purpose of improving the quality of life of people they serve. They can work for organizations, including housing associations, mental health facilities, rehabilitation centers, residential care homes, and food banks. Most of their duties involve interacting with people and conduct counseling. This job also requires active listening skills to comprehend your clients easily and understand their needs to provide care for people in difficult circumstances.
Human service specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real human service specialist resumes:
- Manage the MSW staff and coordinate all social service and select patient service activities.
- Establish effective liaisons with community agencies to ensure coordination of services to patients.
- Developed/Implement a health education/risk reduction program for HIV/AIDS patients engaging in high-risk behaviors.
- Help clients reach self-sufficiency by referring clients to employment and vocational rehabilitation agencies.
- Work with employees of local drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers to determine eligibility for inpatients.
- Assign as a provider enrollment specialist responsible for credentialing and enrolling new medical providers into the Medicaid provider network.
- Process Medicaid applications and determine eligibility.
- Process Medicaid applications and determine eligibility.
Human service specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Human Service Specialists are proficient in Mental Health, Social Work, and Program Eligibility. They’re also known for soft skills such as Compassion, Time-management skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Human Service Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Mental Health, 13%
Coordinated with other mental health and social services agencies to develop individualized plans.
- Social Work, 11%
Maintained cooperative working relationships within community service, while maintaining detailed case records in a social work setting.
- Program Eligibility, 6%
Interview clients, verify data and determine program eligibility.perform the work involved in arranging for voluntary consent support agreements.
- Medicaid, 5%
Processed Medicaid applications and determined eligibility.
- Social Services, 5%
Provided comprehensive social services to children and families in preparation for adoption, reunification, and independent living.
- Community Resources, 5%
Use community networking and existing community resources, prevention, counseling skills and leadership development as necessary to facilitate treatment.
"mental health," "social work," and "program eligibility" are among the most common skills that human service specialists use at work. You can find even more human service specialist responsibilities below, including:
Compassion. One of the key soft skills for a human service specialist to have is compassion. You can see how this relates to what human service specialists do because "social and human service assistants often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." Additionally, a human service specialist resume shows how human service specialists use compassion: "provided patients and families with compassion and empathy during medical crisis. "
Time-management skills. Many human service specialist duties rely on time-management skills. "social and human service assistants often work with many clients," so a human service specialist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways human service specialist responsibilities rely on time-management skills: "managed a caseload of 130 child care facilities in 14 counties, meeting all deadlines for actions needed. "
Communication skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of human service specialists is communication skills. This skill is critical to many everyday human service specialist duties, as "social and human service assistants talk with clients about the challenges in their lives and assist them in getting help." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "created media communications and photography assistance for hr. "
Interpersonal skills. human service specialist responsibilities often require "interpersonal skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "social and human service assistants must make their clients feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues." This resume example shows what human service specialists do with interpersonal skills on a typical day: "utilized interpersonal skills to quickly build rapport with families in the early intervention program. "
Organizational skills. Another common skill required for human service specialist responsibilities is "organizational skills." This skill comes up in the duties of human service specialists all the time, as "social and human service assistants must often complete lots of paperwork and work with many different clients." An excerpt from a real human service specialist resume shows how this skill is central to what a human service specialist does: "conduct organizational studies and evaluations; provide technical assistance. "
Problem-solving skills. While "problem-solving skills" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to human service specialist responsibilities. Much of what a human service specialist does relies on this skill, seeing as "social and human service assistants help clients find solutions to their problems." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of human service specialists: "case management handle confidential information attend solution focused meetings review case files/investigations create and determine appropriate case plans attend legal proceedings"
The three companies that hire the most human service specialists are:
- Deloitte171 human service specialists jobs
- The State of Oregon9 human service specialists jobs
- My Florida Regional Mls9 human service specialists jobs
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Compare different human service specialists
Human service specialist vs. Service provider
Service providers are individuals or entities offering services to an organization and other parties. They provide storage, processing, or network services. The providers offer organizations real estate, communications, education, legal, and consulting services. It is their job to complete the requested tasks of their clients, provide solutions to network problems, and recommend options based on the needs of their clients. They also suggest changes or opportunities necessary within the organization.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a human service specialist are more likely to require skills like "program eligibility," "human services," "rehabilitation," and "child support." On the other hand, a job as a service provider requires skills like "customer service," "cleanliness," "strong customer service," and "direct care." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Service providers earn the highest salaries when working in the insurance industry, with an average yearly salary of $37,005. On the other hand, human service specialists are paid more in the government industry with an average salary of $49,059.service providers tend to reach similar levels of education than human service specialists. In fact, service providers are 0.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Human service specialist vs. Service worker
A service worker is responsible for assisting the community welfare development by providing social services to an organization or specific individual groups, supporting their needs, and addressing their community concerns. Service workers also offer counseling services to their clients to guide them on how they manage their life crises, developing community activities and job opportunities to help citizens with their financial needs by consulting local organizations. A service worker must have strong leadership and communication skills, as well as deep engagement with the community to assess the client's situation properly.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that human service specialist responsibilities requires skills like "program eligibility," "medicaid," "human services," and "child support." But a service worker might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "customer service," "cleanliness," "excellent interpersonal," and "team-oriented environment."
On average, service workers earn a lower salary than human service specialists. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, service workers earn the most pay in the government industry with an average salary of $36,743. Whereas human service specialists have higher pay in the government industry, with an average salary of $49,059.service workers earn lower levels of education than human service specialists in general. They're 6.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for human service specialists in the next 3-5 years?
Lesley Casarez Ph.D.
Director, Quality Enhancement Plan Program Coordinator, M.S. Professional School Counseling Associate Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, Angelo State University
Human service specialist vs. Service counselor
Service counselors provide guidance to couples, individuals, groups, and families who are going through issues that influence their well-being and mental health. They comprehensively approach their clients by utilizing a "wellness" model that focuses on and motivate the client's potentials. Their duties include inspiring clients to talk about their emotions and experiences, helping them determine their action plans and goals, as well as designing therapeutic methods. Also, they may refer their clients to other services or psychologists.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from human service specialist resumes include skills like "program eligibility," "medicaid," "human services," and "child support," whereas a service counselor is more likely to list skills in "customer service," "aaa," "emergency situations," and "mental illness. "
Service counselors make a very good living in the education industry with an average annual salary of $43,030. On the other hand, human service specialists are paid the highest salary in the government industry, with average annual pay of $49,059.service counselors typically earn similar educational levels compared to human service specialists. Specifically, they're 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Human service specialist vs. Service aide
A family service aide is an individual social worker who addresses the behavior of clients as well as utilizes crisis intervention techniques in the effort to assist with symptom management and stabilization. Family service aides are required to monitor the progress of clients and prepare reports in preparation for court cases if needed. They must participate in community outreach events to recruit volunteers and promote awareness of child abuse. Family service aides must also conduct detailed investigations into allegations of child abuse and neglect.
Types of human service specialist
Updated January 8, 2025
