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What does a personnel recruiter do?

Updated January 8, 2025
6 min read
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Personnel recruiter responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real personnel recruiter resumes:

  • Utilize ATS (applicant tracking software) for organizational recruiting efforts, reviewing applicant information and managing open requisitions.
  • Present and prepare PowerPoint presentations on various topics to educate colleagues in the office and operate WebEx technology for conference calls.
  • Manage employee's personnel files and maintain accurate up to date confidential client files to ensure compliance with HIPPA.

Personnel recruiter skills and personality traits

We calculated that 20% of Personnel Recruiters are proficient in Background Checks, Human Resources, and Career Fairs. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Communication skills, and Interpersonal skills.

We break down the percentage of Personnel Recruiters that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Background Checks, 20%

    Initiated background checks and requested investigations for prospects requiring an enlistment waiver.

  • Human Resources, 12%

    Maintain effective relationships with Managers of Operations and Human Resources department.

  • Career Fairs, 10%

    Conducted interviews in-house, by phone, web cam and on spot during Maritime Career Fairs at various Maritime Academies.

  • Community Colleges, 9%

    Conducted semiannual informational briefings/training at military community centers, universities, community colleges, and other community centers.

  • Reference Checks, 9%

    Conducted all reference checks; verified university/college degrees and/or certifications prior to hiring.

  • Cold Calls, 7%

    Attended job fairs; utilized media advertising, as well as cold calling job seekers from resume database.

Most personnel recruiters use their skills in "background checks," "human resources," and "career fairs" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential personnel recruiter responsibilities here:

Detail oriented. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a personnel recruiter to have is detail oriented. Their role and responsibilities require that "specialists must pay attention to detail when evaluating applicants’ qualifications, doing background checks, maintaining records of an employee grievance, and ensuring that a workplace complies with labor standards." Personnel recruiters often use detail oriented in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "provide detailed and accurate sales forecasting, cold calling, outside sales, and networking. "

Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling personnel recruiter duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "listening and speaking skills are essential for human resources specialists." According to a personnel recruiter resume, here's how personnel recruiters can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "developed and presented recruiting materials for use by local communications media. "

Interpersonal skills. This is an important skill for personnel recruiters to perform their duties. For an example of how personnel recruiter responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "specialists continually interact with others and must be able to converse and connect with people from varied backgrounds." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a personnel recruiter: "conduct detailed reference checks on candidates to better understand their experience, strengths, weaknesses, management style, interpersonal skills. ".

See the full list of personnel recruiter skills

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Compare different personnel recruiters

Personnel recruiter vs. Staffing coordinator

A staffing coordinator is responsible for assisting the staffing needs of an organization, organizing the hiring process, and monitoring the working schedule of staff to ensure smooth operations. Staffing coordinators often coordinate with recruiting agencies for staffing solutions to fill roles and process onboarding. They also manage payroll procedures and check timesheets, create staffing reports, and address the employees' inquiries and concerns. A staffing coordinator must be knowledgeable on human resources procedures, as well as have excellent organizational and communication skills to perform administrative tasks as needed and determine staffing strategies.

If we compare the average personnel recruiter annual salary with that of a staffing coordinator, we find that staffing coordinators typically earn a $7,054 lower salary than personnel recruiters make annually.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between personnel recruiters and staffing coordinators are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like background checks, reference checks, and travel arrangements.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a personnel recruiter are more likely to require skills like "human resources," "career fairs," "community colleges," and "cold calls." On the other hand, a job as a staffing coordinator requires skills like "patients," "customer service," "home health," and "patient care." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Staffing coordinators really shine in the finance industry with an average salary of $43,154. Comparatively, personnel recruiters tend to make the most money in the retail industry with an average salary of $51,554.On average, staffing coordinators reach similar levels of education than personnel recruiters. Staffing coordinators are 1.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Personnel recruiter vs. Self-employed

A self-employed person works without the supervision of a specific employer. Self-employed entrepreneurs decide their business plans to increase profitability and get involved with the current market trends. They also attend business orientations to improve their skills and strategies on driving their business' growth. A self-employed person must display exceptional decision-making and organizational skills to implement strategies, provide the best customer service with the clients, address their needs, manage complaints, and respond to the customer's inquiries.

Self-employed positions earn lower pay than personnel recruiter roles. They earn a $16,622 lower salary than personnel recruiters per year.

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that personnel recruiter responsibilities requires skills like "background checks," "human resources," "career fairs," and "community colleges." But a self-employed might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "windows," "mowing," "customer service," and "financial statements."

Average education levels between the two professions vary. Self-employeds tend to reach similar levels of education than personnel recruiters. In fact, they're 1.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Personnel recruiter vs. Human resources administrative assistant

A human resources administrative assistant is responsible for performing administrative tasks such as gathering and processing necessary documentation, preparing timely reports and evaluations, arranging schedules, maintaining and monitoring record databases, and responding to inquiries. Aside from assisting human resource officers in their tasks, they can also lend a hand in screening and training new workforce members. Furthermore, because a human resources administrative assistant holds the employee database, they need to coordinate with other departments and employees to ensure that everyone receives what is needed.

An average human resources administrative assistant eans a lower salary compared to the average salary of personnel recruiters. The difference in salaries amounts to human resources administrative assistants earning a $14,312 lower average salary than personnel recruiters.By looking over several personnel recruiters and human resources administrative assistants resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "background checks," "reference checks," and "travel arrangements." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, personnel recruiters are more likely to have skills like "human resources," "career fairs," "community colleges," and "cold calls." But a human resources administrative assistant is more likely to have skills like "customer service," "data entry," "powerpoint," and "administrative tasks."

Human resources administrative assistants earn the highest salary when working in the technology industry, where they receive an average salary of $39,077. Comparatively, personnel recruiters have the highest earning potential in the retail industry, with an average salary of $51,554.Most human resources administrative assistants achieve a similar degree level compared to personnel recruiters. For example, they're 1.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Personnel recruiter vs. Human resources generalist

A human resources generalist is responsible for monitoring the human resources policies and procedures, making adjustments as needed to align with the company's goals and objectives. Duties of a human resources generalist also include improving employee relations system, organizing compliance and knowledge training, reviewing benefit plans, managing compensation inquiries, assisting in recruitment and staffing needs, communicating with department heads in employees' performance reviews, and storing employees' files for reference. A human resource generalist must have excellent communication and decision-making skills to address issues concerning the company and employees' welfare.

Human resources generalists typically earn higher pay than personnel recruiters. On average, human resources generalists earn a $4,803 higher salary per year.While both personnel recruiters and human resources generalists complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like background checks, career fairs, and reference checks, the two careers vary in some skills.While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "human resources," "community colleges," "cold calls," and "computer database" are skills that commonly show up on personnel recruiter resumes. On the other hand, human resources generalists use skills like performance management, customer service, payroll processing, and excellent interpersonal on their resumes.In general, human resources generalists earn the most working in the technology industry, with an average salary of $61,994. The highest-paying industry for a personnel recruiter is the retail industry.human resources generalists reach higher levels of education compared to personnel recruiters, in general. The difference is that they're 7.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of personnel recruiter

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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