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What does a personnel specialist do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
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Personnel specialist responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real personnel specialist resumes:

  • Serve as consultant for ADA and FMLA issues; also lead sexual harassment investigations.
  • Manage wage and salary administration and supervise payroll function.
  • Brief command employees impact by RIF.
  • Conduct combat safety and weapons training.
  • Act as the vehicle registration NCO.
  • Serve as staffing specialist while in the DEU.
  • Develop DoD personnel policy covering 140,000 NAF employees worldwide.
  • Make id tags for soldiers and civilians who are deploying.
  • Mentore in CPR and in the passing of prescription medications.
  • Utilize the HRIS system to maintain confidential employee files and update employee information
  • Devise an HRIS for the office to track hiring and promotion requests.
  • Prepare delegate examining unit (DEU) and merit promotion case files.
  • Provide customer service by bagging groceries and assisting load customer vehicles with groceries.
  • Process employee changes of personal information, leaves of absences, FMLA letters and track hours.
  • Provide regulatory services (unusual pay setting, superior qualifications, reduction-in-force, PPP, etc.

Personnel specialist skills and personality traits

We calculated that 10% of Personnel Specialists are proficient in HR, Audit Pay, and Customer Service Functions. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Interpersonal skills, and Communication skills.

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

  • HR, 10%

    Work with HR Manager and department administrative staff on salaried faculty/academic staff appointment monitoring, academic terminations and transfers.

  • Audit Pay, 9%

    Maintain and audit pay and records of military personnel.

  • Customer Service Functions, 8%

    Charged with performing customer service functions for military transfer activities, separations and retirements, compensation, and personnel records.

  • Personnel Actions, 7%

    Prepared and reviewed personnel casualty reports, retirement packages, warrant officer flight training and suspension of favorable personnel actions.

  • Personnel Policies, 4%

    Coordinated administrative requirements relating to personnel policies, procedures, or changes.

  • ID, 4%

    Controlled and managed the issuance of ID cards and reviewed questionable applications to determine eligibility for privileges.

Common skills that a personnel specialist uses to do their job include "hr," "audit pay," and "customer service functions." You can find details on the most important personnel specialist responsibilities below.

Detail oriented. One of the key soft skills for a personnel specialist to have is detail oriented. You can see how this relates to what personnel specialists do because "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." Additionally, a personnel specialist resume shows how personnel specialists use detail oriented: "performed necessary research, correlated and analyzed findings, and developed recommended program-oriented actions to improve civilian personnel support to mission. "

Interpersonal skills. Another essential skill to perform personnel specialist duties is interpersonal skills. Personnel specialists responsibilities require that "specialists continually interact with others and must be able to converse and connect with people from varied backgrounds." Personnel specialists also use interpersonal skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "developed lasting client relationships by applying effective communication and interpersonal skills in resolving problems and responding to customer inquiries. "

Communication skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of personnel specialists is communication skills. This skill is critical to many everyday personnel specialist duties, as "listening and speaking skills are essential for human resources specialists." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "provided personnel administration advice and guidance to six field hr managers keeping a positive communication link between corporate and field managers. "

See the full list of personnel specialist skills

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Compare different personnel specialists

Personnel specialist vs. Senior technical recruiter

A senior technical recruiter is an individual who is responsible for identifying and hiring top talent candidates to work for a company. Senior technical recruiters must work closely with hiring managers to ensure that the right talents are being recruited and keep track of the hiring cycle's goals, metrics, and performance. They craft and personalized recruiting emails to attract passive candidates with job openings and compose job offer letters for the newly hired employees. They also submit resumes to management and conduct interviews of the candidates.

We looked at the average personnel specialist salary and compared it with the wages of a senior technical recruiter. Generally speaking, senior technical recruiters are paid $37,257 higher than personnel specialists per year.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between personnel specialists and senior technical recruiters are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like hr, dod, and background checks.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between personnel specialists and senior technical recruiter. For instance, personnel specialist responsibilities require skills such as "audit pay," "customer service functions," "personnel actions," and "personnel policies." Whereas a senior technical recruiter is skilled in "applicant tracking systems," "internal database," "business development," and "cold calls." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Senior technical recruiters earn the highest salaries when working in the retail industry, with an average yearly salary of $86,587. On the other hand, personnel specialists are paid more in the government industry with an average salary of $51,864.senior technical recruiters tend to reach similar levels of education than personnel specialists. In fact, senior technical recruiters are 1.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Personnel specialist vs. Human resources recruiter

A human resources recruiter is responsible for sourcing potential candidates on filling in organizational roles to support business operations and maintain efficiency on project deliverables. Human resources recruiters work closely with every department's head to analyze their qualifications and posting the job requirement on the company's job board and other communication platforms. They screen applicants, conduct background checks, provide timely updates of the application progress, and inform the successful candidate of the job's compensation and benefits. The human resources recruiter also assists with recruitment events and maintain an organized hiring process.

A career as a human resources recruiter brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a personnel specialist. In fact, human resources recruiters salary is $3,508 lower than the salary of personnel specialists per year.A few skills overlap for personnel specialists and human resources recruiters. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "hris," "powerpoint," and "travel arrangements. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, personnel specialist responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "hr," "audit pay," "customer service functions," and "personnel actions." Meanwhile, a human resources recruiter has duties that require skills in areas such as "customer service," "good judgment," "applicant tracking systems," and "open positions." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Human resources recruiters earn a lower average salary than personnel specialists. But human resources recruiters earn the highest pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $55,012. Additionally, personnel specialists earn the highest salaries in the government with average pay of $51,864 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Human resources recruiters tend to reach similar levels of education than personnel specialists. In fact, they're 3.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Personnel specialist 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.

On average, staffing coordinators earn lower salaries than personnel specialists, with a $6,755 difference per year.personnel specialists and staffing coordinators both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "hris," "travel arrangements," and "background checks," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from personnel specialist resumes include skills like "hr," "audit pay," "customer service functions," and "personnel actions," whereas a staffing coordinator is more likely to list skills in "patients," "customer service," "home health," and "patient care. "

Staffing coordinators earn the highest salary when working in the finance industry, where they receive an average salary of $43,154. Comparatively, personnel specialists have the highest earning potential in the government industry, with an average salary of $51,864.When it comes to education, staffing coordinators tend to earn similar degree levels compared to personnel specialists. In fact, they're 3.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Personnel specialist vs. Technical recruiter

The primary role of technical recruiters is to look for candidates who will fill the technical jobs in different areas such as engineering and information technology. Their roles and responsibilities also include devising or writing job specifications and descriptions, assessing and interviewing job candidates, and representing the company at campus events and job fairs. There are several qualifications to become a technical recruiter that include excellent communication skills, proficiency with MS Office, and experience in using customer relationship management software.

Technical recruiters typically earn higher pay than personnel specialists. On average, technical recruiters earn a $11,442 higher salary per year.While both personnel specialists and technical recruiters complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like hr, background checks, and peoplesoft, the two careers vary in some skills.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between personnel specialists and technical recruiters, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a personnel specialist might have more use for skills like "audit pay," "customer service functions," "personnel actions," and "personnel policies." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of technical recruiters require skills like "applicant tracking systems," "customer service," "reference checks," and "work ethic. "

Technical recruiters enjoy the best pay in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $62,948. For comparison, personnel specialists earn the highest salary in the government industry.In general, technical recruiters hold similar degree levels compared to personnel specialists. Technical recruiters are 0.5% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of personnel specialist

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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