What is a Senior Human Resources Generalist?

This role title is also known as a senior HR generalist. This person works in human resources and implements human resources programs like training and development, safety and health, as well as welfare benefits. As a senior HR generalist, you are responsible for improving the performance of both the manager and the employee. Sometimes, your duties could consist of acting as a link between management and employees.

Also, it is your responsibility to administer the benefits package. Negotiating contracts, hiring tasks, and recruiting, amongst some other things, are also your duties. In a few cases, as a senior HR generalist, you could help in setting up a complaint policy concerning employee expectations and behavior. Being a senior HR generalist also involves ensuring compliance with employment laws such as reporting and documentation.

To be qualified for this role, you need to possess a bachelor's degree in human resources or other related fields. Some employers, however, prefer candidates with master's degrees. Several years of HR experience could also be needed, and your communication skills must be very strong. Certain employers also prefer that candidates have professional certification in human resources. As a senior HR generalist, you can earn as much as $75,967 on average per year.

What Does a Senior Human Resources Generalist Do

There are certain skills that many senior human resources generalists 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 leadership skills, organizational skills and speaking skills.

Learn more about what a Senior Human Resources Generalist does

How To Become a Senior Human Resources Generalist

If you're interested in becoming a senior human resources generalist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 74.2% of senior human resources generalists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 15.9% of senior human resources generalists have master's degrees. Even though most senior human resources generalists have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Senior Human Resources Generalist
Top Senior Human Resources Generalist Jobs Near You

Senior Human Resources Generalist Career Paths

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 senior human resources generalist can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as human resources manager, progress to a title such as director of human resources and then eventually end up with the title senior director human resources.

Senior Human Resources Generalist

Average Salary for a Senior Human Resources Generalist

Senior Human Resources Generalists in America make an average salary of $72,512 per year or $35 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $96,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $54,000 per year.
Average Senior Human Resources Generalist Salary
$72,512 Yearly
$34.86 hourly
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Roles and Types of Senior Human Resources Generalist

The role of a senior human resources generalist includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general senior human resources generalist responsibilities:

  • Recruitment - consulting with managers in full life cycle recruitment process to: gain a solid understanding of forecasted hiring needs
  • Develops business partnership relationship with management
  • Provide a full range of human resources

There are several types of senior human resources generalist, including:

Human Resources Manager

Role:

Human resources managers do a lot of the heavy lifting around the office. Just to be clear, you probably won't have to actually lift anything heavy. But you will be responsible for a lot of the administrative funcations within the organization you work for. So, you know, that kind of heavy lifting.

Since a human resources department is needed in almost every company, you won't have any problems finding a job. You'll definitely have your pick of industry. Typically, employers will hire individuals who have a bachelor's degree. But some might hold out for those with a master's degree.

As a human resource manager, you'll probably only have to work a full-time schedule. Although, some managers might work more than the normal 40-hour week. At the end of the day, as long as you're putting your employees' talent to good use, you're doing a good job.

  • Average Salary: $80,442
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Human Resources Generalist

Role:

Being the front face of a company is no easy task, let me tell you. Let's back up for a second. A human resources generalist is typically the first person any guest or visitor see's when they first enter a business. And, as you know, first impressions are important when it comes to business.

As a human resources generalist, you'll be in charge of many administrative tasks, such as hiring new employees, making sure employees receive their paychecks, and making sure company policies and practices are being taken seriously.

All of those responsibilities make your job so important to the company. While we're on the topic of companies, there's a lot of them who need a human resources generalist. So you'll be able to find a job in practically any industry in which you want to work.

  • Average Salary: $56,159
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Human Resources Consultant

Role:

Do you want to use your expertise to help and guide others? If you enjoy working with individuals, companies, and organizations to maximize employee potential and love the satisfaction of guiding others through solving their problems, then becoming a human resources consultant might be a rewarding and gratifying career path for you.

A job in human resources may bring you a perfect new direction you've been seeking in your career. HR consultant is a profession that offers you a chance to help people and making a difference in employee's lives by providing their professional assistance. Not only that, but a job in human resources offers you days with a variety of tasks, high wages, telecommunicating opportunities, flexible hours, and a lot more.

Generally, becoming a human resources consultant, you may take on numerous roles and tasks that affect the organizational outcomes by managing and supporting their workforce. As a human resources consultant, your core duty is to ensure that your company is effectively using its personnel to achieve its stated goals.

Other job duties may include developing, reviewing, implementing HR policies and procedures, analyzing your company's current HR programs, and recommending solutions. Overseeing all HR departments, you may ensure productivity, efficiency, and compliance of workflow. If the idea of becoming a human resources consultant intrigues you, then you may need at least a bachelor's degree in business management, marketing, finance, or in a related field.

Additional certification in human resources and years of professional experience working with an HR department may help you set on the top of the competition. To be successful in HR consulting, you must embrace variable competencies, including solid knowledge of marketing and recruitment, strategic thinking, excellent communication and organizational skills, and an ability to work under pressure and meet targets.

Working as an HR consultant, you may get an average annual promising salary of $69,000 along with compensation and commission packages. Suffice to say that the role of HR consultant ranks highly consistent for job satisfaction and potential growth. According to BLS, the employment growth for human resources project to grow 7% between 2018 and 2028, plus job prospects might be favorable, with 21,045 job openings projected annually through the next decade.

It means plenty of work opportunities may be available to you as a human resources consultant. Other than this, the career advancement chances are also bountiful as an HR consultant - with advanced business and human resources skills, knowledge, and extensive experience, you may move into a business development role or promote to a team leader or branch manager.

  • Average Salary: $71,882
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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States With The Most Senior Human Resources Generalist Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active senior human resources generalist jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where senior human resources generalists earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Senior Human Resources Generalist Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California2,275$79,211
2Texas1,274$65,270
3New York1,040$85,045
4Illinois926$73,440
5Florida865$64,811
6Pennsylvania818$71,968
7Massachusetts698$78,634
8Georgia698$66,038
9North Carolina670$69,061
10Ohio667$66,080
11Virginia649$71,981
12Washington590$80,275
13Michigan511$70,159
14Minnesota484$70,766
15New Jersey479$73,133
16Arizona459$76,939
17Colorado396$69,627
18Maryland386$75,390
19Tennessee376$66,041
20Wisconsin374$69,325
21Indiana366$68,796
22Missouri362$69,520
23Oregon328$77,916
24South Carolina273$57,766
25Connecticut235$86,347
26Kentucky226$61,932
27Iowa223$74,405
28Utah211$70,005
29Kansas211$66,894
30Alabama205$67,401
31Nevada166$88,100
32Oklahoma158$62,726
33Arkansas156$64,419
34Louisiana156$64,709
35Nebraska150$67,617
36New Hampshire132$66,323
37Mississippi129$64,508
38Delaware109$76,573
39Montana100$71,718
40New Mexico99$69,659
41Idaho96$64,878
42West Virginia79$70,134
43Maine79$70,223
44Rhode Island77$76,638
45Hawaii70$60,845
46Vermont66$63,430
47Alaska61$68,681
48North Dakota59$68,478
49South Dakota59$65,378
50Wyoming46$70,877

Senior Human Resources Generalist Education

Senior Human Resources Generalist Majors

Business
32.8 %
Human Resources Management
24.2 %
Psychology
9.7 %

Senior Human Resources Generalist Degrees

Bachelors

74.2 %

Masters

15.9 %

Associate

7.6 %

Top Colleges for Senior Human Resources Generalists

1. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

2. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

3. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

4. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

5. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,948

Enrollment

17,238

6. SUNY Stony Brook

Stony Brook, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,625

Enrollment

17,407

7. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN • Private

In-State Tuition

$14,760

Enrollment

31,451

8. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,094

Enrollment

32,974

9. George Washington University, The

Washington, DC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,230

Enrollment

12,161

10. SUNY College at Oswego

Oswego, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,440

Enrollment

7,039

Top Skills For a Senior Human Resources Generalist

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, 8.4% of senior human resources generalists listed hris on their resume, but soft skills such as leadership skills and organizational skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Senior Human Resources Generalist Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Senior Human Resources Generalist templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Senior Human Resources Generalist resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Senior Human Resources Generalist diversity

Senior Human Resources Generalist Gender Distribution

Female
Female
77%
Male
Male
24%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among senior human resources generalists, 76.5% of them are women, while 23.5% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among senior human resources generalists is White, which makes up 70.0% of all senior human resources generalists.

  • The most common foreign language among senior human resources generalists is Spanish at 69.3%.

Online Courses For Senior Human Resources Generalist That You May Like

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Best States For a Senior Human Resources Generalist

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a senior human resources generalist. The best states for people in this position are Nevada, Connecticut, New York, and Washington. Senior human resources generalists make the most in Nevada with an average salary of $88,100. Whereas in Connecticut and New York, they would average $86,347 and $85,045, respectively. While senior human resources generalists would only make an average of $80,275 in Washington, 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. Nevada

Total Senior Human Resources Generalist Jobs: 166
Highest 10% Earn:
$122,000
Location Quotient:
1.16

$88,100

Avg. Salary

View 166 Senior Human Resources Generalist Jobs In NV

2. New York

Total Senior Human Resources Generalist Jobs: 1,040
Highest 10% Earn:
$115,000
Location Quotient:
1.19

$85,045

Avg. Salary

View 1,040 Senior Human Resources Generalist Jobs In NY

3. Connecticut

Total Senior Human Resources Generalist Jobs: 235
Highest 10% Earn:
$116,000
Location Quotient:
1.04

$86,347

Avg. Salary

View 235 Senior Human Resources Generalist Jobs In CT
Full List Of Best States For Senior Human Resources Generalists

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Top Senior Human Resources Generalist Employers

Most Common Employers For Senior Human Resources Generalist

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Citi$102,800$49.4259
2Dell$91,392$43.9421
3Fiserv$84,427$40.5920
4Eaton$81,545$39.2024
5Halliburton$81,087$38.9821
6Quest Diagnostics$80,735$38.8138
7Raytheon Technologies$77,224$37.1314
8Boeing$72,576$34.8962
9Honeywell$72,068$34.6536
10KBR$71,500$34.3839
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Updated April 6, 2023