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Job outlook for senior recruiting specialists in the United States
Senior recruiting specialist job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected senior recruiting specialist job growth rate is 8% from 2018-2028.
About 58,800 new jobs for senior recruiting specialists are projected over the next decade.
Senior recruiting specialist salaries have increased 7% for senior recruiting specialists in the last 5 years.
There are over 35,071 senior recruiting specialists currently employed in the United States.
There are 37,497 active senior recruiting specialist job openings in the US.
The average senior recruiting specialist salary is $83,749.
Are senior recruiting specialist jobs in demand?
Senior recruiting specialist job and salary trends over time
Senior recruiting specialist jobs over time
Senior recruiting specialist job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 35,071 | 0.01% |
| 2020 | 30,668 | 0.01% |
| 2019 | 29,968 | 0.01% |
| 2018 | 28,110 | 0.01% |
| 2017 | 26,224 | 0.01% |
Average senior recruiting specialist salary over time
Senior recruiting specialist salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $83,749 | $40.26 | +2.5% |
| 2025 | $81,678 | $39.27 | +1.7% |
| 2024 | $80,306 | $38.61 | +0.9% |
| 2023 | $79,607 | $38.27 | +2.0% |
| 2022 | $78,064 | $37.53 | +1.4% |
Senior recruiting specialist jobs by state
Most common states for senior recruiting specialists
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 212 | 31% |
| 2 | Delaware | 961,939 | 138 | 14% |
| 3 | Alaska | 739,795 | 97 | 13% |
| 4 | Vermont | 623,657 | 80 | 13% |
| 5 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 78 | 13% |
| 6 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 798 | 12% |
| 7 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 383 | 12% |
| 8 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 85 | 11% |
| 9 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 422 | 10% |
| 10 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 201 | 10% |
| 11 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 138 | 10% |
| 12 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 85 | 10% |
| 13 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 677 | 9% |
| 14 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 525 | 9% |
| 15 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 510 | 9% |
| 16 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 269 | 9% |
| 17 | Idaho | 1,716,943 | 156 | 9% |
| 18 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 97 | 9% |
| 19 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 90 | 9% |
| 20 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 703 | 8% |
Most common cities for senior recruiting specialists
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frankfort | 1 | 4% | $70,864 |
| 2 | Annapolis | 1 | 3% | $83,323 |
| 3 | Dover | 1 | 3% | $76,258 |
| 4 | Juneau | 1 | 3% | $59,835 |
| 5 | Hartford | 1 | 1% | $81,718 |
| 6 | Lansing | 1 | 1% | $72,826 |
| 7 | Little Rock | 1 | 1% | $58,857 |
| 8 | Atlanta | 2 | 0% | $76,025 |
| 9 | Boston | 2 | 0% | $82,109 |
| 10 | Washington | 2 | 0% | $93,607 |
| 11 | Baltimore | 1 | 0% | $83,313 |
| 12 | Baton Rouge | 1 | 0% | $70,062 |
| 13 | Denver | 1 | 0% | $64,065 |
| 14 | Des Moines | 1 | 0% | $67,265 |
| 15 | Houston | 1 | 0% | $70,360 |
| 16 | Indianapolis | 1 | 0% | $60,131 |
| 17 | Montgomery | 1 | 0% | $64,923 |
| 18 | Phoenix | 1 | 0% | $64,938 |
Senior Recruiting Specialist job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of senior recruiting specialist experts
Manhattan College
Indiana University Southeast
Neumann University
Land O Lakes
University of Idaho
Muhlenberg College
The Pennsylvania State University
Emmaus Homes
East Tennessee State University
SHRM
Jack Henry & Associates
Pamela Chasek
Professor of Political Science, Manhattan CollegeManhattan College
International Relations And National Security Studies
What Senior Recruiting Specialist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Pamela Chasek: The more skills you have the better off you will be. Negotiate your salary package -- don't just accept what they offer you. However, if they refuse to budge, you may want to negotiate consideration of a raise after a 3-month probationary period.
What will help Senior Recruiting Specialists increase their earning potential?
Pamela Chasek: I think it is important to understand economics, speak another major language in addition to English, and have good computer skills. It is also important. But strong interpersonal skills should not be underestimated.
Dr. Gregory Kordsmeier
Director, Institute for Learning and TeachingIndiana University Southeast
Sociology
What Senior Recruiting Specialist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Gregory Kordsmeier: Many employers are looking for the skills that sociology majors have developed over the course of their major, but many of these employers will not phrase it as looking for a sociology major. Skills like working in teams, data analysis and communication, written and oral visualization, and an ability to work with diverse populations are all prized by employers and common among sociology majors. Your job as a recent graduate is helping translate the work that you did and the skills you developed in college into terms that prospective employers can understand.
Robert Till Ph.D.
Professor EmeritusNeumann University
Management Department
What skills will help Senior Recruiting Specialists earn the most?
Robert Till Ph.D.: When considering what areas of HR offer the greatest compensation, you need to think about supply and demand. Typically, if you have quantitative or computer skills, your value increases. A simple search of HR jobs suggests that Compensation and Benefits is an area that does pay well.
The graduates felt their CIS course and their HR Courses were helpful to their success, but they would have liked exposure to HR software currently being used in the field and greater exposure to forms typically used in HR departments.
Philomena Morrissey Satre
Director of Diversity Equity & Inclusion and External Strategic PartnershipsLand O Lakes
What soft skills should all Senior Recruiting Specialists possess?
Philomena Morrissey Satre: Inquisitive, ability to operate within ambiguity, strong customer service aptitude, strong cultural competency skills, agility, and adaptability to change.
Daniel Eveleth Ph.D.
Professor of Management and Human ResourcesUniversity of Idaho
Department of Business
What skills stand out on Senior Recruiting Specialist resumes?
Daniel Eveleth Ph.D.: Given this emphasis on the candidate, employee, and manager experiences, what skills are needed:
-Empathy skill - able to look at "our processes" through the eyes of the candidate, employee, manager. It is their journey, not our process.
-Relationship building - given the demand for talent, we often need to play the long game; rather than posting a job announcement and praying for applications to "process," we may need to develop connections with passive job seekers, for example, who may not be ready to apply; we need to think about how we reject candidates so that they pass on positive word of mouth to others and possibly reply/apply when a better fit appears. We may need to develop our relationships with hiring managers to help them make quicker hiring decisions, help them avoid biases when interviewing, learn more from them about their talent needs and preferences.
-Ability and willingness to search for talent. There are excellent job seekers who don't know your organization exists or that you have a culture, positions, etc., that would be a good fit. This is particularly critical for helping a company meet its DEI goals.
-Interpersonal communication skills:
-Job candidates prefer recruiters who are both warm/approachable and knowledgeable about the jobs and the company.
-Hiring managers and other business partners often have varying degrees of experience with recruiting, selection, onboarding, development practices and have unique needs and often unique personalities, work styles, etc. Communication with them is critical and sometimes includes having challenging conversations.
-Tools-oriented skills:
-Data analysis skills
-Journey/Experience mapping
-Data visualization (e.g., Tableau)
-Knowledge of applicant tracking systems
-Success using social media to engage followers (e.g., managed a fraternity's social media sites to engage alumni)
-Familiarity with managing conversations via remote technology.
-Interest in the company/industry.
Ryan Smolko
Associate Director, Career CenterMuhlenberg College
The Career Center at Muhlenberg College
What technical skills for a Senior Recruiting Specialist stand out to employers?
Ryan Smolko: Technical skills vary by industry and the technical skills needed today are not those that will be needed five or even one year from now. Adaptability is key to staying relevant in their career both now and in the future. O*Net is a great resource for students to see technical skills commonly used in their jobs of interest.
The technical skills everyone should be continually working on are Excel/Tableau and Canva/PowerPoint. Working with large amounts of data is almost universal in today's economy regardless of industry or position. You can also have the best data in the world but if you can't present it in a dynamic way it won't be seen which is why being well versed in presentation and design tools can be a big advantage.
What's a good job out of college for Senior Recruiting Specialists?
Ryan Smolko: A good job out of college is one that integrates a students skillset with their larger value system. Students can see every job available with a click of a button so employers are doing a lot around showing their culture, mission and social responsibility in very genuine ways.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Senior Recruiting Specialist job market given the pandemic?
Elaine Farndale Ph.D.: As we move into a period of economic recovery following the pandemic, I would expect to see a gradual opening up of positions across the job market, but no major recovery for the next couple of years. As most businesses start to regroup and win back their customers, there will likely be cautious steps forward. STEM jobs are most likely to be in high demand as these are areas in which the future economy will grow, but also areas in which the supply of suitable talent is limited. HR graduates will have an influential role to play if they can demonstrate skills in helping organizations transition through a complex restructuring of jobs and activities.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Senior Recruiting Specialists to find work opportunities?
Elaine Farndale Ph.D.: The answer will lie in which states can recover from the pandemic the quickest, which is still very much unknown.
What skills stand out on Senior Recruiting Specialist resumes?
Tonya Courtois: To be most attractive to us a resume should be more than just a list of a person's work history and the skills they acquired while they occupied each role. A resume that will stand out to us, is a resume that tells us how a candidate problem-solved during their tenure at each job. We are also looking for candidates who closely align with our core value system. A one size fits all resume is not a best practice. Candidates should do their homework and clearly and specifically identify past behaviors that demonstrate they share our values. Resumes should be full of well-written examples of how they added value.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Senior Recruiting Specialists to find work opportunities?
Tonya Courtois: Our industry provides support staff to adults who have developmental disabilities. Our entry-level employees are called Direct Support Professionals (DSPS). We, like many others in our industry, are experiencing a significant staffing crisis. This crisis has gained national attention. To close the gap we continue to encourage our state legislatures to standardize rates and pay rates that will allow us to outpace minimum wage and be competitive with other high-volume employers. My recommendation to students and recent graduates is to research mission-driven, caregiving roles in their area, specifically those for individuals with disabilities. Learn about disabilities and understand the need. Reach out to a couple of different organizations in your area and connect with them to learn more about their mission. Find a good fit and pick up some part-time hours while finishing school. At Emmaus we are very intentional in creating career paths for individuals who have a mission heart and want to do work that matters. It's not just a job but a defined career path!
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Senior Recruiting Specialist job market given the pandemic?
Dr. James Lampley: Online delivery. Before the pandemic, we were already seeing a trend to more online programs. After we return to "normal" we will see online courses and online programs expand exponentially.
What Senior Recruiting Specialist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. James Lampley: I would encourage a graduate or graduate student to use the gap year experience to learn a new marketable skill or to work with under-served groups. Learn how to do something that not a lot of people can do.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Senior Recruiting Specialist job market given the pandemic?
Regan Gross: There has been, and will continue to be, a shift in the way we do work. Employers are realizing that they can minimize overhead and leverage technology by adopting remote workforces. There will still be some employers who are resistant to this change and will continue to do things the traditional way. E-commerce jobs, such as those in online retail, will continue to increase, while jobs that require in-person social interaction, such as in the restaurant industry, will continue to evolve into contactless alternatives, reducing the number of positions available for employment. While hospitality and restaurants have been among the hardest hit, for many, still being able to dine-out and stay away from home, is important to their mental health.
Job interviews will continue to be virtual as much as feasible. Job seekers will be well advised to brush up on their on-camera interviewing skills, including dressing appropriately as with in-person job interviews, avoiding any background noise and being cognizant of the appearance of their on-camera surroundings/background. Practice virtual interviews with friends and family if possible.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Senior Recruiting Specialists?
Rachel Raymond: I think there is always an impact on graduates during economic downturns. However, how graduates manage their careers and make decisions, during more robust years, can have a considerable effect on their long term professional outcomes. Graduates today may have to sacrifice what their 'ideal job' looked like to them a few months back and be realistic about what they need to do to get into the professional field. Getting into an area that is somewhat relative to your long-term professional goals is better than waiting for two years without any opportunity. This is not meant to be discouraging, and I recommend continuing to strive toward your long term goals. Still, I think most people are surprised at opportunities they sometimes stumble upon that they have not considered otherwise. Leverage your networking skills, find a mentor, take some chances, and be flexible.