Personnel Assistants
Personnel assistants are responsible for maintaining and updating human-resource records and databases. This includes keeping up with employee names, addresses, job titles, salaries, and benefits including health and life insurance and tax withholding. When an employee receives a promotion or switches health insurance plans, human-resources assistants update the records. They also prepare reports for managers within the organization. It goes without saying that these are positions for the meticulous.
Types of Jobs
Personnel assistants often have specific job titles. Assignment clerks notify existing employees of upcoming job openings, identify applicants who qualify for the vacancies, and reassign those who are qualified for new positions. They track new openings within the company or agency, and they complete the paperwork that advertises the vacancies. When a selection for the position is made, assignment clerks notify all of the applicants of their acceptance or rejection.
Identification clerks are responsible for security matters at defense installations. They compile and record personal data about vendors, contractors, and civilian and military personnel. Their job duties include interviewing applicants, writing correspondence with law enforcement officials, and preparing badges, passes, and other forms of identification.
Assistants typically work a forty-hour week, and most employers look for applicants with a high school diploma or equivalent. Training beyond high school is not usually required, but once on the job, training in computers, filing systems, organization, and human-resources practices will happen. Proficiency in Microsoft Office and other computer programs is desirable. Many of these skills are learned in vocational high school programs, and what you have not learned in the classroom you can pick up on the job.
ssential
Personnel assistants may perform some clerical duties, including answering inquiries and sending out announcements of job openings or job examinations. Assistants also interact with payroll departments and insurance companies to verify changes to records. Some personnel assistants are involved in the hiring process. They may also screen job applicants, administer tests, explain employment policies, and request references from present or past employers.
Required Skills
Personnel assistants must also be able to communicate with colleagues at every level of the organization. They must have good interpersonal skills and have discretion in dealing with sensitive and confidential information like salaries and Social Security numbers. Confidentiality is paramount in this field. An employee entrusted with personal data must be the very model of discretion.
Fact
One out of four personnel assistants works for the federal, state, or local governments. They are assuming duties beyond the usual typing and filing. They must be Internet savvy since more and more job seekers have personal Web sites that contain their resumes and other pertinent information. Even when the economy is slow, there remains a demand for assistants.
Compensation
The average annual salary of personnel assistants is $31,750. The federal government average is $35,490, and the state and local government average is $32,460. The federal government pays entry-level human-resources assistants with a high school diploma or six months of experience an average annual salary of $20,984. The average salary for all human-resources assistants employed by the federal government is $36,576.
