How to hire human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping

Job description template

Copy it, fill in the brackets, and remove anything that does not fit your job. Keep only must-haves you would really turn someone away for.

[Job title] at [Company name]
[City, State] · [Full-time / Part-time] · [Pay range]

About the role
[Two or three sentences about your team, the work and why it matters.]

What you will do
• Answer questions regarding examinations, eligibility, salaries, benefits, and other pertinent information.
• Examine employee files to answer inquiries and provide information for personnel actions.
• Explain company personnel policies, benefits, and procedures to employees or job applicants.
• Gather personnel records from other departments or employees.
• Prepare and set up for new employee orientations.
• Process, verify, and maintain personnel related documentation, including staffing, recruitment, training, grievances, performance evaluations, classifications, and employee leaves of absence.
• Provide assistance in administering employee benefit programs and worker's compensation plans.
• Record data for each employee, including such information as addresses, weekly earnings, absences, amount of sales or production, supervisory reports on performance, and dates of and reasons for terminations.

What you bring
• [Required license, certification or years of experience, if any]
• [Education, only if you truly need it. Typical to start in this job: Associate's degree]
• Strong active listening, reading comprehension, speaking, writing, critical thinking and monitoring skills
• Working knowledge of personnel and human resources, administrative and customer and personal service
• [Anything else you would really turn someone away for]

Pay and benefits
[Pay range]. For reference, the U.S. median for this job is $24.33 an hour ($50,610 a year).
[Benefits, schedule and anything else candidates should know.]

How to apply
[Apply on JAI Bot. Every applicant hears back.]

Copy the template Check your finished job post

Interview questions for human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping

Ask every candidate the same questions, in the same order, and write down what they say. Questions about past work show what someone has actually done.

1. Tell me about a time you had to answer questions regarding examinations, eligibility, salaries, benefits, and other pertinent information. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
2. Tell me about a time you had to examine employee files to answer inquiries and provide information for personnel actions. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
3. Tell me about a time you had to explain company personnel policies, benefits, and procedures to employees or job applicants. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
4. Tell me about a time you had to gather personnel records from other departments or employees. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
5. Tell me about a time you had to understand a request or problem that was explained poorly. How did you make sure you got it right?
6. Tell me about written instructions, a policy or a manual you had to follow closely. How did you make sure you followed it correctly?
7. Explain something technical from your last job as you would to a new coworker.
8. Why this job, and why now? What would make you stay here for the long term?

Good answers name a real situation, what the person did themselves and what happened. Avoid questions about age, family plans, religion, health, national origin or anything else unrelated to the job.

What human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping do

• Answer questions regarding examinations, eligibility, salaries, benefits, and other pertinent information.
• Examine employee files to answer inquiries and provide information for personnel actions.
• Explain company personnel policies, benefits, and procedures to employees or job applicants.
• Gather personnel records from other departments or employees.
• Prepare and set up for new employee orientations.
• Process, verify, and maintain personnel related documentation, including staffing, recruitment, training, grievances, performance evaluations, classifications, and employee leaves of absence.
• Provide assistance in administering employee benefit programs and worker's compensation plans.
• Record data for each employee, including such information as addresses, weekly earnings, absences, amount of sales or production, supervisory reports on performance, and dates of and reasons for terminations.

Skills that matter most

Active ListeningReading ComprehensionSpeakingWritingCritical ThinkingMonitoringPersonnel and Human ResourcesAdministrativeCustomer and Personal Service

Education, experience and outlook for human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping

• Typical education to start: Associate's degree (BLS)
• Related work experience most have: 1 to 2 years (O*NET)
• Job outlook: -6.2% over ten years, declining · about 7,900 openings a year (BLS)

What to pay human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping

Pay depends a lot on where the job is. Highest and lowest median yearly pay by state:

See human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping pay in every state

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Job duties and skills: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. JAI Bot has modified this information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025. Interview questions and the job description template: JAI Bot, based on the duties and skills above.