Human Resources Managers

Plan, direct, or coordinate human resources activities and staff of an organization.

Most important skills

Active Listening
Reading Comprehension
Speaking
Management of Personnel Resources
Writing
Coordination
Critical Thinking
Active Learning

Key knowledge

Personnel and Human Resources
English Language
Administration and Management
Customer and Personal Service
Education and Training
Law and Government
Psychology
Public Safety and Security

What the work involves

Administer compensation, benefits, and performance management systems, and safety and recreation programs.
Identify staff vacancies and recruit, interview, and select applicants.
Allocate human resources, ensuring appropriate matches between personnel.
Provide current and prospective employees with information about policies, job duties, working conditions, wages, opportunities for promotion, and employee benefits.
Perform difficult staffing duties, including dealing with understaffing, refereeing disputes, firing employees, and administering disciplinary procedures.
Advise managers on organizational policy matters, such as equal employment opportunity and sexual harassment, and recommend needed changes.
Analyze and modify compensation and benefits policies to establish competitive programs and ensure compliance with legal requirements.
Plan and conduct new employee orientation to foster positive attitude toward organizational objectives.

Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Enterprising, Conventional, Social.

Qualifications and licensing

Most common education: Bachelor's Degree (81.8% of respondents)
Related experience: Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years (63.6%)
On-the-job training: Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (22.7%)
Preparation level: O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
Licensing: Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.

Check before planning

Licensing for Human Resources Managers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.

Limits

Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0

Work environment

How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).

Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.

Rankings compare typical U.S. occupation-level work conditions; individual jobs and employers vary. Data: O*NET 31.0 Work Context and BLS wages (May 2025).
Condition	Level	Compared with other occupations	Most common answer (O*NET survey)
Contact with others	High	Higher on contact with others than 75% of occupations compared	73% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others”
Dealing with the public	Moderate	Higher on dealing with the public than 53% of occupations compared	41% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important”
Teamwork	High	Higher on teamwork than 71% of occupations compared	55% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important”
Freedom to make decisions	High	Higher on freedom to make decisions than 64% of occupations compared	64% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom”
Time pressure	Moderate	Higher on time pressure than 54% of occupations compared	36% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week”
Conflict situations	Very high	Higher on conflict situations than 96% of occupations compared	41% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day”
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people	Very high	Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 87% of occupations compared	41% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week”
Consequence of error	Moderate	Lower on consequence of error than 51% of occupations compared	32% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious”

Work-pressure profile

Time pressure: moderate
Conflict situations: very high
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
Consequence of error: moderate

Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.

Full answer distributions