Human Resource Management Major

Human resource (HR) generalists perform various tasks, depending on their level of expertise. They oversee daily operations of the HR office, such as implementing policies, procedures, and programs. They handle tasks such as staffing, orientation, performance, training, benefits, analytics, and organizational development. Some HR generalist roles are assistant, coordinator, generalist, manager, operations specialist, advisor, business partner, or employee relations consultant.

Human resource specialists apply a higher level of technical skill and specialized knowledge to benefit their organization by focusing in a specific area. Areas of specialization vary by industry, geography, and/or organization size; they often include talent management, talent acquisition specialist, total rewards, analytics and information systems, and employee or labor relations.

• Talent management specialists help organizations retain and develop employees by working with leaders to identify training needs and creating solutions to improve skills. They design and implement programs for performance, skill, leadership, assessment, and succession. Some roles are trainer, training specialist, learning and development specialist, performance management specialist, instructional designer, or facilitator.
• Talent acquisition specialists find, acquire, assess, and hire candidates for open positions. They do workforce planning and use strategies to recruit, select, and onboard employees, specialists, leaders, or executives. Some roles are: recruiter; staffing coordinator or specialist; recruitment assistant, coordinator, or specialist; talent acquisition consultant or specialist; corporate recruiter; or onboarding specialist.
• Total rewards specialists develop, implement, and administer compensation and benefits programs, policies, and procedures. They focus on compensation functions, such as job evaluation, survey participation, base salary and incentive plan design, and benefits functions, such as life, health, and disability insurance, wellness programs, and retirement benefits. Some roles are: total rewards coordinator, total rewards specialist, compensation specialist, benefits analyst, or payroll and benefits coordinator.
• Analytics and information systems specialists implement and maintain human resource information management systems. They work with other experts to ensure data integrity, testing, reporting, analysis, and process improvement. Some roles are payroll coordinator or specialist, human resource analyst (or human resource data analyst), applicant tracking (ATS) coordinator, affirmative action planner, or human capital management (HCM) analyst.