Career Path Guide
If you have an interest in employment legislation, teamwork, compensation and benefits packages, and conflict resolution, then a career as a human resources coordinator might be right up your alley. This field offers great pay, consistent working hours, and the opportunity to devise and administer personnel related programs, such as recruitment and retention.
If becoming a human resources coordinator sounds promising to you, then read on below; we’ll fill you in on what you’d be doing, how much you could make, and what you need to do to get into this field!
Education You’ll Need to Become an HR Coordinator
Most employers prefer to hire candidates who have a degree or diploma in human resources, or in a related field (for example, business administration, commerce, industrial relations or a related social science).
Certification You Might Need
Although not often a formal requirement, some employers give preference to candidates with some sort of certification in human resources. Check with your local, regional or national human resources association to see what certification programs and credentials they offer.
Success Tip: While certification is largely considered optional, it can give you an edge when trying to get hired or promoted. Best of all these programs, for the most part, can be completed on a part-time basis!
Is Human Resources Right for You?
You’ll be very well suited for a career as a human resources coordinator if the following traits describe you:
• You’re interested in an office-based career that generally offers a very good salary
• You have exceptional organizational and communication skills
• You have a cooperative team approach, and positive attitude among fellow staff
• You have an interest in devising and administering personnel related programs, such as recruiting
• You have the ability to keep employee information confidential
• You have tact and diplomacy
• You have the ability to understand a variety of viewpoints
• You have the ability to earn the trust and co-operation of managers, unions and employees
• You take enjoyment from coaching and counseling managers and employees
• You’re willing to take responsibility for projects
What You’d Be Doing: General Job Description
As a human resources (HR) coordinator, you would be responsible for assisting the HR manager with a wide range of departmental functions, such as employee recruitment, interviewing, orientation and conflict resolution.
Typical Job Functions
Although the functions you would perform could vary from job to job, tasks you would be responsible for performing might include:
• Role Classification: Establishing positions that fit organizational requirements; evaluating and allocating positions, and conducting reviews to ensure consistency with others in the industry.
• Recruitment & Retention: Preparing job descriptions; advertising vacant positions; screening applications; evaluating applicants; conducting interviews and reference checks, and preparing employment contracts.
• Labour relations: Negotiating and interpreting collective agreements, as well as conflict resolution.
• Compensation: Gathering and interpreting compensation related data; recommending changes to compensation programs, and developing and implementing employee incentive programs.
• Benefits Administration: Coordinating employee benefit plans related to life, medical, dental or disability insurance, as well as financial benefits such as health spending accounts, stock purchase plans, retirement savings assistance, and others.
• Training and Development: Identifying and providing ways to improve employee competence and versatility.
• Performance Management: Defining performance standards consistent with your organization's mission, culture, environment, strategy and structure.
• HR Planning: - Forecasting your organization's human resource needs and helping management develop human resource policies and procedures.
Areas of Specialization
As an HR coordinator you may be responsible for performing some or all of the duties listed above. You may also choose, or be assigned, to become a specialist in one of the aforementioned areas.
What Salary Level Could You Earn?
The salary level you could earn as a human resources coordinator can vary, typically depending on the following factors:
• Your professional qualifications (education, experience, etc.)
• The size and budget of your employer
• The industry in which you work
• The region in which you work
• The scope of your job duties
HR Coordinator Salary - Canada: According to the 2016 Alberta Wage and Salary Survey, the average salary level of Albertans working in the Human Resources Professional occupational group is $68,758 per year. WorkBC (Province of British Columbia) states that those working in that same occupational group earn an annual provincial median salary of $79,186. Unfortunately, no similar statistics were available from reliable sources for other Canadian provinces or territories at the time of writing (October 7, 2019).
HR Coordinator Salary - United States: According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary level of Americans working in the Human Resources Specialists occupational group is $60,880 per year (May, 2018 figures).
Career Advancement Possibilities
As an HR coordinator, there will be many opportunities to move into other roles or to otherwise advance your career. Some forms of career advancement that will be open to you may include:
• Working for yourself as an HR consultant
• Moving into supervisory or management roles
• Becoming a specialist in an area such as labor relations, or union organization
• Eventually moving into executive management roles, such as VP of Operations, or CEO
• Eventually becoming an owner or partner in your organization
Who Employs HR Coordinators?
Human resources coordinators can be employed by virtually any organization: small, medium and large organizations in the business, government and non-profit worlds. Some common employers include:
• Educational institutions
• Federal, provincial/state and municipal governments
• Financial institutions
• Health care institutions
• Large and medium sized businesses
• Manufacturing firms
Human Resources Coordinator Jobs
Our job board below has "HR Coordinator" postings in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
Work Environment
As an HR coordinator, your work would be based out of an office, and you would likely work during normal, weekday working hours (9-5 or similar). Depending on the scope of your job (such as if you are responsible for recruitment) you may be required to work overtime, or to travel to attend job fairs, visit school campuses, and meet with applicants.
Similar Occupations in Our Database
Listed below are occupations in our database that have similar responsibilities, and/or require similar skills, or be in the same sector of industry, as Human Resources Coordinator:
References
Information for this career guide was compiled from the websites listed below. Some information has also been compiled from actual job postings from various organizations, which cannot be listed here due to the brief nature of their online availability.
Occupations in Alberta: “Human Resources Professional.” (April 1, 2017). ALIS website - Alberta Learning Information Service. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
Business & Financial: “Human Resources Specialists.” (September 4, 2019). Occupational Outlook Handbook - United States Bureau of Labor Statistics website. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
Explore Careers: “Human resources professionals.” (December 11, 2018). WorkBC website. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
Career Advice: “Human Resources Coordinator.” (n.d.) SEEK website. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
Scholarships for Becoming a Human Resources Coordinator
The “Applicable Majors” section below shows fields of study relevant to a career as a human resources coordinator. You can search for scholarships matched to those fields of study on our All Scholarships by Major page.
Applicable Majors
Studying one of the college/university majors listed below can be helpful for becoming a human resources coordinator. Click on the links to find out what else you can do with these majors!
