How to Hire a Human Resources Assistant

Hiring a human resources assistant can be difficult because every office is different in what they specialize in. Also since human resources is a relatively specialized field finding someone with the right blend of administrative and human resources knowledge can be tricky. Because of this you will get applicants who have a lot of administrative skills but may have little to no human resources knowledge or what knowledge they have is in an area other than what your office specializes in. That being said, it is possible to effectively hire a human resources assistant that will be a good fit for your office, you just have to know how to prepare so that you can draw the sort of candidates you are looking for.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A job description
• A list of interview questions
• Ad in newspapers and online
• A computer
• The internet
• A telephone

1. Determine exactly what blend of skills, knowledge, and experience you are seeking in candidates, and be sure to accurately depict this in your job description.

2. Create an accurate job description. Often positions change or are newly created when it comes to human resources assistant positions. Using a job description that does not adequately reflect the position can be the kiss of death when it comes to finding the appropriate fit with respect to candidates.

3. Use the job description to create ads to be placed in newspapers and online. Be sure that you say up front exactly what you are looking for and make it clear that only those with the experience, skills and knowledge you are looking for should apply for the position.

4. Screen incoming resumes for the skills, knowledge, and experience that would best fit the job description you created. Automatically recycle any that are obviously from applicants who would not be a good fit, and did not read your ad in full. For example, you will get resumes from those who have retail, or base level administrative skills and experience.

5. After you have gathered a suitable amount of resumes from candidates who look as though they may be a good fit, begin calling and setting up interviews.

6. Come up with a clear set of interview questions that will help you to yield the results you want and to choose a candidate that will be a good fit.

7. Interview your chosen pool of applicants.

8. Choose the candidate that has the best blend of skills, experience, and knowledge, as well as the one who dresses and comports him or herself appropriately.

Tips & Warnings

• If you interview all your candidates and still do not feel you have found one who is a good fit then place your ads again and follow the process through a second or even third time if necessary.
• Add a few extra interview questions that are personal to each candidate you interview. This will help you to learn a bit more about your candidates and help you to better make an informed decision.
• Interview between three and four candidates daily so you can give yourself some time to think about each candidate separately. If you interview more than this, your candidates may begin to run together in your mind. Like anything else sleeping on a final decision is a good idea.
• Getting in a hurry and hiring someone you know will not be a good fit in the long term is always a mistake. It costs your company both money and time because you are taking the time to train this person and paying him or her while you do so. So take the time to hire the best candidate.
• If you choose to use a generic job description and a generic set of interview questions you will have a more difficult time hiring a candidate who will be a good fit for your company. It pays to take the time to create these two things from scratch ahead of time.

[reginapaul]

on 3/2/2009 Thanks ngodavinet, this is one type of HR Assistant job description, although it is quite generic. As mentioned ine the article, it's a good idea for each company to write their own based on the specialized skills they need for their position. But, for someone trying to get an idea as to where to start this is a good place too look. Thanks for sharing!

[ngodavinet]

on 3/1/2009 I can show all of you HR assistant job description. I hope that it is useful for communityhttp://www.humanresources.hrvinet.com/hr-assistant-job-description/