The expertise and training of human resources (HR) professionals is integral to an organization’s procurement and retention of valuable staff. Without the careful selection and screening of candidates that is so much a part of different HR assistant jobs, many organizations wind up with a high turnover, and resources wasted on training the wrong staff. If an organization wants to save time and money in the long run, it can do so by creating an HR department within the organization, or outsourcing from recruitment firms for occasional HR needs.
Organizations that employ a high volume of staff typically also have an HR department or division to handle not only hiring staff, but also employee health benefits, promotions and reviews, and other personnel items. In these organizations, there are often a number of different HR assistant jobs that handle such responsibilities as providing new employees with keys, tax forms, and contracts; receiving and replying to resumes and setting up interview appointments; and processing employee health claims. Different HR assistant jobs may be at the entry level or intermediate level within an organization, while the HR manager or director makes the final decisions on matters such as promotions, recruiting or terminating staff, and mediating inter-office disputes.
Also known as head hunters or recruitment firms, employment agencies have a number of different HR assistant jobs that need to be filled within their own agencies, so that they can then adequately handle the staffing requirements of their clients. Since employment agencies often get walk-in visitors who are seeking employment, they also require a person to greet and perform preliminary evaluations to determine which type of employment the individual is seeking. Different HR assistant jobs in this capacity may entail administering computer skills and typing tests to job seekers, as well as being the first point of contact to the applicant when something opens up with one of the agency’s clients.
There are also different HR assistant jobs on the client-facing side of employment agencies. For example, if an organization hires an agency to find them an accountant and then becomes the client of that agency, an HR assistant may then be assigned as the contact to that client. Although HR managers or salespersons typically negotiate the deal with clients, it is often HR assistants who will liaise between the client and the employee after the contract has been set in motion.