HR Generalist

What it officially is

Recruit, screen, interview, or place individuals within an organization. May perform other activities in multiple human resources areas.

O*NET, US Department of Labor · classified as “Human Resources Specialists”

What the work involves

  • Address employee relations issues, such as harassment allegations, work complaints, or other employee concerns. 125% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Maintain current knowledge of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and affirmative action guidelines and laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). 124% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Prepare or maintain employment records related to events, such as hiring, termination, leaves, transfers, or promotions, using human resources management system software. 124% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Hire employees and process hiring-related paperwork. 124% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Review employment applications and job orders to match applicants with job requirements. 124% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Maintain and update human resources documents, such as organizational charts, employee handbooks or directories, or performance evaluation forms. 123% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Confer with management to develop or implement personnel policies or procedures. 123% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Analyze employment-related data and prepare required reports. 123% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Interpret and explain human resources policies, procedures, laws, standards, or regulations. 123% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Inform job applicants of details such as duties and responsibilities, compensation, benefits, schedules, working conditions, or promotion opportunities. 123% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Select qualified job applicants or refer them to managers, making hiring recommendations when appropriate. 123% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Schedule or conduct new employee orientations. 123% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Contact job applicants to inform them of the status of their applications. 122% of people in this occupation report doing this
  • Conduct exit interviews and ensure that necessary employment termination paperwork is completed. 122% of people in this occupation report doing this

What employers actually ask for

Counted from listings on this board. Each line shows how many of that tier's listings for this role carried it — the denominator is the point.

Large employers

  • owning global projects (e.g. engagement, training or culture initiatives) 2 of 8
  • provide administrative support to employees for the enrollment and processing of benefits 2 of 8
  • working as a truly global partner to colleagues, especially leads, managers and executives 2 of 8
  • continually work to better our processes, spotting areas we can improve to drive our function forward 2 of 8
  • conduct regular audits of employment files and systems to ensure they are up-to-date, accurate, and gdpr compliant 2 of 8
  • maintain our hris, ensuring a high degree of accuracy and timeliness in processing all team member changes and new joiners 2 of 8
  • partnering with the managers and employees - supporting hr processes and driving the people strategy for your areas of responsibility 2 of 8
  • create purchase orders for internal departments 2 of 8

Startups

  • own full-cycle recruiting across all functions: sourcing, closing, and everything in between 1 of 3
  • build and run core people ops: hris, payroll, onboarding, compliance 1 of 3
  • partner directly with leadership on headcount planning and org design 1 of 3
  • design comp frameworks, leveling, and performance processes as we scale 1 of 3
  • shape culture intentionally… not with perks, but with systems and standards 1 of 3
  • hands-on with modern recruiting tools and ats platforms (we currently use ashby) 1 of 3
  • 3+ years of experience building a people function from scratch at a high-growth startup 1 of 3
  • strong sourcing chops, going beyond linkedin and close competitive candidates creatively 1 of 3

What they call it

Large employers

  • Graduate HR Generalist - APAC Canonical
  • Regional HR Manager - EMEA Canonical
  • Graduate HR Generalist - APAC Canonical Ltd.
  • Principal Compensation Partner, Sales HubSpot
  • People Operations Coordinator Metabase
  • Compensation Manager Twilio

Startups

  • Human Resource Intern Cityfurnish
  • Head of People Corgi Insurance
  • HR Generalist / People Operations Giga

Tools the occupation uses

Analytical or scientific software Assessment software
Customer relationship management CRM software Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge
Data base user interface and query software Airtable, Blackboard software
Desktop publishing software Adobe InDesign
Document management software Adobe LifeCycle Enterprise Suite, Adobe Acrobat
Graphics or photo imaging software Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Creative Cloud software

How well this role is advertised

87listings reviewed
58/100median HR-standards score
75/100median title accuracy

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Official definitions and responsibilities come from public occupational records — O*NET (US Department of Labor) and ESCO (European Commission). The employer half is counted from listings on this board and shown with its denominator. Nothing on this page is written by a language model: the measured half is arithmetic over real postings, and the official half is quoted.