How to Be a Good Human Resources Assistant

A human resource assistant is the person that will assist the Human Resource manager or generalist or even the whole Human Resource department. If one wants to get more involved in this career but has limited experience, this is a great way to get your foot in the door, learn the ropes and move up with the company. Some of the main skills that are requested for this position are the following.

Computer knowledge: a good knowledge of Microsoft Office is almost essential like Word, Excel, Outlook and also Power Point and sometimes a basic knowledge of Access may be asked for. And as far as typing skills an average of 40 to 45 words per minute is a good start.

Basic human resources laws: knowing the basic laws of the industry is more than helpful such as illegal interview procedures, sexual harassment laws, worker compensation and the equal opportunity laws. All these will come in handy during your job and if you do not know them, you can buy some books or ask your supervisors for advice on them.

Payroll: some basic payroll knowledge can be very useful especially if you have used some of the different software available.

Updating employees files: filing and keeping the employees files updated is also important and should be done either daily or weekly, you must make sure to create one for a new hire or update someone that has quit or been laid off, and keep all of their benefits information a breast.

Confidentiality: this skill goes well with the updating the files of your employees (which should be kept in a locked cabinet that only few have access), since you are privy to a lot of different information such as age, salary and social security numbers

People skill: liking people and having good communication skills are important in the human resources industry, since most likely you will deal with employees all day long for a variety of different tasks from questions of their benefits to vacation time permits or even complaints.

Professionalism: Professionalism is very important not only with the manners of a person but also in the way someone dresses, preferably in a neat and orderly manner, which states that you take your job seriously and care about it.