Personnel officer

Personnel officer job description: Typical employers | Qualifications and training | Key skills | Useful links | Find jobs and courses

Personnel officers are responsible for:

• recruiting, training and developing staff
• organising salaries payments
• pensions and benefits administration
• looking after the health, safety and welfare of all employees
• negotiating salaries, contracts, working conditions or redundancy packages with staff/representatives.

Larger organisations often employ specialist staff in some of these roles.

Typical employers of personnel officers

• companies
• manufacturers
• retailers
• service industries
• local authorities
• industrial organisations
• charities.

Vacancies are advertised in careers services, national newspapers and in specialist publications such as Personnel Today and People Management. Recruitment agencies, local newspapers and job centres often advertise immediate/junior vacancies. It is advisable to make speculative applications and to apply early for graduate training schemes.

Qualifications and training required

Any degree discipline is acceptable for entry into the profession, although a Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD) recognised qualification is often required. Relevant experience is often essential and can be gained in any commercial area through placements or vacation work.

It may be necessary to enter the profession at a junior level, or to move into personnel work following a general management training scheme. Promotional prospects are excellent, particularly for those with CIPD qualifications.

Key skills for personnel officers

• commercial awareness
• effective organisational skills
• team work skills
• interpersonal skills
• meticulous attention to detail
• numerical skills
• IT skills.

Personnel officers need to be approachable, persuasive and able to form good relationships with all staff.