Top 12 Human Resources Clerk Skills to Put on Your Resume
In today's competitive job market, standing out as a Human Resources Clerk means showing a sharp mix of core skills that prove you can move fast, stay accurate, and keep people operations humming. The list below spotlights the 12 skills most likely to catch a hiring manager’s eye and signal you’re ready to thrive in a modern HR role.
Human Resources Clerk Skills
- Payroll Processing
- HRIS (Human Resource Information System)
- ATS (Applicant Tracking System)
- Microsoft Excel
- Employee Relations
- Benefits Administration
- Compliance Monitoring
- Recruitment Coordination
- SAP SuccessFactors
- Workday HCM
- Performance Management
- ADP Workforce Now
1. Payroll Processing
Payroll processing is the administrative work of calculating and delivering wages, taxes, and deductions to employees—accurately, on time, and in line with laws and company policy.
Why It's Important
It keeps employees paid correctly and on schedule, maintains compliance with tax and labor rules, and builds trust. Missed payments and errors create headaches; clean payroll keeps morale steady.
How to Improve Payroll Processing Skills
Sharper, faster, fewer errors. Aim for that trio:
Automate core steps: Use modern payroll software (for example, QuickBooks Payroll, ADP, Gusto) to reduce manual entry and error risk.
Integrate time tracking: Connect timesheets directly to payroll. Tools like QuickBooks Time, Deputy, or Homebase cut rework and disputes.
Stay current on rules: Keep up with federal, state, and local tax changes. PayrollOrg (formerly APA) and tax agency updates are must-follows.
Document clear policies: Centralize FAQs, deadlines, and approval standards so employees and managers know the drill.
Audit routinely: Reconcile payroll runs, verify deductions, and spot anomalies early. Quarterly deep dives pay off.
Streamline questions: Set a dedicated inbox or helpdesk queue for payroll issues to speed resolution and track patterns.
Outsource when needed: If bandwidth or expertise is thin, consider a managed provider (such as Paychex or ADP) to stabilize operations.
Lean into automation, tight controls, and reliable communication. Accuracy follows.
How to Display Payroll Processing Skills on Your Resume
2. HRIS (Human Resource Information System)
An HRIS is the digital backbone for HR—storing employee data, supporting payroll and benefits, assisting recruiting, and enabling reporting and analytics to keep everything organized and traceable.
Why It's Important
It centralizes data, streamlines workflows, and supports compliance. With cleaner records and better reporting, decisions arrive faster and with fewer surprises.
How to Improve HRIS (Human Resource Information System) Skills
Run a needs assessment: Gather input from HR, payroll, managers, and employees. Identify gaps, friction points, and wishlist items.
Make it easy to use: Simplify navigation, reduce clicks, and tidy menus. Usability isn’t fluff—adoption depends on it.
Tighten security: Apply least-privilege access, MFA, and audit logs. Sensitive data demands layered controls.
Integrate key systems: Connect HRIS with payroll, time tracking, benefits, and recruiting to stop duplicate data entry.
Train continuously: Offer short, role-based training and refreshers. New features arrive often; keep skills fresh.
Review and update: Quarterly governance checks catch stale fields, broken workflows, and reporting gaps before they snowball.
Strong HRIS habits reduce admin drag and raise data quality. That’s leverage.
How to Display HRIS (Human Resource Information System) Skills on Your Resume
3. ATS (Applicant Tracking System)
An ATS is the central hub for hiring—posting jobs, tracking candidates, storing resumes, and coordinating steps from application to offer.
Why It's Important
It speeds screening, organizes communication, and helps teams choose faster with better visibility. Less chaos, more hires.
How to Improve ATS (Applicant Tracking System) Skills
Write clearer job posts: Use accurate titles, plain language, and relevant keywords to improve matches and search results.
Tune the candidate experience: Keep the application short, mobile-ready, and transparent about next steps. Fewer drop-offs, stronger pipeline.
Leverage automation: Use built-in screening, templates, and workflows for repetitive tasks. Let the system do the heavy lifting.
Keep software current: Use new features and consider modern platforms (for example, Greenhouse, Lever) if your tool can’t keep up.
Train recruiters and coordinators: Quick workshops on search, tagging, pipelines, and reporting create immediate gains.
Integrate HR tools: Connect ATS with HRIS and onboarding to streamline handoffs from offer to start date.
Use analytics: Track time-to-fill, source quality, and funnel conversion. Adjust strategies with evidence, not hunches.
Collect feedback: Ask hiring managers and candidates what’s clunky—and fix it.
How to Display ATS (Applicant Tracking System) Skills on Your Resume
4. Microsoft Excel
Excel helps HR clerks manage data fast—lists, schedules, payroll checks, simple dashboards, the works. It’s the Swiss Army spreadsheet.
Why It's Important
From attendance logs to headcount reports, Excel supports clean analysis and clear visuals. It’s the bridge between raw data and action.
How to Improve Microsoft Excel Skills
Adopt modern lookups: Learn XLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, and FILTER to replace brittle VLOOKUP combos.
Master PivotTables: Summarize large datasets, slice by department or location, and drill into trends without formulas.
Use Conditional Formatting: Spotlight tardiness spikes, expiring certifications, or overtime outliers at a glance.
Automate with macros: Record routine steps or write simple VBA to shave minutes off repeated tasks.
Apply Data Validation: Lock down inputs to reduce typos and keep records consistent.
Explore Power Query: Clean, combine, and reshape messy files quickly—no manual patchwork.
Level up charts: Use bar, line, combo, and sparklines to communicate what matters without clutter.
How to Display Microsoft Excel Skills on Your Resume
5. Employee Relations
Employee Relations covers how an organization communicates, resolves conflicts, and builds a respectful, productive workplace. It’s the daily fabric of culture.
Why It's Important
Healthy relationships reduce turnover, improve collaboration, and cut down on grievances. People stay where they feel heard and treated fairly.
How to Improve Employee Relations Skills
Open up communication: Hold regular touchpoints, share updates early, and close the loop on concerns.
Recognize contributions: Celebrate wins, big and small. Public praise plus meaningful rewards fuels momentum.
Invest in growth: Offer learning paths, cross-training, and clear progression. Development is retention.
Support well-being: Promote wellness benefits, EAP resources, and balanced workloads. Burnout is costly.
Act on feedback: Use pulse checks and listening sessions—then actually fix things. Credibility hinges on follow-through.
How to Display Employee Relations Skills on Your Resume
6. Benefits Administration
Benefits Administration manages health plans, retirement programs, leave, and perks—plus compliance and employee support across all of it.
Why It's Important
Clear, well-run benefits attract talent and keep people satisfied. Compliance with rules like ERISA, ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, and FMLA protects the organization.
How to Improve Benefits Administration Skills
Automate enrollment and changes: Use benefits platforms to handle elections, life events, and carrier feeds accurately.
Track regulations: Monitor federal, state, and local updates. Partner with brokers or counsel for complex changes.
Clarify communications: Provide plain-language guides and deadlines. Confusion drops, utilization rises.
Gather feedback: Survey employees on value and pain points; adjust offerings where it counts.
Keep learning: Pursue ongoing benefits and HR compliance training to stay ahead of the curve.
How to Display Benefits Administration Skills on Your Resume
7. Compliance Monitoring
Compliance Monitoring means checking that HR policies and practices follow all relevant laws, regulations, and internal standards—continuously, not just during audits.
Why It's Important
It reduces legal risk, avoids penalties, and upholds the organization’s reputation. A missed requirement today becomes a costly issue tomorrow.
How to Improve Compliance Monitoring Skills
Educate everyone: Offer role-specific training and refreshers. Compliance is a team sport.
Use compliance software: Track deadlines, training, attestations, and policy updates with a centralized system.
Audit regularly: Schedule self-audits against federal, state, and local rules; document fixes with clear owners and timelines.
Update policies fast: When laws change, revise documents and notify staff. Version control matters.
Encourage reporting: Provide an anonymous channel and protect reporters from retaliation.
Improve continuously: Review incidents and near-misses, then refine controls and training to close gaps.
How to Display Compliance Monitoring Skills on Your Resume
8. Recruitment Coordination
Recruitment Coordination handles the logistics of hiring—scheduling interviews, updating candidates, prepping materials, and keeping processes on track.
Why It's Important
It creates a smooth experience for candidates and hiring teams, prevents bottlenecks, and keeps decisions moving. Good coordination shortens time-to-hire.
How to Improve Recruitment Coordination Skills
Standardize messaging: Use templates for confirmations, rejections, and follow-ups to stay fast and consistent.
Automate scheduling: Adopt scheduling tools that let candidates pick times, cut email ping-pong, and reduce no-shows.
Lean on your ATS: Centralize notes, statuses, and scorecards. One source of truth prevents confusion.
Refine job postings: Write inclusive, clear descriptions and requirements. Better inputs, better applicants.
Mind the candidate journey: Share timelines, give timely updates, and explain next steps. Respect signals quality.
Watch the data: Track response times, interview-to-offer ratios, and experience ratings. Tune where it lags.
How to Display Recruitment Coordination Skills on Your Resume
9. SAP SuccessFactors
SAP SuccessFactors is a cloud HR suite covering employee data, performance, recruiting, learning, payroll integrations, and analytics—built for scale.
Why It's Important
It streamlines routine HR work, improves data visibility, and supports consistent processes across teams and locations.
How to Improve SAP SuccessFactors Skills
Know the core: Get comfortable with Employee Central, Performance & Goals, and Learning. These modules power daily value.
Use analytics: Build reports and dashboards to track headcount, turnover, and compliance metrics that leaders actually use.
Automate and integrate: Connect to payroll, time, and identity systems; automate approvals and notifications to curb manual tasks.
Keep learning: Take official trainings, read release notes, and participate in user communities to stay current.
Elevate employee experience: Collect feedback, personalize learning, and simplify self-service to reduce tickets.
Adopt best practices: Use standard processes and configuration where possible—fewer customizations, smoother upgrades.
Tune performance cycles: Streamline goal setting, calibrations, and reviews so managers actually complete them on time.
How to Display SAP SuccessFactors Skills on Your Resume
10. Workday HCM
Workday HCM is a cloud platform that centralizes HR processes—recruiting, payroll, talent, time, and benefits—so data and workflows live in one place.
Why It's Important
It enhances decision-making through analytics, reduces manual effort, and gives employees clean self-service options. Less swivel-chairing, more doing.
How to Improve Workday HCM Skills
Build custom reports: Tailor reports and dashboards for HR, finance, and leaders. Relevant insights win attention.
Dive into learning: Use Workday Learning and community resources to pick up tips, updates, and smarter ways of working.
Automate workflows: Configure business processes, alerts, and approvals to remove manual checkpoints where safe.
Gather feedback: Use surveys and engagement tools to learn what employees need—and refine services accordingly.
Stay updated: Review release notes and adopt new features with a lightweight change process.
Harden security: Apply role-based access, segregation of duties, and regular permission reviews.
Promote mobile: Encourage the mobile app for quick approvals, time entry, and profile updates on the go.
How to Display Workday HCM Skills on Your Resume
11. Performance Management
Performance management is a continuous loop—set goals, coach often, measure progress, develop skills, and recognize wins—so people and the business move in sync.
Why It's Important
It aligns effort with strategy, lifts productivity, and boosts engagement. When feedback flows, performance improves.
How to Improve Performance Management Skills
Set SMART goals: Make objectives specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Ambiguity kills momentum.
Give frequent feedback: Swap one big annual review for regular check-ins and quick coaching moments.
Develop people: Offer training, mentoring, and stretch assignments linked to career paths.
Use technology: Leverage tools for goals, feedback, and calibrations to keep cycles timely and fair.
Recognize often: Pair public praise with meaningful rewards to reinforce the right behaviors.
Encourage self-reviews: Have employees reflect on progress and propose goals—ownership matters.
Hold regular reviews: Discuss outcomes, blockers, and next steps. Document agreements and follow through.
How to Display Performance Management Skills on Your Resume
12. ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now is a cloud platform for payroll, HR, time, talent, and benefits—bringing key HR operations into one system of record.
Why It's Important
It automates payroll and benefits, centralizes employee data, and supports compliance, improving accuracy while saving hours.
How to Improve ADP Workforce Now Skills
Invest in training: Take ADP courses to understand features deeply—reports, workflows, security, and more.
Use community resources: Learn tips, troubleshoot, and share best practices with other users.
Streamline data and reports: Build scheduled reports and dashboards with DataCloud and reduce manual exports.
Set role-based access: Align permissions to job duties and review them regularly for security and efficiency.
Adopt new features: Monitor release notes and enable enhancements that cut steps or add visibility.
How to Display ADP Workforce Now Skills on Your Resume
