Education:
70%
Bachelor's Degree
9%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)
Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialist
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Job Outlook:
Faster than average
Education:
Bachelor's degree
Salary
High:
$117,060.00
Average:
$75,920.00
Hourly
Average:
$36.50
What they do:
Conduct programs of compensation and benefits and job analysis for employer. May specialize in specific areas, such as position classification and pension programs.
On the job, you would:
- Evaluate job positions, determining classification, exempt or non-exempt status, and salary.
- Ensure company compliance with federal and state laws, including reporting requirements.
- Prepare occupational classifications, job descriptions, and salary scales.
Important Qualities
Analytical skills. Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists perform data and cost analyses to evaluate their organization’s policies. They also must be able to interpret the details of contracts and laws.
Business skills. Specialists must understand basic finance and accounting. They help set the wages and benefits packages for new employees.
Communication skills. Specialists need to provide information about compensation and benefits in a way that is understandable to employees at all levels throughout their organization.
Critical-thinking skills. Specialists must be able to evaluate job positions, salary scales, promotion practices, and other compensation and benefits policies.
Personality
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Characteristics of this Career |
|---|---|---|---|
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95% | Integrity - Job requires being honest and ethical. | |
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94% | Attention to Detail - Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks. | |
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91% | Analytical Thinking - Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems. | |
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89% | Dependability - Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations. | |
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83% | Adaptability/Flexibility - Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace. | |
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83% | Initiative - Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges. | |
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82% | Cooperation - Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude. | |
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81% | Self-Control - Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations. | |
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79% | Achievement/Effort - Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks. | |
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77% | Persistence - Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles. | |
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75% | Stress Tolerance - Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations. | |
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75% | Independence - Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done. | |
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72% | Leadership - Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction. | |
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69% | Concern for Others - Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job. | |
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68% | Innovation - Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Strengths |
|---|---|---|---|
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89% | Enterprising - Work involves managing, negotiating, marketing, or selling, typically in a business setting, or leading or advising people in political and legal situations. Enterprising occupations are often associated with business initiatives, sales, marketing/advertising, finance, management/administration, professional advising, public speaking, politics, or law. | |
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89% | Conventional - Work involves following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting. Conventional occupations are often associated with office work, accounting, mathematics/statistics, information technology, finance, or human resources. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Values of the Work Environment |
|---|---|---|---|
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72% | Relationships - Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service. | |
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67% | Support - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical. | |
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61% | Achievement - Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement. | |
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61% | Recognition - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer advancement, potential for leadership, and are often considered prestigious. Corresponding needs are Advancement, Authority, Recognition and Social Status. |
Aptitude
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Abilities | Cognitive, Physical, Personality |
|---|---|---|---|
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75% | Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand. | |
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72% | Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. | |
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72% | Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. | |
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69% | Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense. | |
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66% | Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you. |
Job Details
Responsibilities
Analyze jobs using observation, survey, or interview techniques.
Monitor organizational compliance with regulations.
Advise others on human resources topics.
Establish business management methods.
Advise others on human resources topics.
Analyze jobs using observation, survey, or interview techniques.
Maintain personnel records.
Prepare operational reports.
Oversee business processes.
Arrange collective bargaining agreements.
Establish business management methods.
Analyze business or financial data.
Evaluate effectiveness of personnel policies or practices.
Advise others on human resources topics.
Evaluate effectiveness of personnel policies or practices.
Inform individuals or organizations of status or findings.
Advise others on human resources topics.
Analyze jobs using observation, survey, or interview techniques.
Verify application data to determine program eligibility.
Analyze jobs using observation, survey, or interview techniques.
Train personnel in organizational or compliance procedures.
Conduct surveys in organizations.
Analyze jobs using observation, survey, or interview techniques.
Communicate with government agencies.
Prepare research reports.
Communicate with government agencies.
Market products, services, or events.
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Attributes & Percentage of Time Spent |
|---|---|---|---|
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100% | Electronic Mail - How often do you use electronic mail in this job? | |
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94% | Spend Time Sitting - How much does this job require sitting? | |
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94% | Telephone - How often do you have telephone conversations in this job? | |
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89% | Structured versus Unstructured Work - To what extent is this job structured for the worker, rather than allowing the worker to determine tasks, priorities, and goals? | |
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88% | Contact With Others - How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it? | |
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88% | Importance of Being Exact or Accurate - How important is being very exact or highly accurate in performing this job? | |
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86% | Indoors, Environmentally Controlled - How often does this job require working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions? | |
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85% | Face-to-Face Discussions - How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job? | |
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82% | Freedom to Make Decisions - How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer? | |
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78% | Work With Work Group or Team - How important is it to work with others in a group or team in this job? | |
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75% | Importance of Repeating Same Tasks - How important is repeating the same physical activities (e.g., key entry) or mental activities (e.g., checking entries in a ledger) over and over, without stopping, to performing this job? | |
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73% | Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results - What results do your decisions usually have on other people or the image or reputation or financial resources of your employer? | |
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67% | Letters and Memos - How often does the job require written letters and memos? | |
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66% | Time Pressure - How often does this job require the worker to meet strict deadlines? | |
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66% | Frequency of Decision Making - How frequently is the worker required to make decisions that affect other people, the financial resources, and/or the image and reputation of the organization? | |
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77% | Duration of Typical Work Week - Number of hours typically worked in one week. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Tasks & Values |
|---|---|---|---|
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89% | Analyzing Data or Information - Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts. | |
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89% | Getting Information - Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources. | |
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88% | Working with Computers - Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information. | |
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88% | Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates - Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person. | |
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86% | Making Decisions and Solving Problems - Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems. | |
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82% | Processing Information - Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data. | |
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82% | Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work - Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work. | |
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79% | Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships - Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time. | |
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78% | Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards - Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards. | |
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78% | Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge - Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job. | |
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72% | Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others - Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used. | |
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70% | Providing Consultation and Advice to Others - Providing guidance and expert advice to management or other groups on technical, systems-, or process-related topics. | |
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69% | Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events - Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events. |
What Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists Do
Specialists research compensation and benefits policies and plans.
Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists oversee wage and nonwage programs that an organization provides to its employees in return for their work. They also evaluate position descriptions to determine details such as classification and salary.
Duties
Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists typically do the following:
- Research compensation and benefits policies and plans
- Use data and cost analyses to compare compensation and benefits plans
- Evaluate position descriptions to determine classification and salary
- Ensure that an organization complies with federal and state laws
- Design and prepare reports summarizing research and analysis
- Present recommendations to other human resources managers
Some specialists perform tasks within all areas of compensation, benefits, and job analysis. Others specialize in a specific area.
Compensation specialists assess an organization’s pay structure for employees. They research compensation trends and review surveys to determine how their organization’s pay compares with that of other organizations in a particular industry and region. They often perform complex data and cost analyses to evaluate compensation policies. They also ensure that the organization’s pay practices comply with federal and state laws and regulations, such as equal pay laws, minimum wage, overtime, and workers’ compensation.
Benefits specialists administer an organization’s compensation programs that are supplemental to wages, including retirement plans, leave policies, wellness programs, and insurance plans. They research, analyze, and then recommend benefits plans, policies, and programs. They frequently monitor government regulations, legislation, and benefits trends to ensure that their programs are current, legal, and competitive. They also work closely with insurance brokers and benefits carriers and manage the enrollment, delivery of benefits, and renewal to the organization’s employees.
Job analysis specialists, also known as position classifiers, evaluate an organization’s positions by writing or assigning job descriptions, determining position classifications, and preparing salary scales. When the organization introduces a new job or reviews existing jobs, specialists must conduct research and make recommendations to managers on the classification, description, status, and salary of those jobs.
Work Environment
Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists held about 98,200 jobs in 2022. The largest employers of compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists were as follows:
| Insurance carriers and related activities | 16% |
| Professional, scientific, and technical services | 13 |
| Management of companies and enterprises | 12 |
| Local government, excluding education and hospitals | 8 |
| Healthcare and social assistance | 7 |
Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists work in nearly every industry.
They typically work in offices.
Work Schedules
Most compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists work full time.
Getting Started
How to Become a Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialist
Specialists typically need previous work experience in human resources occupations.
Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists typically need a bachelor’s degree and related work experience to enter the occupation.
Education
Employers typically require that compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists have a bachelor’s degree. Common fields of degree include business, social science, psychology, and communications. Some employers accept additional related work experience in lieu of a degree.
Regardless of major, students interested in this occupation may find it useful to take courses in subjects such as human resources management, finance, and accounting.
Work Experience in a Related Occupation
Employers typically require that compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists have experience that includes compensation analysis, benefits administration, or general human resources work. Experience in related fields, such as finance, insurance, or business administration, also may be helpful. Some candidates gain this experience through internships. However, others gain experience from working in human resources occupations, such as human resources specialists.
Licenses, Certifications, and Registrations
Although professional certification is not required, it demonstrates expertise. Some employers prefer to hire candidates who have certification, but other employers allow their employees to earn certification after they have begun working. Certification programs often require applicants to have several years of related work experience in order to qualify for the credential.
Many associations for human resources workers offer classes to enhance the skills of their members. Some associations, including the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and WorldatWork, offer certification programs that specialize in compensation and benefits. Others, including the HR Certification Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management, offer general human resources credentials.
Advancement
Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists may advance to become a compensation and benefits manager or a human resources manager. Specialists typically need several years of work experience to advance.
Job Outlook
Employment of compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists is projected to grow 7 percent from 2022 to 2032, faster than the average for all occupations.
About 7,700 openings for compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.
Employment
Organizations will continue to hire benefits specialists to analyze, select, and update their benefits policies. Employee wellness programs are a popular way to reduce healthcare costs. Organizations will need benefits specialists to design, evaluate, and administer these programs.
In addition, organizations must offer competitive compensation packages to attract and keep highly qualified workers. To allocate their compensation funds effectively, many organizations use strategies such as pay-for-performance plans, which may include bonuses, paid leave, or other incentives as part of the compensation package. Organizations will need specialists to analyze these compensation policies and plans and to ensure that they are both competitive and cost effective.
Contacts for More Information
For more information about compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists, including certification, visit
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
For information about human resources careers, visit
Society for Human Resource Management
For more information about human resources certifications, visit
Similar Occupations
This table shows a list of occupations with job duties that are similar to those of compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists.
| Occupation | Job Duties | Entry-Level Education | Median Annual Pay, May 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Purchasing Managers, Buyers, and Purchasing Agents |
Buyers and purchasing agents buy products and services for organizations. Purchasing managers oversee the work of buyers and purchasing agents. |
Bachelor's degree | $75,120 |
|
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Bachelor's degree | $131,280 |
|
Human Resources Managers |
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Bachelor's degree | $130,000 |
|
Human Resources Specialists |
Human resources specialists recruit, screen, and interview job applicants and place newly hired workers in jobs. They also may handle compensation and benefits, training, and employee relations. |
Bachelor's degree | $64,240 |
|
Insurance Sales Agents |
Insurance sales agents contact potential customers and sell one or more types of insurance. |
High school diploma or equivalent | $57,860 |
|
Training and Development Managers |
Training and development managers plan, coordinate, and direct skills- and knowledge-enhancement programs for an organization’s staff. |
Bachelor's degree | $120,000 |
|
Training and Development Specialists |
Training and development specialists plan and administer programs that improve the skills and knowledge of their employees. |
Bachelor's degree | $63,080 |
|
Labor Relations Specialists |
Labor relations specialists interpret and administer labor contracts. |
Bachelor's degree | $82,010 |