The Landscape at the Entry Level

When it comes to hiring entry-level employees for the human resources/retirement and benefits departments, companies will likely want candidates with a background or degrees in business administration, accounting or finance, but other key attributes they seek include people with strong organizational skills who are self-starters.

“The benefits world really has gotten more complex… so that has increased the administrative burden on benefits departments,” says Steve Kapper, head of the national health and welfare benefits practice at management consulting firm Korn Ferry. “There can be a lot of minutiae in benefits, so understanding how to sift through all of that and how to prioritize it [is important].”

Benefits staffers have a lot to juggle, including keeping up with new legislation, managing data, replying to employee needs and other duties. Business-related degrees can go a long way to help entry-level employees succeed, but there are a lot of tasks that an entry-level employee may not learn in class. Recruiters and plan advisers who work with plan sponsors say potential new hires may help themselves stand out by taking coursework related to benefits administration or getting certifications from professional organizations. Along with the hard skills, soft skills still are essential since part of the job includes communicating important benefits to employees and working with third-party administrators.

Educational Training that Helps

There is a definite need for people to work in the retirement and benefits field, but finding an entry-level person who has all the necessary skills right out of college is a challenge for companies, says Jason Waggoner, managing partner at recruitment firm Weaver Partners, which specializes in career placement for retirement services and employee benefits professionals.

“Nobody really goes to college to become a benefits person, unless you’re going to go to college to become an actuary, or a pension actuary specifically,” he says.

There are certain degrees, such as behavioral management that can be an asset, Waggoner says, although usually when hiring for the benefits side of HR, companies look for people with accounting and finance degrees, which are helpful with managing retirement plan investments, he says.

Matthew Eickman, national retirement practice leader at Qualified Plan Advisors, a retirement plan consulting firm, says students who have taken some courses related to retirement plans as part of their business degree are likely to at least get interviews with plan sponsors. But such entry-level jobs are not easy to fill as early-career hires.

“Retirement-plan administration is one of those fields where there’s a significant difference between somebody with zero experience and somebody with even two years of experience,” he says.

Some colleges and universities have human resources specializations that align with the Society of Human Resources Management’s HR curriculum which can expose students to specialized coursework. DeVry University offers a human resource management degree for both undergraduate and graduate students. Paula Offutt, associate professor at DeVry, says the degree program includes classes such as employment law, compensation and benefits and talent management, coursework not typically offered to people earning degrees in fields such as finance.

Korn Ferry’s Kapper says in his experience, a lot of plan sponsors like it if job candidates have designations from places like SHRM and World at Work, or who have passed the Certified Employee Benefits Specialist exam.

“There are a number of individuals in the total-rewards profession, the HR profession, that don’t necessarily have these credentials… but a lot of plan sponsors, from a comfort standpoint, like to see to see these degrees. It shows initiative,” he says.

Technology skills also are becoming a bigger component of the job, Kapper says. New employees do not necessarily need to know a programming language, but having taken classes in data management will help new workers, and being able to use Microsoft Excel is key. Many companies are looking at benefits and wellness as a business strategy, focusing on offerings to help an employee’s financial, physical and dental needs, plus offering benefits that speak to community, social wellbeing, career and purpose, he says. Companies increasingly want to have employees in HR and benefits roles who can collect and interpret analytical data showing the positive business metrics driven by company benefits.

“These organizations are trying to prove the worth of these benefits,” he says.

Soft Skills Still Matter

Eickman says for the entry-level person without any familiarity with retirement plans, getting the job may depend more on that individual’s interview skills, how well they show ambition and curiosity, rather than having attended a particular college or having a specific major.

Curiosity is an important trait, he says, noting that even long-time plan administrators are often learning something new, given how laws change.

“It’s absolutely critical for someone who’s working in plan administration (to have) the ability and the willingness to ask questions, to fact gather, to say at the end of an email, or the end of a phone call, ‘Is there anything else I should know?’” he says.

Waggoner says being a good communicator remains an important skill, as benefits professional need to work with third-party administrators while also managing relationships within their organization. With more jobs being done remotely, it may take extra effort to reach everyone. Being remote also requires employees to work independently and the job is a delicate one. “As a human-resources professional, you’re in the middle. You represent the employer, but also employees. So, it’s a very important role,” he says.

Kapper says of all the skills a benefits professional should have, organizational skills are a must.

“You can have all the communication and interpersonal skills, but if you can’t organize things, you can’t prioritize things. I would say that’s probably key, followed by the interpersonal and then the technical skills,” he says.