Human Resources Manager Career Assessment

2What is a Human Resources Manager?

A human resources manager owns how an organization treats its people. You run recruiting and hiring. You set and defend the pay structure and manage the benefits. You handle complaints, investigations, and discipline, and you advise managers who are about to do something they should not. You write the policies and the handbook and then you enforce them evenly, which is harder than writing them. You keep the organization inside employment law, which changes, and you are the one who has to say out loud that a decision leadership likes will cost them in court. In a smaller ND organization you do all of this alone.

The Reality: Two honest things. First, this is a promotion job with a degree attached. Most HR managers were an HR generalist, a recruiter, or a benefits or payroll specialist first, usually for five or more years, and most hold a bachelor’s degree. Almost nobody walks in from another field straight into the manager title. Second, and this matters more: this job is not about liking people. It is about being fair to people, including the ones you do not like and the ones who are about to be fired. You will be lied to. You will investigate things you would rather not know about. You will keep confidences that are heavy to carry. The people who last in HR are the ones who can be genuinely kind and completely unmoved at the same time.

Your Responsibilities:

• Run recruiting, hiring, and onboarding
• Set and defend the pay structure and manage the benefits plans
• Investigate complaints fairly and document everything
• Advise and coach managers before they make an expensive mistake
• Handle discipline and terminations, and keep them legally clean
• Write and enforce the policies and the employee handbook
• Keep the organization inside changing employment law
• Plan training and development for staff and supervisors

You are the person who has to be fair when nobody else can be.

3A Day in the Life

8:00 AM — Review three applications and set up two interviews for a hard-to-fill job.

9:00 AM — A supervisor wants to fire someone today. Slow it down and ask what is documented.

10:30 AM — Interview a candidate. Sell the job honestly, including the parts that are hard.

12:00 PM — Lunch at your desk while you read an update to an employment rule.

12:45 PM — Meet an employee about a complaint. Listen, take notes, promise only what you can deliver.

2:00 PM — Work the benefits renewal with the broker. Costs are up again.

3:30 PM — Coach a new supervisor on how to give hard feedback without making it personal.

4:45 PM — Write up the investigation notes while they are still exact.

Conversation after conversation, and most of them matter to somebody’s life.

4Training in North Dakota

A bachelor’s degree plus five or more years in HR, then the manager title. There is no license. What employers want is a four-year degree and real HR experience, and increasingly a SHRM or HRCI certification on top. North Dakota is well set up for this: UND offers a full Human Resource Management B.B.A. on campus or online, and several other ND schools have HR concentrations inside a business degree.

Training Pathways:

• HR degree, then up through HR (4 years plus 5 years): A human resource management degree, then HR assistant or recruiter, then HR generalist, then HR manager. The generalist step is the important one — it is where you touch hiring, pay, benefits, and discipline all at once, which is exactly what the manager job requires.
• Move over from another field, then certify (3 to 6 years): Office managers, payroll clerks, supervisors, and trainers move into HR all the time. Get an HR generalist or specialist job first, then add the SHRM-CP, which SHRM says requires no degree and no HR title to sit for. That combination — real HR work plus the certification — is what makes you a credible candidate for the manager job.
• Business degree with an HR concentration while you work (2 to 4 years): Several ND schools offer this online. VCSU has a Business Administration major with a Human Resource & Management concentration available online or face to face, and NDSU’s Management major has a Human Resources Management track.

Where to Train in North Dakota:

• University of North Dakota (Grand Forks) — Human Resource Management B.B.A., on campus or online, 120 credits; UND says the program follows Society for Human Resource Management curriculum guidelines and standards, and it is AACSB accredited (und.edu/programs/human-resource-management-bba)
• North Dakota State University (Fargo) — Management B.S. with a Human Resources Management Track; the NDSU catalog lists Compensation Management, Labor-Management Relations, and Understanding and Managing Diversity in Organizations in the track, with Human Resource Management, People Analytics, Negotiations, and Leadership in Organizations in the core (catalog.ndsu.edu/curriculum/undergraduate/management-major)
• Valley City State University (Valley City) — Business Administration B.S., Human Resource & Management concentration: 120 credits total with 21 hours in the concentration, offered online or face to face (catalog.vcsu.edu/undergraduate-catalog/programs/majors/business-administration-human-resources-management-concentration)
• University of Mary (Bismarck) — a graduate certificate in Human Resources Management that can be applied toward either the MBA or the Master of Organizational Leadership, both online (online.umary.edu/academics/business)
• Dickinson State University (Dickinson) — business degrees covering human resources, available fully online, plus an MBA (dickinsonstate.edu/academics/fields-of-study/sobe)
• Minot State University (Minot) — Management B.S. and a Master of Science in Management, plus a graduate certificate in Leadership Studies (minotstateu.edu/business)
• Bismarck State College (Bismarck) — Management AAS and Leadership certificate as an affordable starting point that stacks toward a bachelor’s (catalog.bismarckstate.edu/catalog/degrees/career-technical-education/management)
• ND State College of Science (Wahpeton and Fargo) — Business Management AAS; the Business Technology Management option includes human resource management coursework (catalog.ndscs.edu/business-management)

Before You Start: A high school diploma or GED to start. A bachelor’s degree for most HR manager jobs. Strong writing, because your notes may be read in a legal proceeding. The ability to keep a confidence absolutely. Real comfort with conflict.

Tip: Start with financial aid, scholarships, and any help an employer offers — that is where the money starts. After that, ask a career counselor or Job Service North Dakota whether WIOA or other programs can help with what is left over, like training, tools, work boots, or exam fees. What can be paid for depends on the program and on your own situation, so ask before you sign up rather than after. Registered apprenticeships let you earn a paycheck while you learn — see jobsnd.com/job-seeker/apprenticeships for ND programs.

5Certification & Licensing

No license, but SHRM and HRCI certifications are close to expected at this level. HR is not licensed, but it is heavily certified, and in this field the certification genuinely matters to employers. There are two main bodies: SHRM and HRCI. They are competitors, they are both respected, and the practical difference is that SHRM will let you sit without a degree or HR title while HRCI sets firm experience and education combinations.

The Four Certifications Employers Name:

• SHRM-CP (Certified Professional), SHRM — SHRM says candidates are not required to hold an HR title and do not need a degree or previous HR experience to apply, though it recommends basic working knowledge of HR practices or a degree from an academically aligned program. This is the most accessible real HR credential there is (shrm.org)
• SHRM-SCP (Senior Certified Professional), SHRM — requires either at least three years performing strategic-level HR duties, or holding the SHRM-CP for three or more years while working in or moving into a strategic role. SHRM asks for at least 1,000 hours per calendar year of strategic HR work, and no degree is required. Part-time and consulting work count if they hit the hours (shrm.org)
• SHRM exam fees — SHRM publishes an early bird rate of $350 for members and $450 for non-members, and a standard rate of $399 for members and $499 for non-members, for both the SHRM-CP and the SHRM-SCP. Early bird includes a $50 nonrefundable application fee; standard adds a $49 deadline fee. Military and student discounts exist (shrm.org/credentials/certification/exam-options-fees)
• PHR (Professional in Human Resources), HRCI — one year of professional-level HR experience plus a master’s or higher; or two years plus a bachelor’s; or four years of professional-level HR experience with no degree requirement listed. HRCI publishes a $395 exam fee plus a $100 application fee, and says no refunds are given once an application is approved (hrci.org)
• SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resources), HRCI — four years of professional-level HR experience plus a master’s or higher; or five years plus a bachelor’s; or seven years of professional-level HR experience. HRCI publishes a $495 exam fee plus the $100 application fee (hrci.org)

The Exams: Both SHRM exams and both HRCI exams are proctored multiple-choice exams. SHRM’s exams include situational judgment questions — they show you a workplace situation and ask what you would do — which is why HR experience helps even though SHRM does not require it.

Cost: SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP: $350 member or $450 non-member at the early bird rate, $399 member or $499 non-member standard. PHR: $395 exam plus $100 application. SPHR: $495 exam plus $100 application. Study materials are extra and are not included in any of those figures. Many ND employers pay for one of these, so ask before you register.

Keeping It Current: Both bodies require recertification with continuing education credits on a published cycle. Ask SHRM or HRCI directly for the current recertification window and fee rather than relying on a summary, because these change.

6Salary & Job Outlook

North Dakota Human Resources Manager Pay (May 2025):

• Starting out (bottom 10–25%): $43.26–$52.89/hour ($89,990–$110,020/year)
• Middle (median — half earn more, half earn less): $66.85/hour ($139,050/year)
• Experienced (top 25–10%): $79.22–$107.40/hour ($164,770–$223,390/year)

What that means: The middle North Dakota human resources manager earns about $139,050 a year, against a national middle of about $149,280 — a gap of about $10,200, which is the smallest gap to the country of any job in this series. At the bottom, North Dakota actually pays slightly better than the nation: the ND 10th percentile of about $89,990 edges the national $88,200. The gap opens at the top, where the ND 75th percentile of about $164,770 trails the national $199,290 and the ND 90th of about $223,390 trails the national $267,810. In plain terms: an HR manager job in North Dakota pays close to a national salary, and the money you would give up by staying here is money you would only have earned at a very large company in a big city. This is the second-highest paying job in this series after financial manager.

Jobs in North Dakota: About 270 people do this work in ND today. By 2034, that should be about 290 (about 9% growth). Expect about 20 job openings every year in ND from growth and people retiring or changing jobs. Across the U.S., the change is about 5% growth — faster than average.

Outlook: Mixed, and you need both halves. The growth rate is good: O*NET shows North Dakota going from about 270 HR managers in 2024 to about 290 in 2034, roughly 9% growth, nearly double the national 5%. The raw number is small: about 20 openings a year in the entire state. That is the honest headline. Twenty openings a year statewide means this title usually comes to you by promotion inside an organization you already work for, or it means being willing to move to Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks, or Minot where the larger employers are. If HR is what you want but you cannot wait for 1 of 20, the realistic route is to take an HR generalist or specialist job first — those are more numerous and are the normal step before this one anyway — or look at general and operations management, which has about 1,050 ND openings a year and, in a smaller ND company, often includes the HR duties on this page.

Who Hires in ND: Health care systems, school districts and colleges, state and local government, banks and credit unions, manufacturers, energy and oil field companies, large retail and hospitality employers, and the bigger ND nonprofits. Small employers usually buy HR from an outside firm rather than hiring a manager.

Work Setting: An office, indoors, regular weekday hours, with a door that closes because much of what you hear cannot be overheard. Busy stretches at benefits open enrollment, during hiring pushes, and whenever an investigation lands. Some of the work can be done from home, but the hardest conversations should not be.

Physical Demands: Low. Sitting, computer work, and a great deal of talking. What this job takes out of you is emotional, not physical. You carry other people’s bad news and you cannot put it down at the door, and burnout in HR is real and comes from exactly that.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, North Dakota, May 2025 (SOC 11-3121); North Dakota and U.S. long-term employment projections 2024–2034, via O*NET OnLine. Numbers are rounded.

7Where This Leads

Path 1: HR Assistant or Recruiter — Learn how hiring and records actually work.

Path 2: HR Generalist — Touch hiring, pay, benefits, and discipline all at once. This is the key step.

Path 3: HR Specialist — Go deep in benefits, compensation, or employee relations.

Path 4: Human Resources Manager — Own the people function for an organization.

Path 5: HR Director — Set people strategy for a larger employer.

Path 6: Chief Human Resources Officer — Sit at the top table.

8The Real Talk

What's Great:

• The smallest pay gap to the country in this series — about $139,050 ND against $149,280 nationally
• The ND bottom tenth actually pays a little more than the national bottom tenth
• The SHRM-CP needs no degree and no HR title to sit for, so the first credential is genuinely open
• ND is growing this job at nearly double the national rate
• Your work changes whether people are treated fairly, and you can see it
• Indoor, weekday, low physical demand, and the skills move to any industry

What's Hard:

• Only about 20 openings a year in the entire state
• You carry confidential bad news and you cannot talk about it with anyone
• You have to tell senior people no, and mean it, and keep working with them afterward
• You will be lied to during investigations, by people on both sides
• Employment law keeps changing and being wrong about it is expensive
• Most HR manager jobs want a bachelor’s degree plus five or more years in HR first

Be Honest: Can you be kind and unmoved at the same time? Can you hold a confidence that is heavy, for years, without telling anyone? Can you tell an executive that what they want to do is a legal problem, and hold that line? And can you accept that there are about 20 of these openings a year in North Dakota, meaning your realistic first move is an HR generalist job, not this one?

9Part 1: What Attracts You?

10Part 2: Are You Ready?

11Part 3: Your Next Move

Your Human Resources Manager Assessment Results