How to Get a Job as an Arbitrator in Human Resources

Gina Deveney
Posted by in Human Resources


Many companies have arbitrator jobs within their human resources departments—especially companies that deal with employee unions. Arbitrator jobs aren't all the same, and they aren't all easy to obtain. However, as long as you know the requirements for the position, have the experience needed, and have good interpersonal skills, you shouldn't have trouble getting a job.

According to Nexxt's salary center, if you score a position as an arbitrator, you can earn an average annual salary of $72,384, in line with other human resources consultants. Keep in mind that you'll need a specific set of skills for the role. It will help to have legal experience, as well as experience with mediation and conflict resolution. You should also be comfortable with consulting, as it can be common for human resources arbitrators to work on a contractual basis.

Before you apply for arbitrator jobs in your area, you need to make sure that you're qualified for each position. Some states require arbitrators to have a law degree. If your state doesn't require arbitrators to have a specific law degree, you will at least need a bachelor's degree and be trained in alternative dispute resolution or conflict resolution. Some states also require arbitrators to be state certified.

Even though many companies have arbitrator jobs within their human resources departments, companies don't typically hire numerous arbitrators. This means that you'll probably be competing against numerous applicants for one or two open positions, so your resume needs to stand out. According to a recent article on Firmology.com, it's important to keep your resume short and to the point. Avoid highlighting boring job details that anyone could accomplish, such as answering phones. Instead, your resume should highlight projects you've worked on, major career accomplishments, or other areas pertaining to arbitration where you excelled.

Before your interview, it's important that you do some background research on the company. You should know what the company does and have a general idea of what type of grievances you'll be handling. This way, you can answer interview questions properly. For example, if the company deals with an employee union and needs to fill arbitrator jobs to handle issues between the company and the union, you don't want to spend your entire interview explaining how you helped settle a grievance between an employee and manager. Instead, you want to highlight any experience that you have dealing with an employee union.

In addition to highlighting how your skills will benefit the company, you need to let your personality shine. Companies want to fill arbitrator jobs in their human resources departments with people who are confident and have good interpersonal skills but aren't too overbearing. You want to leave the interviewer with the impression that you're easy to talk to, so make sure you listen intently, focus on the questions asked, and take a minute to think about your answers.

Getting a job isn't always easy—especially when the competition is fierce. However, there are arbitrator jobs in human resources departments out there. As long as you have the experience and education needed, highlight your interpersonal skills, and leave the interviewer knowing that you'll be an asset to the company, it isn't difficult to land the job. To start your job search, you can find human resources consultant jobs on Nexxt, and adjust your location settings to see opportunities near you.

 

(Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

 

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