NJ Civil Service Navigator

Personnel Assistant Family

Career series with 13 positions across 4 levels

Personnel Assistant groups 13 related titles into a 4-level career ladder.

Entry is typically through Personnel Assistant 4, advancing through the ladder toward Personnel Assistant 1 and, from there, into supervisory roles. Pay across the family spans $60,876 to $134,900, around the 64th percentile of all civil service job families by top pay.

Personnel Assistant is a common next step after Supervisor Personnel Records and Payroll Processing.

13
Positions
4
Career Levels
2
Specializations
Salary Range: $60,876 - $134,900/year

Specializations

(employee Relations) Employee Relations

Positions in This Family

What the Personnel Assistant family covers

Personnel Assistant is a graded series in the New Jersey civil service classification plan, running 13 title codes across 4 levels. The family straddles jurisdictions: 12 state and 1 local, so parts of it are hired by state departments and parts by local civil service employers.

Personnel titles administer the system this site documents: they run the exams, maintain the eligible lists, classify positions and handle the layoff and grievance machinery. That gives them an unusual footprint, since every department needs the function and the Civil Service Commission sets the rules for all of them. Training, affirmative action and equal employment titles sit in the same neighborhood. Local jurisdictions that have adopted Title 11A hire their own versions, which is why several of these families carry local as well as state codes.

The ladder, ordered by pay

Ordered by what they actually pay rather than by the number in the title, the Personnel Assistant rungs look like this. Note that the numbers in these titles do not run in pay order. In this family a lower number sits higher on the ladder, which is a New Jersey convention that catches people out when they read a title list top to bottom.

The distance from the bottom of Personnel Assistant 4 to the top of Personnel Assistant 1 is $74,024, an increase of about 122% over the entry minimum.

What each title does

Each title in the family carries its own published definition. These are the opening lines of each one, which is usually where the difference between two neighboring rungs is actually stated.

  • Senior Personnel Assistant: Under direction, is responsible for a broad range of duties in personnel administration which may include recruitment, program and training activities…
  • Personnel Assistant 4: Under the close supervision of a Personnel Assistant 1 or other supervisory official in a state department, institution, or agency, performs routine personnel work…
  • Personnel Assistant 4, (employee Relations): Under the supervision of a Human Resource Manager or other supervisory officer or manager in a state department agency, or institution, assists…
  • Personnel Assistant 3: Under the limited supervision of a Personnel Assistant 1 or other supervisory official in a state department, institution, or agency, performs moderately difficult…
  • Personnel Assistant 3, (employee Relations): Under the direction of a Human Resource Manager or other supervisory officer in a state department, agency, or institution, functions as the…
  • Personnel Assistant 2: Under the general supervision of a Personnel Assistant 1 or other supervisory official in a state department, institution, or agency, performs personnel work of…
  • Personnel Assistant 2 Employee Relations: Under the direction of a Human Resource Manager or other supervisory officer in a state department, agency, or institution, conducts contractual…
  • Personnel Assistant 1: Under the general direction of a higher level supervisory official in a state department, institution, or agency, supervises a major personnel program area such as…

Showing 8 of 11 published definitions in this family. The full list of titles is below.

What it takes to qualify

Across the 13 titles we have parsed, the education requirements read as a master's degree on 10 of them and a bachelor's degree on 3 of them. Stated experience runs from 1 year at the lowest rung to 3 at the highest, which is the main thing separating one level from the next.

On how the jobs are filled: 13 are competitive, filled from an eligible list after an open competitive or promotional examination.

How the pay is set

The family is split across 2 salary schedules (A-P-R-S and V-W-Y), so two titles that look adjacent can be paid from different tables with different step structures. Bargaining is handled by CWA. Union contracts and rights are collected here.

Where these jobs exist

Because the family mixes jurisdictions, the answer to "who hires this" depends on the specific code. State codes run through the Civil Service Commission's announcement and eligible list process; local codes are hired by the counties, municipalities and authorities that adopted civil service under Title 11A. Check an employer's status before assuming a title is available where you live.

Related titles elsewhere in the plan

These titles sit elsewhere in the classification plan but share vocabulary with Personnel Assistant, which usually means overlapping duties or a related eligible list.

Families next to this one

New Jersey's classification plan links families by shared terminology and by the routes people actually take between them. These sit closest to Personnel Assistant.

Common questions about Personnel Assistant jobs

How many Personnel Assistant titles are there in New Jersey civil service?

The Personnel Assistant family holds 13 title codes arranged across 4 levels. Each code is a separate classification with its own published specification, requirements and salary treatment.

What does a Personnel Assistant earn in New Jersey?

Published salary data for this family runs from $60,876 at the bottom of Personnel Assistant 4 to $134,900 at the top of Personnel Assistant 1. Those are schedule figures. Where the title appears on the state payroll, actual median pay is listed on the page above.

Do you need to take an exam to become a Personnel Assistant?

Yes for most of the family. 13 of the 13 titles are in the competitive division, which means appointment comes from an eligible list built by an open competitive or promotional examination.

What qualifications does a Personnel Assistant need?

The most common education requirement in this family is a master's degree, named on 10 of the 13 titles. Stated experience ranges from 1 to 3 years depending on the rung. Read the individual specification for the exact wording, including any experience substitution.

Is Personnel Assistant 1 higher or lower than Personnel Assistant 3?

In this family the lower number is the more senior title. New Jersey's level numbering does not run in pay order, and reading the titles by number alone will give you the ladder upside down. The list above is sorted by what each title actually pays.