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42A MOS (Human Resources Specialist): 13 civilian careers O*NET links to it, with pay.

The civilian occupations O*NET's Military Crosswalk relates to Army 42A, each with its BLS median pay and a TryHired career page where we have one.

Updated Nov 4, 2026 · Data: O*NET Military Crosswalk (site updated October 6, 2026), BLS OEWS May 2025
Quick answer

42A is the Army enlisted military occupational specialty Human Resources Specialist. O*NET's Military Crosswalk links it to 13 civilian occupations. Among the civilian ones with a BLS wage, the May 2025 national median ranges from $45,010 (Office Clerks, General) to $149,280 (Human Resources Managers). O*NET gives 8 of them its Bright Outlook designation (occupations expected to grow rapidly, to have many job openings, or that are new and emerging). A crosswalk link is a related occupation, not a guaranteed job or an equivalent license.

Civilian jobs

Civilian occupations related to 42A Human Resources Specialist

In O*NET's order. Pay is the BLS national median annual wage, May 2025. Bright Outlook is O*NET's designation.

Data
Civilian occupations O*NET relates to Army 42A
OccupationO*NET-SOC codeMedian pay (BLS, May 2025)Bright OutlookTryHired guide
Administrative Services Managers11-3012.00$114,130Yes
Facilities Managers11-3013.00$106,660YesFacilities Manager
Human Resources Managers11-3121.00$149,280YesHR Manager
Human Resources Specialists13-1071.00$75,940YesRecruiter
Labor Relations Specialists13-1075.00$95,420
Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists13-1141.00$78,210Yes
Training and Development Specialists13-1151.00$69,280YesTraining Specialist
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers43-1011.00$69,500YesOffice Manager
Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks43-3051.00$58,260
Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping43-4161.00$50,610Human Resources Assistant
Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants43-6011.00$76,590Executive Assistant
Word Processors and Typists43-9022.00$49,280
Office Clerks, General43-9061.00$45,010Yes

The Defense Manpower Data Center's own record for 42A maps it to: Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping.

How to read this

What a crosswalk match means, and what it doesn't

Data

O*NET's Military Crosswalk Search combines several official sources: the Defense Manpower Data Center's crosswalk of military occupation codes, an enhanced analysis commissioned by the U.S. Department of Labor with the Department of Defense under the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, a RAND study of Army knowledge, skills and abilities, and the services' Credentialing Opportunities On-Line (COOL) sites. A listed civilian occupation is one O*NET relates to the military job's training and work. It is not an equivalence, a promise of a job or a statement that you meet the civilian job's requirements: many of these occupations need a state license, a certification or a degree that the military job alone does not provide.

Next steps

Turning 42A experience into a civilian job

Advice

Start with the civilian titles above whose work you already did most of. For each one, check its licensing and certification requirements in your state, then rewrite your service record in that occupation's language: the systems, procedures and results a civilian hiring manager recognizes, not unit names or acronyms.

Disclosure: TryHired makes HIRED, a paid job-search program, so we have a conflict of interest when we mention it. Every list on this page is free to use without buying anything.

FAQ

Questions people ask

What civilian jobs can a 42A get?
O*NET's Military Crosswalk relates 42A Human Resources Specialist to 13 civilian occupations, including Administrative Services Managers, Facilities Managers, Human Resources Managers, Human Resources Specialists. Whether you qualify depends on each job's licensing, certification and experience requirements.
What is the civilian equivalent of 42A?
There is no single equivalent. The Defense Manpower Data Center maps 42A to Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping; O*NET's crosswalk lists 13 related civilian occupations.
How much do civilian jobs related to 42A pay?
BLS national medians for May 2025 run from $45,010 (Office Clerks, General) to $149,280 (Human Resources Managers) across the related occupations with published wages.
Method

How this page is built

The civilian occupations on this page are exactly the ones O*NET OnLine's Military Crosswalk Search returns for the code, in O*NET's order, read on Nov 3, 2026 (O*NET site updated October 6, 2026). Official military titles come from the Defense Manpower Data Center file O*NET distributes. Pay is the BLS national median annual wage for May 2025. Where O*NET lists a specialty that BLS does not survey on its own, the figure is the BLS figure for the broader occupation and is labelled with that occupation's name.

What this page can't tell you
  • Duties, entry requirements and training: this page does not describe them; see your service's official job description.
  • Your fit: a crosswalk relates occupations, not people. Your rank, specialty training, clearances and credentials change which civilian jobs fit.
  • Pay: national medians for civilian workers in each occupation, not offers and not adjusted for your location or experience.
Sources
  1. U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, O*NET OnLine Military Crosswalk Search, read Nov 3, 2026. Military Crosswalk Search by U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
  2. O*NET Resource Center, Military crosswalk data (source: Defense Manpower Data Center).
  3. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 national estimates (public domain).