HR Generalist
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Home Resume Examples Human Resources (HR) Resume
| By Corissa Peterson | Reviewed by Conrad Benz
Need help writing your human resources resume? Check out our resume sample and four insider HR resume writing tips for help. Also make sure to write an HR cover letter to pair with your resume to give yourself the best chance of success.
Trying to perfect your HR Generalist resume? We've got you covered with our downloadable resume, cover letter, and writing tips.
Applying for your first human resources job? Our HR coordinator resume example and HR-specific writing tips will help you make a standout resume that shows hiring managers you're the one for the job.
Even if you’re applying for an entry-level HR position, you need a resume that highlights your top skills and relevant experience to get noticed by hiring managers. Here’s an entry-level HR resume sample and a skills list to help you make an application that’s impossible to ignore.
As an HR professional, you know that writing a standout resume is key to your job-hunting success. Here's an HR business partner resume sample you can get writing ideas from, as well as a list of skills that hiring managers will look for in your job application.
Even if you’re applying for an entry-level HR position, you need a resume that highlights your top skills and relevant experience to get noticed by hiring managers. Here’s an entry-level HR resume sample and a skills list to help you make an application that’s impossible to ignore.
To help you write your project manager resume, here’s a template with proper resume formatting you can copy and paste:
Human Resources (HR) Resume Example
FIRST AND LAST NAME
Email: your.email@gmail.com
Phone: (123) 456-7891
Address: Street, City, State
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/yourprofile
Resume Summary
Personable and dedicated Human Resources Generalist with 8+ years of experience in benefits management and administration, as well as staff recruitment and development. At Meadow Labs Inc, increased employee satisfaction rate by 35% and reduced recruitment and benefit costs by 15%. Able to decrease the gap between labor force and upper management to produce a cohesive and productive work environment. Possess a BA in Human Resources Management and a Professional in Human Resources certification.
Professional Experience
Education
Skills & Certifications
As a Human Resource Specialist or Generalist, you’re accustomed to the hiring process — reviewing resumes, interviewing new applicants, and conducting background checks.
What if, instead, you’re the one sending out resumes and getting interviewed? Going through the application process for a human resources job is stressful because you’re held to a higher standard than applicants for other positions.
Because you’ve previously been in charge of the vetting and interview process, hiring managers will expect you to submit a well-written resume and cover letter.
You’ll need a great HR resume to display your experience, skills, qualifications, and achievements to impress the hiring manager. To help you get started, we’ve included a human resources resume sample, along with four insider writing tips below.
With prior experience in human resources, you know that hiring managers are busy and spend very little time reviewing resumes. You’ll need to start your human resources resume with a well-written resume summary or resume objective to grab and divert the hiring manager’s attention from the pile of resumes they’re reviewing.
Resume summaries are typically meant for candidates with previous experience. Make sure in your human resources resume summary to highlight your relevant experience and career achievements, HR-related skills, and any other qualifications you possess.
Here’s an example of a well-written resume summary for a Human Resources Generalist:
Personable and dedicated Human Resources Generalist with 8+ years of experience in benefits management and administration, and staff recruitment and development. At Meadow Labs Inc, increased employee satisfaction rate by 35%, and reduced recruitment and benefit costs by 15%. Able to decrease the gap between labor force and upper management to produce cohesive and productive work environment. Possess a Professional in Human Resources certification.
However, if you’re a fresh college graduate or an in-experienced worker writing an entry-level human resources resume, you’ll want to craft an HR resume objective.
Your resume objective should aim to highlight any relevant experience or education you possess, your skills, and your goal for applying (try to make your goal about aiding the company in achieving their goals).
Here’s an example of a great HR resume objective for a recent college graduate:
Dedicated recent college graduate with a BA in Human Resource Management. Detail-oriented student, achieving a 3.8 GPA and honors thesis in organizational psychology in the workforce. Seeking to leverage academic knowledge in common HR customs and practices to help achieve company goals and fill a Human Resources Specialist position at Johnson & Johnson.
Human resource departments plan, organize, coordinate, and implement administrative functions across an organization. HR is also in charge of recruiting, selecting, hiring, onboarding, and training new employees.
Due to human resources dealing with many of the day-to-day administrative tasks of an organization, quantifying your work experience with hard numbers and percentages is essential if you want to impress the hiring manager.
Using hard numbers and percentages when including your accomplishments gives the hiring manager a better understanding of your work performance and how you contributed to your company.
Here are three bullet point examples of quantified human resources work experience:
Nowadays, a bachelor’s degree is pretty standard, and it’s not uncommon for applicants to possess a master’s degree or higher when applying for most jobs, including human resource positions.
If you only have a bachelor’s degree – don’t worry. Instead, you try to highlight any HR-relevant studies, classes, or projects you have completed to further show your competence and qualifications as an HR Generalist or Specialist.
Here are three examples of great HR-related education to include on your resume:
Make sure to include your HR-related educational achievements in a bullet point underneath your degree or in your resume objective if you’re an inexperienced candidate.
Finally, human resources certifications are another great way to show your competence as an HR Generalist or Specialist.
Here’s a list of the three most common and accepted certificates for human resources:
Besides your relevant work experience, HR certifications establish and prove your knowledge of the industry’s best practices and regulations. Many companies seek HR candidates with at least a PHR, while many prefer them also to have an SPHR certification.
If you have more than one HR certification, it’s best practice to make a dedicated certifications section on your human resources resume. Otherwise, it’s fine to include your certificate as a bullet point in your skills section.
Listing skills on your human resources resume is an effective way to highlight your qualifications that make you a competent and hard-working HR Generalist or Specialist.
HR professionals need to have certain hard skills, such as typing proficiency and computer skills, to get the job done on a daily basis.
However, the skills that are most sought-after in HR change over time, so it’s important to keep your resume up-to-date.
According to HR expert Matt Erhard, these are the currently the most in-demand skills for HR specialists:
Based on what I’m seeing currently from the clients we work with, the most in-demand skills are data analytics, emotional intelligence and empathy, and talent management, including sourcing and recruiting strategies. Experience in leading DEI initiatives is also highly sought-after in 2023.
– Matt Erhard, Managing Partner at recruitment firm Summit Search Group
In the HR industry, most work is done on Human Resource Management Systems (HRIS). HRIS is database software that allows you to manage employee data and payroll more efficiently.
Additionally, since human resource representatives deal with employees every day, they need great soft skills.
Here’s a list of HR hard and soft skills that hiring managers love to see:
Hard Skills
Soft Skills
If you’re having a hard time finding opportunities or you’re not sure where to look, check out our list of the best HR job boards to find niche listings and narrow your competition.
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Corissa Peterson
A dedicated member of the Resume Genius team with a passion for the career space, Corissa is always looking for ways to create useful resources for job seekers, from...
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