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How to Write an HR Generalist Resume That Gets Noticed

Written by 糖心vlog官网观看 Staff 鈥 Updated on

When looking for work in HR, first learn the steps to writing an HR generalist resume that helps increase your chances of getting an interview.

[Featured Image] During a job interview, the interviewer reads a potential employee's HR generalist resume.

Key takeaways

An HR generalist manages key human resources functions, so your resume should highlight HR-specific skills, experience, education, and certifications.

  • Generally, a reverse chronological order works well for an HR generalist resume, allowing you to show off your most recent experience first.

  • Your HR generalist resume should showcase any HR-specific skills, such as payroll management, employee engagement, compliance, employment relations management, and recruiting.

  • You can write an impactful HR resume by composing an engaging and insightful summary statement or objective and sharing detailed descriptions of relevant work experience and skills.

Discover effective strategies for developing an HR generalist resume, and explore examples to help guide your resume writing. If you鈥檙e ready to build your HR skills, consider enrolling in the HRCI Human Resource Associate Professional Certificate. You鈥檒l have the chance to learn how to recruit and retain talent and oversee employee relations in as little as five months. Upon completion, you鈥檒l earn a career credential that you can showcase on your resume.

What does an HR generalist do?

An HR generalist, sometimes called an HR associate, typically works in various functions. These may include day-to-day management of an HR department, hiring staff; managing pay, benefits, and employment law; ensuring company regulations and policies are met; and performing general HR administration work. Make your experience clear by including skills, experience, and education relevant to an HR generalist role.聽

HR generalist skills

For hiring managers to come across your HR generalist resume, it's helpful to have relevant skills listed so that the applicant tracking system (ATS) identifies your resume. Examples of in-demand skills recruiters are currently looking for include:

Read more: What Is Human Resources (HR)? Description, Duties, and Jobs

HR generalist resume template

When writing your resume, start by thinking about what you have to include. This will help determine how to format your resume. Standard sections include contact details, your professional experience, education, and skills, but you may want to include additional sections, such as certifications, awards, and volunteer experience.聽

Your experience level determines how to order the sections. Generally, a reverse chronological order works well for an HR generalist resume, allowing you to show off your most recent experience first. The format is logical, easy to read, and displays progression. If you have less experience or are a recent graduate, you may prefer a resume layout that isn鈥檛 so focused on professional experience, opting for a functional format that puts more emphasis on skills.聽

Step 1: Add your contact details.聽

Include your personal details at the top of your resume. This ensures recruiters can contact you once they've read your resume. Generally, this section includes your name (also used as the title for your resume), phone number, email address, and sometimes your address or city, along with links to relevant portfolios and your LinkedIn profile. Only include these if they are relevant and add value.聽

Step 2: Write a summary statement or objective.

A summary statement helps make the most of the time recruiters spend looking at your resume. A resume summary should clearly and concisely explain who you are; highlight your most relevant skills, experience, and strengths; and briefly describe what you want to do. An effective summary includes evidence and results backed by numbers. Consider including your years of experience, any accolades you鈥檝e received, and any solid results you can include, such as a percentage increase in employee engagement. Keep it short, positive, and impactful, and write in a style that is professional yet gives insight into your unique personality traits. Your summary should ideally be a few sentences, not usually more than four, but this guidance varies across sources.聽

If you are a new graduate without much experience, an objective might be more appropriate than a summary. An objective is a short statement detailing the type of role you are looking for, why you are a good option, and your future ambitions. Remember to show how you will add value and highlight any relevant achievements to date.聽

Example resume summary

HR professional with 5+ years of experience working in a range of HR teams covering various responsibilities, including managing payroll, recruiting and training staff, and writing HR policies. Educated to master鈥檚 degree level with an MBA and certifications in HR procedures.聽

Step 3: Highlight your skills.

A good resume includes a dedicated skills section, demonstrating what you can offer while also helping optimize your resume with keywords used by applicant tracking systems (ATS). An ATS is any screening software used by recruiters to sift through applications. Including keywords in your skills section makes your resume more ATS-compliant.聽

Your HR generalist resume skills section should ideally include a mix of workplace and technical skills, either as a list or subheadings, with examples to demonstrate each skill, depending on the resume format you choose. Select them based on what the job listing asks for so you can tailor your resume to meet the recruiter's criteria. Remember that while a skills section is important, highlighting your skills in other sections is equally valuable.聽

Along with the in-demand skills mentioned above, examples of additional relevant skills for an HR generalist role include:

  • Training

  • Recruitment strategies

  • Technology proficiency

  • Conflict resolution

  • Problem-solving

  • Employment law

Step 4: Include your work experience.聽

Your professional experience is what recruiters really want to see, which is why it works well near the top and in reverse chronological order. This section helps make clear to recruiters whether you have the skills and experience for the position.聽

It is key to making yourself stand out from other applicants with relevant experience. You do this by focusing on your accomplishments rather than listing responsibilities, which will be equal to someone in a similar role.聽

Describe your contributions with action verbs, such as 鈥渟pearheaded,鈥 鈥渇ormulated,鈥 鈥渃onsolidated,鈥 and 鈥渄irected.鈥 Use numbers, such as percentages, dollar amounts saved, and staff satisfaction statistics, to describe your achievements.聽

If you don鈥檛 have much paid professional experience, include internships, volunteer work, or even personal projects if they are relevant to work in HR.聽

Here鈥檚 an example of how to lay out your experience section:

Recruitment Solutions, New York, NY

HR Associate

July 2021- July 2024聽

  • Led training and onboarding of new hires for five partnering companies

  • Worked closely with company directors to action diversity hiring policy

  • Actioned payroll for 250 employees

  • Managed interview schedules and feedback requests

Ann Impago, New York, NY

HR Associate

Jan 2020- July 2021

  • Acted as subject lead for the IT department on HR matters

  • Designed job descriptions and advertised for new staff members

  • Interviewed staff and followed up on references

  • Led training for all departments on inclusion and diversity

Step 5: Add your education and certifications.

Depending on your level of experience and whether you are still studying, this section may go above or below your experience section. Each education entry should include the dates of study, name of course, and educational institution. This is where you list your degree and further study and where you can include any certifications relevant to HR. Some roles will ask for specific certifications, so double-check those to ensure you list the ones you earned.

How do I make my HR resume stand out?

Tailor your resume to the HR generalist role by showcasing your knowledge of HR competencies, such as teamwork and collaboration, employee engagement, project management, compliance, and payroll processing.聽 Then, share specific HR achievements in your job description to illustrate success in your current or previous role. Overall, your HR resume should show your measurable impact in previous jobs, which can make you stand out to potential employers.

How to write keywords to satisfy ATS

Keywords play an important role in your resume. Place keywords throughout your resume in the skills, experience, and summary sections. To ensure you are using the right keywords, search through the job description and essential criteria of the role you鈥檙e applying for, pick out the main words used, and then incorporate them into your resume. These could include programs, certifications, technical terms, and skills.聽

How to make an HR generalist resume: Tips

Aside from making sure you have an effective HR generalist resume format and all the appropriate sections, here are several more tips to make your resume the best it can be:

  • Use a plain font in size 11 or 12, such as Arial or Times New Roman. Also, write clear headings, and keep your resume to a single page if possible.

  • Tailor your resume to the role you鈥檙e applying for, carefully matching your skills, experience, credentials, and keywords to the job description.

  • Be positive and enthusiastic. Make clear how much you love what you do and want the job in question.

  • Proofread your resume to make sure it鈥檚 free of mistakes.

HR generalist resume resources

For further help putting together a winning HR generalist resume, explore some of 糖心vlog官网观看鈥檚 resources:

Discover free job-search resources聽

Subscribe to our weekly LinkedIn newsletter, , to stay up to date on career trends and tips. Then, access these resources as you develop your resume and search for a new role:

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Whether you want to develop a new skill, get comfortable with an in-demand technology, or advance your abilities, keep growing with a 糖心vlog官网观看 Plus subscription. You鈥檒l get access to over 10,000 flexible courses.聽

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