HR Assistant Resume Example
Follow our simple, step by step guide to writing a new HR Assistant resume and get more job interviews. Strapped for time? Leet Resumes offers personalized resume writing services free of charge!
Marc Cenedella
Marc Cenedella is a nationally recognized thought leader on careers, resume writing, job search, career management and recruiting, Marc is frequently sought out by national media organizations for his expert commentary on employment, resumes, the job search and the job market.
How to write a great HR Assistant resume
You’re the bridge between employee and employer.
Sure, a lot of your work is administrative and clerical, but your position is far more influential than most assume.
From the early stages of recruitment and onboarding to processing pay stubs and administering benefits, you connect your colleagues with everything they need.
By assisting with hiring decisions, or arranging learning seminars, you help shape the very culture and makeup of your company.
Not to mention how quickly the HR department would fall into disarray without your organizational skills and eye for detail.
Your HR skills may be unimpeachable, but perhaps you’re less confident when it comes to writing a new resume.
If you’ve been procrastinating putting together a new HR Assistant resume, read through our handy step by step guide below. You’ll learn the ins and outs of writing an eye catching HR Assistant resume that will help you land more job interviews.
Looking for more help? Leet Resumes offers personalized resume writing services - for free! (tips appreciated!)
Why you need a new HR Assistant resume
Your chosen career path affords you a unique perspective on resume writing.
You’ve seen your fair share of awful resumes, great resumes, and everything in between.
Still, that doesn’t make it any easier when it comes time to write your own.
Sitting down to write a new HR Assistant resume can feel like a chore, but it doesn’t have to be.
Think back for a moment on some of the absolute worst resumes you’ve ever encountered. Chances are they were a mess, either visually, structurally, or grammatically.
The hallmark of a great resume is a clean, clear, and easy to understand format.
While maintaining and updating personnel records, it’s important to compile and store all of the data in a simple and easily retrievable manner.
Similarly, your new HR Assistant resume should convey all of the information recruiters need to know about you in the most efficient manner possible.
Your skills and experience, plus our resume format, will equal more job interviews.
How to format your HR Assistant resume
Nothing kills an applicant’s chances faster than a resume that’s a chore to read. Keep your new resume crisp and clean with this basic structure:
- Name + Contact
- Professional Headline
- Professional Summary
- Work Experience
- Education
- Keywords
Throughout the writing process, always remember that your resume is a commercial for your career and expertise first and foremost. Standing out among the applicant pack is key to garnering interest from recruiters and hiring managers.
This format may be simple, but that’s the point. This minimal approach eliminates the unneeded elements seen in countless resumes and allows your skills and accomplishments to speak for themselves.
Of course, there’s more to this resume format than meets the eye. Next, we’ll break down our approach to resume writing section by section.
Some resume housekeeping
Before moving on, let’s take a quick breather and go over some general tips to keep in mind while writing your HR Assistant resume.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it: Always use a classic font like Times New Roman or Arial. On a related note, avoid adding extra colors, columns, or text boxes.
Recruiters want to know about your unique HR skills and accomplishments, not how well you can decorate a piece of paper. Unnecessary visual additions like the examples cited above only serve to confuse both human and AI readers.
It’s a distinctly modern problem, but you should know that in many cases your resume will be browsed by an ATS software program before it ever reaches a living breathing human. If the program can’t make heads or tails of your resume due to a wacky or unconventional layout you’ll automatically be rejected.
Finally, no paragraphs. No one reads paragraphs on resumes. Brevity is always best!
Name + Contact
Write down your full name at the very top of the page, displayed in a slightly larger size than the rest of the document.
Under your name place your contact information: Email address and phone number. Please keep all of this totally professional. In other words, no silly hobby-related, or family email addresses.
Social media profiles are unnecessary, but you can add your LinkedIn if you are very active on that platform.
Professional Headline
This short introductory headline will set the tone for the rest of your HR Assistant resume by summing up your career so far using just three to five words. We recommend starting with a positive adjective, then touching on your current title and experience level.
Don’t be afraid to get creative, but remember your main goal in this section is to grab the reader’s attention.
Here are some examples: “Detail-oriented Junior HR Assistant” or “Highly Organized HR Assistant”
Professional Summary
Every career has peaks and valleys, the purpose of the professional summary section is to highlight your career’s peaks. This section, if filled out properly, is key to landing callbacks. Across two to four lines, you’ll be describing the absolute best skills you have to offer, your professional plans for the future, and your biggest prior accomplishments.
Here’s what we mean:
Line one: Write down a few job titles you want to accept as your next position. Importantly, these don’t have to be jobs you’ve already held. You’re telling readers that you believe you’re ready to succeed in these positions. For example: “Senior HR Assistant,” “Human Resources Associate,” or “Retail HR Assistant”.
Line two: List some of your most advantageous HR skills. What makes you a cut above other candidates? Common skills seen on HR resumes include recruitment, training and development, benefits and compensation, and time management.
Line three: This line is optional. If you have enough experience, use this space to list some of your biggest professional achievements and accomplishments.
Line four: Also optional, this line can be used to display any awards or promotions you’ve earned during your career in HR.
Starting to get resume fatigue? We’re always available to step in and take over.
Leet Resumes can write you a fantastic, personalized HR Assistant resume for free.
But we’ll happily accept tips! Learn more.
Work Experience
This section will make up a major portion of your resume, and for good reason. Here is where you’ll show you’re qualified to succeed in a new role.
The work experience area of a resume may seem self-explanatory, but this portion is deceptively tricky. That’s why we’re going to give it some extra attention.
To start, this section should be constructed in reverse chronological order. That means your last or most recent job should be at the top, followed by your second most recent position, and so on.
Under each prior position listed, supply a handful of bullet points describing your time spent at each company. Always include accurate dates of employment as well. If you don't, recruiters will think you have something to hide.
This next recommendation is super important. Don’t fall into the same trap as so many other resume writers! Never, we repeat never, simply recite back your expected job duties and responsibilities.
Here’s what to do instead:
Focus on your finest moments
Every single bullet point in your work experience section should cover some type of accomplishment, achievement, or big win.
Hiring managers want to know if you’ll succeed in the job they’re looking to fill. Showing off your prior successes tells readers you’re primed and ready to continue excelling in a new role.
Numbers, numbers, numbers
A success supported by a number or statistic is that much more compelling and complete. Use as many numbers as you can while detailing your achievements.
“Improved employee retention 21%” is a more complete and compelling statement than just writing “Increased talent retention”.
A helpful tip
Here’s an easy way to bring all of this advice together. Start each bullet point with an action verb (generated, boosted, etc), add an achievement, and cap the sentence off with a number.
“Coordinated employee learning seminars, boosting company morale 23%.”
Education
You’re almost done! In this section write down your educational background, meaning all degrees earned and school attended. Only include completed degrees.
This area can also feature relevant certifications or accreditations.
Keywords
The final part of your resume is for any additional hard skills, soft skills, or awards you haven’t mentioned yet.
Here are some examples:
- Workday
- Pre-employment screening
- Oracle
- Payroll / wages / salary
- Data entry
You did it! You just took a major step toward landing your dream HR Assistant job.
I need someone else to write my resume
If you’re still having trouble finding the right words, why not hire Leet Resumes to write your HR Assistant resume for you?
We won’t charge a dime, but we do accept tips.
