Resume Template: Human Resources (HR)

That means the human resources coordinator is at the core of the company’s success.

A good human resources coordinator goes beyond scheduling, hiring, and facilitating processes to ensure that overall, every employee feels like they are having an impactful experience at work.

So when you’re applying for a new position as a human resources coordinator, how can you demonstrate these hard-to-define qualities and your passion for the role? That’s where a well-written resume comes in.

A well-written human resources resume will demonstrate your skills in a way that shows you’re the perfect candidate, ultimately getting you through the door for an interview with the hiring team.

Here’s what you need to know before you get started.

Summary

1. Resume Template
2. Formatting
3. Writing Your Resume Summary
4. Areas of Expertise
5. Writing Your Work Experience
6. Writing Your Education Section
7. Additional Sections
8. Resume Points to Remember
9. Resume “Don’ts” to Remember
10. Some Helpful Tools

Let’s begin with a sample human resources resume to demonstrate how all the resume pieces fit together. Then we will break each section down to really drill into how to write the best human resources resume you possibly can.

If you have experience as a Human Resources Coordinator, chances are that you’ve seen your fair share of resumes — and there were probably a lot of bad ones in the mix.

Let’s go over what a good human resources resume looks like.

First of all, go with a clean, straightforward font like Times New Roman or Arial. When in doubt, simple is always better — and the same goes for margins, columns, and spacing.

If you’ve done any hiring in your previous roles, you know that hiring managers don’t have a ton of time to dedicate to each candidate. In fact, the average hiring manager only looks at a resume for six seconds!

Because of this, you need to make sure that your most recent, most relevant information is listed first. You should list information like your work history and degrees in reverse chronological order so that your most impressive details get seen right away.

For the same reasons, avoid big blocks of text. Mix it up with scannable bulleted lists (we’ll explain the best places for lists later on) so if your recruiter doesn’t have a ton of time, they’ll know where to look for quick qualifying information.

As we just mentioned, you only have six seconds to grab the attention of the hiring manager and convince them to keep reading.

A great way to do this is to include a resume summary at the top of the page.

What information goes in a resume summary? This short paragraph, around two or three sentences, should be your “greatest hits”.

Be as specific as possible and only include your skills and work experiences that are relevant to the position you are applying for.

What does a good human resources resume summary actually look like?

Let’s look at some good and not-so-good summary statement examples for human resources coordinators:

The first example is specific and tells us not only what you did during your time during this role but also how you did it. Notice that it calls out skills and attitude, giving us an idea of what you are like at work.

The No! example is much more general. It takes the first person, which is generally not recommended for traditional resumes and does not share how you are experienced. It may be accurate, but it doesn’t really tell us anything.

Right underneath your human resources resume summary is where you should talk about your areas of expertise.

Since this section is following the summary paragraph, use a bulleted list to share your key accomplishments. This will give a busy hiring manager something short, but informative, to quickly make sure that you are qualified.

Think about the skills you have that give you an advantage over other applicants. Do you have knowledge of a certain protocol or proficiency in a software program?

This is a good time to look back at the job description. The job posting should list the specific skills or areas of expertise they are looking for, so if any of those match your skillset, be sure to include them.

Key Accomplishments/Areas of Expertise

• Microsoft Office Suite
• ERP and CRM Systems
• HRIS
• PHR/SHRM
• Benefits Knowledge
• Attention to Detail
• Trustworthy

When crafting this list, make sure you include a mix of hard and soft skills.

What’s the difference? Hard skills are quantifiable, more technical skills. You can learn them during school or through work experience and you get better the more you practice. Software programs go in this category, or things web design, writing, or computing programming.

Soft skills are a little bit different. You’ve probably heard of soft skills before, just under the name “people skills.” This category includes attributes like leadership or communication. These skills are more subjective and are not necessarily teachable.

(Below is a helpful table with some suggested hard and soft skills for human resources coordinators that will help you with this section.)

Now we’re to what will be the bulk of your human resources resume — your work history.

Your work experiences are what is going to convince the hiring team that you are the best possible candidate for the job.

Once again, you’re going to use reverse chronological order. In most cases, your most recent position will be the most impressive and relevant to the job you’re applying for, so you want it to be seen first.

There are sometimes exceptions to this, like if you don’t have very much experience or if you have been in roles that don’t really fit with the rest of your history, like something you did that was project-based or freelance. Don’t feel like you have to include everything you’ve ever done — remember, you only have one page.

Like in your summary, keep your descriptions brief, informative, and as specific as possible. Start each bullet off with an action word that tells the reader not just what you did, but what you accomplished.

Let’s see what this looks like in practice.

Notice how the second example is very general. It outlines some basic HR duties, and while it may be true, it doesn’t show us how you had an impact in your role. It is passive and repetitive.

The first example is specific and gets the point across quickly and clearly. It stands out because it is interesting and informative, while still being concise. It’s important that you don’t make your job seem like it’s easier than it actually is.

PRO TIP:If you’re having trouble deciding how to describe your current role, remember to carefully read the job posting. It will probably list exactly the qualifications and abilities that the organization is looking for, so you can see if anything listed matches any of your previous experiences.

What About Bots?

When we discussed formatting, we talked about making sure that your resume is readable by human reviewers. But there is someone (or something) else that is probably reading your resume: Bots.

Hiring teams sometimes get so many applications that it’s just not possible to review the materials submitted by every single candidate. That’s why employers utilize software programs called Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).

ATS are programmed to look through resumes for certain keywords, usually from the job posting, to find candidates that appear to be a good fit for the role.

This is why it is so important to read the job description and utilize keywords. You can be perfectly qualified for a position, but if you don’t make it through the ATS, you will not be invited in for an interview.

One way that applicants try to impress bots is to write their work histories in paragraph format, in order to try to fit in as many keywords as possible.

Here’s what that looks like.

Bullet Point Format:

Toyota Lift Northwest | Kent, WA | Human Resources Generalist | Nov 2016–Present

• Manage and revise a consistent company onboarding plan
• Develop recruiting and hiring procedures
• Refine a consistent employee review and engagement plan/li>
• Conduct new employee orientations and exit interviews

Paragraph format:

Toyota Lift Northwest | Kent, WA | Human Resources Generalist | Nov 2016–Present
Manage and revise a consistent company onboarding plan. Develop recruiting and hiring procedures. Refine a consistent employee review and engagement plan. Conduct new employee orientations and exit interviews.

The differences between the two styles are visible right off the bat. The first example is a scannable list that makes it easy for the reader to find the right information quickly.

The second example is a much larger block of text that takes much longer to read.

The two examples contain the same number of keywords, so have an equal chance at being flagged by a bot.

But the first example is designed to be read by a human reviewer, while the second is not. That’s why Big Interview recommends sticking with the bullet point format for this section.

Just like that, the bulk of your human resources resume is done!

Now it’s time to list your education history. This section works much in the same way as the work experience section. Be sure to list your highest degree first (ex. a master’s degree would be listed before a bachelor’s degree).

Make sure to include the type of degree, the school you attended, the field of study, and the year you finished the degree.

If you just graduated, you may choose to list a GPA. The education section will be more important to your resume now, but as you gain more work experience, it will become increasingly less so.

Example:

Bachelor Degree | HR Management
North Seattle College | Seattle, WA
Class of 2012

You can also list other relevant certifications, trainings, or online courses in this section.

Example:

• “Advanced Microsoft Office Techniques,” Weekend Course, Seattle, WA
• HR Leadership Summit, Human Resources Networking Association, Seattle, WA

Other Sections

If you find that you have extra space, or have other experiences that don’t necessarily fit into the other categories, consider adding more sections.

Alternative sections you could include are:

• Awards and honors
• Publications
• Noteworthy Projects
• Social Media Influence
• Speaking Engagements
• Hobbies/Interests
• Volunteer Work

What if You Have no Experience to Include in Your Human Resources Resume?

Yes, you can still position yourself as a good candidate if you have no experience.

The thing is, you probably just think you have no relevant experience.

It’s all about using the experiences you do have and showing how they will be able to help you succeed in the position you want.

So if you are a recent graduate or are making a career shift, here’s what you can do.

Still begin your resume with a well-written resume statement. Next, move your education section underneath your summary and move the work history down. Your education section is probably more relevant at this point, so you want it seen first.

Now think about anything you have done that shows you have knowledge about the job you’re applying for or its industry. It doesn’t have to be paid work!

Have you done any internships? What about summer jobs, workshops, or certifications? Don’t forget about volunteer work or anything else that’s relevant.

PRO TIP: Remember when we talked about soft skills? There are plenty of soft skills that are crucial to being a good human resources coordinator. If you have held any leadership roles or a position working in group settings, those experiences could be worth calling out.

Keep it to one page.

With very few exceptions, your human resources resume should stick to one page. Be mindful of what jobs you choose to include by selecting only the most relevant positions. You really don’t have to include everything (and shouldn’t!)

Utilize whitespace.

Part of keeping your resume to one page relies on even spacing and margins. Whitespace helps guide the eye, so avoid big blocks of text and use bulleted lists and sections.

Remember action words.

Start each bullet point off with a strong action word. This will help keep you from passively describing the basic duties of your job and push you to describe the impact you had during your time in the role. There are examples of some power words for human resources coordinators below.

Don’t use the first person.

It may feel strange to not use “me” or “I” while talking about yourself, but avoid personal pronouns. It’s probably not the way that you usually write, so it might take a bit to get the hang of it, but the first person really doesn’t have a place in resume writing.

Don’t be repetitive.

Because you’re using strong action words, it is going to be very obvious if you repeat them too much. Use diverse language.

Don’t do it alone.

Have a trusted friend look over your human resources resume for typos, spelling errors, and repetition. It can be hard to proofread something yourself after you’ve been staring at the same paragraph for hours and hours. Fresh eyes will be more objective.

(We’ve put together a handy table of power words for human resources coordinators below to use for inspiration.)

Human Resources Power Words

• Adjusted
• Planned
• Checked
• Ensured
• Provided
• Balanced
• Created
• Handled
• Improved
• Initiated
• Managed
• Organized
• Scheduled
• Streamlined
• Visualized
• Launched

Skills List

Further Resources:

We have many great resources available to you 100% free on the Big Interview blog. Read the articles below for more information on resumes and cover letters.

The Art of Writing a Great Resume Summary Statement

How Long Should a Resume Be?

Creating Really Good Resumes

How to Get the Applicant Tracking System to Pick Your Resume

8 Design Ideas to Make Your Resume Pop

6 Tricks to Makeover Your Resume…Fast

How to Write a Cover Letter