There’s no getting around it, as a fellow recruiter your resume is going to be judged by a higher standard than most. You’ll be expected to get every detail right and show an absolute mastery of the job application process from both sides.

Of course that’s easier said than done. Despite those high expectations, your recruiter experience isn’t going to make crafting your recruiter resume that much easier. Fortunately, we’ve put together this guide to help. We’ll walk you through every step of the process with helpful tips and reminders to ensure you get all those critical details just right.

What this guide will show you:

• Top quality recruiter resume examples to get you started
• Tips for getting past ATS
• How to get your formatting just right
• The best way to include your education and certifications
• How to add impact to your hard and soft skills
• Techniques for highlighting your achievements
• What makes a resume objective or summary effective
• What to do if you have little or no experience as a recruiter
• How to use a resume builder for better results

Recruiter resume examples you can learn from

As a recruiter you’ve probably seen hundreds of resumes, so why are we starting this guide with some examples? Simply put, the typical examples you’re used to seeing are good benchmarks for the recruiter resume you need to create. With expectations high, you should start by taking inspiration from top quality examples.

Carefully look over the examples below and start listing what stands out about them. This initial list can allow you to start with a set of ideas instead of a blank page, making it easier to get started.

[Examples]

How to create a recruiter resume that will land the job

One of the biggest issues with resumes in general is that they don’t consider their audience. However, for a recruiter resume this is especially critical to avoid. If the way you craft your resume shows a lack of understanding or appreciation for the person reading it, you’ll be showing that you don’t have a firm grasp of being a recruiter.

So throughout the process of creating each resume (you are creating custom resumes for each position, right?), put yourself in the shoes of the recruiter who’ll be reading it. Consider what’s important to them, what will stand out, and what questions your resume might bring up. By using empathy and getting ahead of potential issues, you’ll give yourself a much better shot at landing the job.

However, as you know, the first hurdle your resume will need to overcome probably won’t be a fellow recruiter but an ATS.

What you need to know about ATS

As a recruiter, you’ve certainly heard about Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) but even if you’ve used them in hiring, how much do you really know about how to get past them as an applicant? Considering how ubiquitous ATS are these days, you need to be thinking about them from the start, so here’s a quick refresher of all the things you need to do to ensure your resume is ATS-ready.

1. Submit your resume as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf. This should go without saying but failing to do this almost guarantees your resume will be rejected by ATS so it’s worth repeating.
2. Use a resume builder to ensure your file is easy to read by ATS. This gets more into the technical side of ATS that most recruiters aren’t familiar with. In essence, the structure of the data within a resume file has an enormous impact on how easy it is for ATS to read it. This means that a resume might be rejected simply because the ATS can’t read its contents well enough. To get around this, be sure to use a resume builder which is specifically designed to produce ATS-friendly files.
3. Keyword-optimize for ATS. You may be familiar with the process of feeding an ATS the criteria for judging incoming resumes. But even if you’re not, you should be considering this process by taking keywords from the job description and incorporating them into your resume as closely as possible to how they were originally written. By doing this, you’re increasing the chances the ATS sees you as a qualified applicant and you make it through to a fellow recruiter.

How should you format your resume?

Once your resume makes it past ATS, you’ve got to make a strong first impression on that recruiter. One of the ways to do this is by being deliberate with your formatting. Even as an HR professional, it’s all too easy to simply start writing and adding resume sections without much thought. However, you need to always be thinking about the flow and order of information your resume conveys.

Start with the basics, you already know you should be using reverse chronological order but try going through the sections of your resume while putting yourself in the recruiter’s shoes. What questions arise? Where can you reorder information to get ahead of those questions? If possible, try sending your resume to a fellow HR professional to get their input.

Then we come to the ultimate formatting question: resume length. You already know that reviewing resumes can be tedious, so consider that fellow recruiter when deciding on the best length. Aim to have your resume as short and information dense as possible. After all, if you submit a 3 page resume, that recruiter would be fair to wonder whether you think other applicants should do the same. That question won’t make a good impression for you.

Which sections should your resume include?

While including all of these would likely make your resume too long, these are the main sections you should consider adding.

• Resume objective or summary
• Work experience
• Certifications
• Achievements
• Projects
• Education
• Hard skills
• Soft Skills

How to list your education or certifications on the resume

The education section is one of those places where resume experts and novices alike tend to go on autopilot. They put in their degrees, majors, GPA, etc. even though in many cases the information isn’t really necessary. Let’s review some examples to better illustrate this.

BA in English

University of Massachusetts at Amherst

2002-2006

-Honored with a department writing award

-President of the campus literature society

This is a marginal case but illustrates what not to do well. If your degree is unrelated to your recruiter work and especially if you graduated more than 10 years ago, it’s probably not worth mentioning. Or, if you do mention it, simply list that you have a degree to save valuable space for more impactful information.

The other details in this example could be relevant. Being a good writer and knowing how to manage people are valuable skills. However, work you did this far into the past while a college student is simply not the most professional and effective way to communicate that you have those skills.

BA in Psychology

University of Texas at Austin

2014-2018

-Worked in the admissions department from 2015-2018

This education example is worth including for a few key reasons. First, it’s quite recent. Next, the degree is more closely related to HR work. Lastly, the work in the university admissions department is similar enough to HR work to be worth including.

As for certifications, they are an underrated tool for concretely demonstrating skills, especially if your degrees were obtained a long time ago. If you want to show an HR department that you’re proactive about staying on top of the latest techniques, this is the way to do that. Not to mention the fact that those certification letters next to your name really add a professional touch. But which certifications are best for recruiters?

Courses and certifications to consider including

The world of recruiting has an enormous number of certifications and courses, meaning it’s easier than most to find one that works for you. Here’s a list of some of our top choices.

• LinkedIn Certified Professional Recruiter Course
• LinkedIn External Recruiter Course
• LinkedIn Technical Recruiter Course
• LinkedIn Corporate Recruiter Course
• LinkedIn Recruit and Maximize Talent Course
• AIRS Training in Veteran Recruitment
• AIRS Certified Diversity and Inclusion Recruiter (CDR)
• AIRS Elite Certified Recruitment Expert (ECRE) Certification
• AIRS Certified Social Media Recruiter (CSMR)
• AIRS Professional Recruiter Certification (PRC)
• AIRS Recruiter Academy Certification
• HRCI Professional in Human Resources® (PHR) Certification
• HRCI Associate Professional in Human Resources® (aPHR) Certification
• HRCI Senior Professional in Human Resources® (SPHR) Certification
• ATD Associate Professional in Talent Development
• ATD Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP)
• Recruiter.com Recruiting 101 Certification Program
• NAPS Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC) Certification
• SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP)
• SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP)
• TMI Talent Management Practitioner
• TMI Senior Talent Management Practitioner
• REI Recruiter Certification Program
• LHC Recruiter Academy Certified Recruiter Program

How to make your skills more effective

This advice may be obvious to you as a recruiter, but a surprising number of people in the field haven’t stopped to consider why some applicant skills seem more impactful and convincing. The difference is specifics and examples. Recruiters can see fluff a mile away, so you need to go beyond simply listing a bunch of skills and find ways to convincingly demonstrate that you have them. This is particularly important for soft skills.

Let’s go through some examples to see what that looks like in practice.

Organized

It’s a common skill required for recruiters for good reason. If you’re going to be managing dozens or hundreds of applications at a time, you need to be organized. But simply stating that you are doesn’t mean very much. Let’s try adding an example to emphasize the skill.

Organized

-Hired an average of 1.7 candidates per week out of 87 average applicants at HR Ventures

Giving an example of the workload you were able to manage makes this skill much more believable. In cases where you don’t have as much direct experience as a recruiter, these examples could be from non-HR work or even outside of your professional life altogether.

The best hard skills to list on a recruiter resume

• Talent acquisition
• LinkedIn recruiting
• HR tracking systems
• Specific ATS
• Social media networking
• Contact finders like Swordfish, Hunter.io, or Lusha
• Resume platforms like Indeed, or ZipRecruiter
• Data mining
• Candidate interviewing
• Taleo

The best hard skills to list on a recruiter resume

• Organized
• Attention to detail
• Written and oral communication
• Empathy and interpersonal skills
• Working well in groups

How to highlight your achievements

Recruiters tend to see inflated achievements every day. Your goal needs to be demonstrating that your achievements are real and worth noting. As with your skills, the best way to do that is by getting specific. But the devil is in the details, so let’s review some examples to see how the right framing and wording can enhance your achievements.

LinkedIn Recruiter

HR Systems Inc.

2014-2018

-Responsible for hiring qualified candidates for our clients

-Consistently met hiring quotas

-Mastered the process of recruiting and networking via LinkedIn

The achievements listed in this role fall flat because they focus on responsibilities and when they do highlight real achievements they’re too light on specifics. The first point about hiring candidates is too obvious to be worth mentioning. The second simply communicates that you weren’t terrible at your job relative to HR Systems’ standards (and whether those standards were high, who knows?) Lastly, this example makes a strong claim of mastery in some critical LinkedIn skills, but it would be helpful to have some LinkedIn Learning courses or data to back this claim up.

LinkedIn Recruiter

HR Systems Inc.

2014-2018

-Had to adapt and understand hiring systems and criteria for a variety of industries from the C-suite to designers

-Hired an average of 50 qualified candidates a month

-Obtained LinkedIn certifications for Corporate, Technical, and External recruiting

This version of that example refocuses the applicant’s achievements on their adaptability, ability to handle a large workload, and mastery of various aspects of LinkedIn recruiting. In other words, this version turns those experiences into concrete evidence of important skills.

Whether you’re listing your achievements under specific jobs or separately in their own section, it’s critical to think about these as tools for backing up your specific skills and not simply isolated things to boast about.

How to write a resume objective or summary and when to write which

The power of a resume objective or summary is that they each allow you to control the narrative of your resume. Instead of starting your resumes with something basic like your work history, you can begin by making a case for yourself, emphasizing key achievements, addressing the role you want, or getting ahead of a question the reader might have about something in your resume.

But you already know that first impressions are powerful, the trick is harnessing that power in the right way. The following examples will show you how to get the most out of a resume objective or summary.

Resume objective examples for recruiters

A resume objective should be concise and information dense while still being easy to read. You probably know how hard it is on your eyes to look over so many resumes, so do that other recruiter a favor by considering readability. But this is also your first impression, you’re elevator pitch for yourself as a candidate, so take the time to get it right.

Experienced and effective recruiter passionate about hiring talent capable of transforming organizations.

This candidate may have missed their calling to go into politics. A recruiter will be able to see right through this objective. It’s vague to the point of being meaningless. The first impression it creates is of someone who talks a lot but isn’t capable of really getting the job done.

Seasoned recruiter with 7 years as a headhunter currently exploring how non-LinkedIn social media platforms can be used to engage qualified C-suite candidates.

This example makes a choice not to focus as much on accomplishments (those can be easily listed elsewhere) but instead to use their resume objective to lay out how they’re at the cutting edge of their field. It works as a teaser text, something to make a recruiter sit up and want to learn more about the candidate and their approach. Not every objective should attempt this, but it’s an interesting example to show the versatility of this resume section.

Resume summary examples for recruiters

At its most basic level, a resume summary is just a longer objective. However, the worst mistake you can make is to take this as an excuse to ramble on. A summary should strive just as hard to be concise. Also be sure you have a good reason for choosing to include a resume summary. Even recruiters can get carried away and start adding information for its own sake, so always be sure to ask yourself “is this adding value to my resume?” If the answer is no, you need to delete that information. Let’s see what that looks like in practice.

Recent university graduate with a degree in psychology from the University of Arizona looking to begin a career in HR. Can bring internship experience from working as a food services manager and helping in hiring staff for 2 years. Also experienced in social media and LinkedIn networking.

The problem with this resume summary is that it focuses on conveying information that’s better conveyed elsewhere. The recruiter can look at your education, skills, and work history if they want to know more about what’s here. In other words, this example wastes valuable space simply restating basic information. Let’s see it rewritten in a more effective way.

Recent graduate looking to apply research in how episodic marketing can be used to improve recruitment through stronger brand identities to a recruiter position at Imagine Foods. Combines optimism and ambition with a practicality born from years working as a manager in the food service industry.

This example makes several subtle but important changes. First, it turns the disadvantage of not having much experience into an advantage by emphasizing the fresh and interesting ideas about recruitment that this candidate can provide. It also predicts the potential skeptical reaction of the reader and gets ahead of it by citing practical hiring experience. This makes it clear that this candidate doesn’t have their head in the clouds or some ivory tower.

How to write a recruiter resume when you have little or no experience

If you’re a recent graduate or moving from another part of HR, you need to demonstrate you have the core skills necessary for recruiting. Look back at the job description, list the skills and qualities they’re looking for, and ask yourself how you can demonstrate you possess them with achievements, certifications, and trainings. You can even take inspiration from the resume summary example above and frame that as an advantage.

Either way, you need to be upfront but not apologetic about your lack of experience. Just keep in mind that much of recruiting comes down to having the right attitude and mindset, things far harder to teach than using HR recruitment software. If you can show you’ve got those qualities, you’ll be in an excellent position to get hired even over a more experienced candidate.

How to make your resume stand out

As we mentioned in the beginning of this guide, expectations for a recruiter resume are sky high. Even getting all of the details discussed here right won’t guarantee you stand out. But one area where your competition is less likely to take the time is in the resume design.

Handing in a resume with beautiful modern design which makes the content easier and more pleasant to read is a cherry on top which shows you’ve gone the extra mile to make your resume a pleasure to read for a fellow recruiter. The best way to get that design is with a resume builder.

Why your recruiter resume needs a powerful resume builder

There’s no getting around the fact that basic black and white plain text resumes make it look like you didn’t put in the effort. The ability to easily choose from dozens of stunning modern designs is one of the main benefits of using a resume builder. But it also helps ensure your resume is ATS-friendly as well as making the process of creating many custom resumes for different positions simpler.

That’s why choosing Resumebuild.com’s intuitive and powerful builder is an easy choice. It lets you take care of important design and technical considerations so you can focus on the content. The result is a better recruiter resume and a better shot at that job you’ve been dreaming of.

As someone with an HR background, you probably know the hiring process like the back of your hand. But being familiar with the HR side of hiring doesn’t make you an expert in being the candidate. It’s easy to forget all of the things you’ve noticed candidates doing wrong in the past.

In other words, if you think you don’t need any help getting hired as an HR manager, you should reconsider. From ATS to modern design, resumes and hiring are changing fast. As someone who’ll be expected to manage those processes, the expectations for your application will be sky high.

Fortunately, this guide has all the information you’ll need to meet and exceed those expectations.

This guide will teach you:

• How to get started with resume template examples
• What you can do to overcome ATS
• How you can better appeal to recruiters
• How to properly format your resume
• What your education section should look like
• How to list your skills and which ones to consider including
• How to include a powerful objective or summary
• Why you should include certifications if possible
• How to target your resume for each application
• How to prepare for a job interview as an HR manager
• Why a resume builder is an essential tool

Human Resources Resume Template Examples

A mistake many human resources managers looking for new positions make is to assume they’ve got a good feel for what their resume should look like. But checking out high-quality examples is invaluable. Instead of just writing your resume without thinking, it forces you to consider how others have done it and how you can improve.

So, start your resume creation process by looking at these expertly curated examples and listing which elements you like (and which you don’t). Pay attention to the design, the format, and the way the content is written. Now, instead of starting with your old resume or a blank page, you’ll have a list of good ideas.

[Examples]

How to write a human resources manager resume that will get you the job

There’s no getting around it, standing out with an HR manager resume is hard. You can expect your competition to be experts at applying for jobs. That’s why for your resume to stand out it needs to get all the details just right. But before you stress out, we’ll take you through all the steps.

However, if your resume is going to get you hired, it first needs to overcome the hurdle most resumes never make it past.

How to get your resume past ATS

Chances are you’re already quite familiar with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). But even if you’ve worked with them before, you may not know just how they work and therefore what you need to do to get past them. So before you assume there’s nothing to worry about, let’s run through exactly how ATS work and what you need to do to be prepared.

ATS scan resumes looking for specific keywords and experience before assigning the resume a score based on how well they match the job requirements. That’s the part you probably already know. But you may be less familiar with what needs to happen on the applicant side. So we’ve broken it down into 4 key points:

1. Ensure your resume is in the right format. This one is simple, submit your resume as a pdf, doc, or docx.
2. Make sure that format is ATS friendly. Getting this right is also pretty easy. Your best bet is to use a resume builder that’s specifically designed to work well with ATS rather than worrying whether your formatting might be the problem. For example, things like headers, footers, or tables can all create problems in docs you create yourself.
3. Use keywords and standard phrasing. ATS might not realize that “I love working in a collaborative team environment” and “works well with others” mean functionally the same thing. That’s why you need to phrase your skills and experience as closely to how they’re phrased in the job ad as possible. The same applies with titling your sections, keep it simple and avoid something like “My Past” instead of “Work History.”

What recruiters will look for

Here’s where you should be the most prepared. You’re likely very familiar with what recruiters look for because you’ve been involved in hiring. That said, you need to be careful here. It’s easy to just assume a recruiter will look at the hiring process the same way you do. The key is to consider the perspective and needs of that specific recruiter. Consider what the company will be looking for in an HR manager, are they looking to hire because they’re growing, because they had a problem with the previous HR manager, etc.

This may require some research, you can use your personal network along with Google to try and get as much information about the HR needs of that employer as possible. Then, write your resume with those needs in mind. For example, if the company is growing rapidly you may want to emphasize working well under pressure, a flexible schedule, and the desire to experience an exciting and growing company environment.

How to format your resume

If you’ve had to look through resumes at any point in your career you know that poor formatting is very frustrating on the employer side. But have you ever considered what makes formatting poor?

It largely comes down to how you structure your information. You need to be strategic about which information you want to convey in what order. Doing this allows you to craft the narrative of your resume and how its information is contextualized. This is why your resume should start with an objective or summary (more on how to write those later).

It also shows why you should carefully go through the sections from top to bottom and ask yourself what questions may arise and how you can address them. For example, if there’s a gap in your work history, make sure it’s explained before it’s noticed so you’re in control of the narrative.

How long should a human resources resume be?

As a human resources manager, you have plenty of experience to fill up two or three pages. The question you should be asking yourself is whether that space will be well used. You want your resume to be as short as possible while also including all of the valuable information it needs. The most effective tool for nailing this balance is to evaluate each section and piece of information by asking yourself whether it’s making your resume better. If it’s not adding value, it’s taking it away so it should be removed.

Which sections are best to include?

Be sure to consider the best mix of these sections for your own skills and background. Avoid throwing everything in because this will make your resume long and unwieldy.

• Resume objective or summary
• Work experience
• Licenses and Certifications
• Achievements
• Projects
• Education
• Hard skills
• Soft Skills

How to list your education

This small and seemingly simple section has plenty of traps you still need to avoid. The main mistake even HRs will make with their education section is including information that isn’t relevant. Considering you’re applying for an HR manager position, your resume should rely on your work experience far more than your education. While an HR related degree is worth mentioning, save the space for real-world experience and examples.

A short education section should look like this:

MA in Psychology

University of Wisconsin at Madison

2007-2011

What skill to mention and how to do it correctly

Your skills are a prime area to get strategic on your human resources manager resume. You need to ensure that your resume reflects the skills mentioned in the job ad for the sake of ATS and to make it easy for a recruiter to know you’ve got what it takes. That said, to really stand out there’s more you have to do.

You should know from your HR experience that “having a skill” and being able to use it effectively are often two very different things. That’s why including concrete examples will make your skills far more impactful. To see this in action, let’s compare two examples.

Contract negotiation

Nothing wrong with simply listing a skill like this, but it could be better.

Contract negotiation

-Negotiated a 12% annual fee reduction with ATS provider

You don’t necessarily need to include a lot of details, but a short example makes all the difference. This will give a recruiter far more confidence in you as a candidate. It’s also something to talk about in an interview (more on that later).

The best hard skills to include

• College recruitment
• Recruitment
• Onboarding
• Familiarity with OSHA regulations
• Familiarity with relevant employment laws
• Developing training programs
• Administration
• Employee retention
• Payroll management
• Exit interviews
• Talent management software like TalentSorter, ADP, or Workforce Now

The best soft skills to include

• Contract negotiation
• Managing disputes
• Works well under pressure
• Detail oriented
• Personable
• Written communication
• Verbal communication and presentation
• Problem solving
• Collaboration

How to emphasize your accomplishments

Whether you’re including a separate accomplishments section or listing them under your work history, the way you frame what you’ve done is essential. By being specific and focusing on accomplishments related to the main challenges of that potential employer, you’ll create a sense of confidence in you as a candidate.

Responsible for hiring at Inova Ltd.

Frankly, this “accomplishment” would be the same whether you were critical to the company effectively scaling or whether you were fired for incompetence. That’s a problem. Look for how you can include specific information about what you did (sometimes contacting a former employer may be helpful for getting their perspective and data.)

Led the 8 person HR team which grew Inova Ltc. by 35% in one year, helping to both scale and transition the company culture from that of a startup to a mature market player.

While not everything in here can be quantified (as an HR no doubt you’ve spent plenty of time trying to quantify company culture) but you get a strong sense of what was accomplished here.

Why your resume should start with a summary or objective

Above we mentioned the importance of controlling the narrative and context of your resume. That’s where an effective summary or objective comes in. Instead of thinking about this as a place to literally summarize your resume, think of it as a place to make a first impression. 

There are two good ways to approach this. One is to consider what information about you as a candidate is most relevant and put this in an objective or summary. This way, you’re emphasizing your best qualities.

Another approach is to use this space to convey information that doesn’t easily fit elsewhere on your resume. Perhaps you’re returning to the workforce after an absence or there’s a specific reason you’re interested in working for a company. This is your place to mention these things. Let’s look at a few examples of how this can be done effectively.

How to write a resume objective

The key here is to fit as much information into just a few words as possible. Think about the few most important things a recruiter should know about you and how to fit them into one easy to read sentence.

An experienced and certified HR professional with the skills needed to effectively run your HR team.

Consider what this resume objective chose to emphasize. It mentions experience, a certification, and skills but doesn’t add any details. As a result, it reads as vague pride instead of a targeted set of compelling facts about you as a candidate. Let’s compare that to a more effective version:

CPLP with 8 years corporate HR experience looking to use recruitment experience to effectively scale KCYN Software.

Here we know what the certification is, how many years of what type of experience they have, and exactly what their goal is. This tells a recruiter that you’ve researched the HR needs of the company and have tailored your resume just for them. That action speaks as loudly as the words themselves.

How to write a resume summary

Just because a resume summary is longer than an objective doesn’t mean you should write yourself a short biographical novel. The space on your resume and the recruiter’s time are just as important, so be sure to value both.

After taking 2 years off to raise my first child I’m reentering the workforce and hoping to reenter the workforce as an HR manager at your company. I’m confident my work experience will help me succeed in this role. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

While this summary does explain a workplace absence, it makes a few other mistakes that harm its effectiveness. First, the overall tone (including being written in the first person) is too informal. Next, it wastes space with phrases like “Please feel free to contact me with any questions” which don’t need to be included here.

SPHR-certified human resources manager with 10 years experience divided between corporates and startups focusing on finding niche development talent for AI, Logistics, and App development. Extensive experience in identifying candidates which balance technical talent with the soft skills needed to implement team visions.

This example uses the resume summary to make a strong case for this person as a candidate. In a few sentences we know a lot about their experience and where they see their specific strengths. Some of that information will be in the rest of the resume, but this summary quickly forms a strong first impression. That impression will lead a recruiter to view the rest of your resume in a more positive light, putting you in a strong position to get hired.

Why you should consider including certifications

Certifications in HR serve a few functions. The most obvious is to simply prove that you have a specific set of skills. But the real message they send goes beyond that. An HR certification tells a prospective employer that you went out of your way to demonstrate your skills. It quickly distinguishes you from the resumes that communicate the candidate simply does the bare minimum by listing responsibilities and not accomplishments.

In addition, those letters next to your name undoubtedly add some sense of professionalism. They will be the first thing a recruit reads right alongside your name and therefore allow you to make a strong statement about your qualifications right from the start.

Lastly, if you’re looking to re-enter the workforce, a certification is an excellent way to refresh your skills and put you on a more even playing field with other candidates.

The best human resources manager certifications to include

• Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR)
• Professional in Human Resources (PHR)
• SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP)
• SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP)
• Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP)

How to target your resume for each application

As an HR professional, no doubt you know how important this is. That said, we can all be a bit lazy sometimes and it’s tempting to skip the hard work of customizing a resume for each job. However, with HR manager being such an attractive career, you need a way to stand above the competition.

Beyond studying the job description and researching the company to better understand their specific HR needs, you need to communicate that you will fulfill those needs early and often. If you can frame yourself as someone who will help the recruiter reading your resume solve some pressing problem in their job, you’ll be in a strong position to get hired.

How to make your resume stand out

The best way to make an HR manager resume stand out is quickly. You know recruiters don’t have unlimited time to look over your resume, so you need to find ways to make an impression in seconds.

One way to do that is with clean modern design. Submitting another doc file isn’t going to make anyone say “wow.” You need a resume which uses good design that’s easy on eyes that have been scanning resumes for hours and projects professionalism. The key to that is finding the right resume builder (more on that below).

Good design combined with an effective objective or resume will allow your resume to stand out and create a strong first impression in seconds. That impression is what will get a recruiter to take the time to read through the rest of your carefully crafted content.

How to prepare for a job interview as an HR manager

The best resume in the world isn’t going to prepare you for a job interview. Well, that’s the conventional wisdom. However, if you’ve followed our advice and included plenty of specific examples of your skills and accomplishments then you’ll have plenty of cases to discuss in an interview.

In addition, by thoroughly researching the company and its HR needs to customize your resume, you should have some idea of the answers they will be looking for to interview questions. You’ll want to be prepared to discuss all of the HR challenges the company has in detail.

Which questions are likely to be asked during the interview process?

Beyond specific questions about your resume or the HR challenges facing the company, some of the most common questions asked for HR managers are:

1. How would you describe your management style?
2. How do you affect company culture in an HR manager role?
3. What’s your approach to firing someone?
4. How do you evaluate candidates?
5. As an HR manager, how will you improve X at our company?
6. What would you do if you discovered unethical behavior in the company?
7. How do you approach workplace conflicts?

How to follow-up on your application and interview process

Before you even submit your resume, you should research the company and use tools like LinkedIn to establish connections with current or former employees there. After using these connections to gain insights into the company’s HR situation and needs, you can hold onto them for following up after your application has been submitted.

Fortunately, you’re speaking as one HR professional to another. That said, you can check-in occasionally but should be respectful of the company’s hiring process. After all, you’re applying to be an integral part of that process, so trying to go around it or dismiss it isn’t going to make a good impression.

Why a resume builder is an essential tool

You may be a seasoned resume expert, but that doesn’t mean you have unlimited time. You need tools to streamline the process of creating custom resumes for different positions, give your resume top-notch design, and ensure it’s ATS-friendly. That’s why resume builders are an essential tool for anyone who’s serious about landing their dream job.

Resumebuild.com offers powerful tools to enable you to do more in less time. You have access to expertly crafted resume examples and an intuitive builder that avoids the headaches of trying to get Word formatting just right. So skip the hassle and create a modern and effective resume today!

In the highly competitive world of computer science, it takes a lot to stand out and get a truly fantastic job. You may assume that your technical qualifications and hard skills are enough to show that you’re a great candidate, but sadly that’s often not the case.

Companies look for much more than raw talent from all types of computer science hires, so your resume needs to show you can do more than just code. You need to show you can think about the big picture, communicate well, be self-motivated, and more.

Fortunately, you’ve found a complete guide to every aspect of creating an excellent computer science resume. We’ll walk you through precisely what you need to do to stand above the competition and land that job.

What this guide will show you:

• Resume template examples to get you started
• What ATS is and how you can get past iti
• How to get in the head of recruiters to get hired
• The best formatting, length, and sections for a computer science resume
• What really makes a computer science resume effective
• How to highlight your achievements
• How to include qualifications and certifications (and which to consider obtaining)
• How to make your skills more impactful (and which to include)
• Why an objective or summary should open your resume
• How to target your resume to a specific job
• What to do if you don’t have much experience
• How to make your resume stand out
• Why a resume builder is an essential tool

Computer science resume template examples

If you get assigned to write a program, chances are you start by checking out whether there’s some good open source code hanging around Github. That’s because starting with examples is the best way to get your juices flowing and create something excellent.

The same goes for resumes. These days, turning in a basic Word document for your resume makes you look like you aren’t trying. So unless you want to look like someone who’s still using Windows Vista, you’re going to need to do better.

Look through these examples and take note of how their content is written, the overall design, and how the information is structured. You can use all of this as inspiration for your own resume.

[Examples]

How to write a computer science resume that will get you through the door

The secret here is that most of the core technical skills in computer science can be taught. The industry moves so fast that many employers assume they’ll need to invest heavily in training you on an ongoing basis. That’s why the secret to a great computer science resume isn’t just knowing the right programming language, it’s showing you have the right mindset to succeed.

Ultimately, things like attention to detail, self-motivation, and the ability to communicate about your work with non-technical co-workers are all harder to train someone in than Python. Standing out from the crowd as a computer scientist involves showing you’re more than just someone who can write good code.

But getting to that begins with understanding exactly what the person reading your resume is looking for. That’s why before you begin writing, you need to understand your audience.

Why you need to be thinking about ATS

Ironically, in most cases the first hurdle your resume needs to clear will actually be an algorithm. ATS stands for Applicant Tracking System and uses natural language processing to analyze resumes and determine whether it’s worth a human’s time to review them further. In particular, they tend to look for keywords and experience.

Like with any system, working well with it requires understanding how it works. The tricky part is that there are dozens of ATS companies out there, each with a slightly different tool. Unsurprisingly, these systems are full of errors and reject a ton of resumes. That’s why there’s no perfect strategy for beating ATS, but there are some rules of thumb that will maximize your chances.

1. Ensure your resume is submitted in the right file type. ATS are designed to work with .pdf, .doc, and .docx so only submit a resume in one of those formats.
2. The way the data is structured in the file plays a huge role. You could look at two identical pdf resumes but if the data on one is poorly structured it can almost ensure rejection by an ATS. Ultimately the answer isn’t to delve into the file code yourself but to rely on a resume builder that’s been specifically designed to work well with ATS. After all, your time is not best spent becoming an expert in ATS because someone else has already done that for you.
3. Use keywords cleverly. With all that said, the best way to get past an ATS is to think like an ATS and reverse engineer from there. Start by understanding what keywords and experience the ATS is likely searching for. That information will be in the job description. Then, work to ensure as many of those requirements show up in your resume. Phrase your skills and experience the exact way they appear in the job ad where possible just to be 100% even the worst ATS can make the connection.

How to appeal to recruiters

Making it past ATS is still just the first battle. After that you need to convince a recruiter or hiring manager that you’re right for the job. In an ironic twist, you can approach this in a similar way to ATS. 

Start by considering what this person wants from you as a candidate. To be clear, this is different from what the company might want from you as a candidate. The recruiter is not a perfect stand-in for the company. They will want you to meet the criteria set by the job ad, but they also want your resume to be easy to read (not something the company would likely care much about).

In other words, your job is to make it as easy as possible for that recruiter to say “yes” to your resume. Think about it like designing a program where you can’t force the user to make a specific choice, but you can point them in the right direction with the UI. Doing this means ensuring your resume is well-written, the information is structured properly (more on how to do that below), and the design is clean and modern.

It also means using keywords the same way you did for ATS. That human recruiter will be checking whether you meet specific requirements just like the ATS, so make sure it’s obvious that you do. Lastly, the importance of having a well-written resume can’t be overstated. Computer scientists aren’t exactly known for their writing ability, so having a well-written resume is an excellent way to stand out from the competition.

How to format a computer science resume

As mentioned above, structuring the information so you can communicate the most important things first is critical. Most people writing a resume usually just start writing the basic information they need to include without considering the format. Formulating a plan for the format from the start puts you ahead of them.

The basic rule for deciding what should go where is to put the most important information towards the top. If it’s absolutely essential that you have a specific certification, programming language, etc. that information shouldn’t be buried on the second page or you risk annoying a recruiter by making them think “ugh, why couldn’t they have put this information where I can find it!”

Going along with that rule, your work experience should be in reverse-chronological order. So start with your most recent experience because it’s the most relevant.

How long should a computer science resume be?

The short answer is: as short as possible. You probably hate meetings that could have been emails, so imagine that’s how recruiters feel when they have to read a 3 page resume that could have been 1 page. There's a lot of wisdom out there about how your resume should be one page if you have fewer than 5 years experience or something similar, but there’s a better way to choose the ideal length.

Go through your resume, look at each sentence or section, and ask yourself whether it makes your resume better. If it’s not making your resume better, it’s making your resume worse. This is an effective way to cut non-essential information and get your resume down to a manageable size. The reason this is better than an arbitrary number is that you might have 2 pages of extremely relevant information to include, so use this rule as your guide.

Which sections should a computer science resume include?

You won’t necessarily want to include all of these, but these are the main sections you should consider.

• Resume objective or summary
• Work experience
• Licenses and Certifications
• Achievements
• Projects
• Education
• Hard skills
• Soft Skills

How to highlight your most important achievements

If you were looking for a collaborator on a software development project and someone said “I’m a good software developer” you wouldn’t just say “okay” and hire them. Despite how obvious that example seems, many computer science resumes are full of vague information like this. That’s why the key to effectively highlighting your achievements is being specific.

Whether you’re describing an achievement that was a part of a formal job or something connected to a freelance project, specificity is key to leaving an impact on the reader. Let’s look at some examples to see this in action.

Worked on a variety of software development projects for a mid-sized firm.

Just about the only concrete takeaway here is that you once worked for a company and did some kind of software development work. This is the kind of achievement that’s never going to impress anyone because it’s simply too vague. Let’s see a better version.

Lead developer on the GetItDone productivity app for Insico Systems: downloaded 800k times and generated 25% of 2018 sales.

This example gets specific and is more effective for it. But you might have noticed it doesn’t go into much detail about the software development side. That was done here to illustrate how sometimes a recruiter will want to get into the weeds about those kinds of details, while other times they will simply want to know how your work impacted the business. Knowing the difference and appealing to the right criteria will make a huge difference on whether you get the job.

How to include qualifications and certifications

Considering how quickly technology changes in the broader IT sector, certifications and qualifications can be a more effective way to show your skills than a degree. They are also an excellent way to compensate for a lack of practical work experience in a specific area and to show that you’re self-motivated enough to develop your skills outside the workplace.

All that is to say, a certification or qualification is one of the most effective things to have on a computer science resume. To list your certifications, simply include the name, the institution which granted it, and the year you obtained it like this:

Project Management Professional (PMP), The Project Management Institute, 2017.

If a specific certification is important enough, you should include it next to your name at the top of your resume. For example:

Francisco Gomez, PMP, MCTS

This ensures that from the moment a recruiter sees your name, it’s clear to them that you’re experienced and certified. The result will be a strong first impression.

The best qualifications and certifications to include

While there are dozens and dozens of different certifications within the broader IT sector, these are some of the most in-demand according to TechRepublic:

• Microsoft Certified IT Professional credential (MCITP)
• Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS)
• CompTIA's Security+ accreditation
• Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD)
• Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE)
• CompTIA's A+ certification
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification
• Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE)
• Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA)
• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) 
• CompTIA's Linux+ certification

How to list skills for maximum impact

As detailed above, it’s extremely important to list as many skills from the job description as possible. But how you list those skills is also important. Just like with your achievements, being specific about those skills and, if possible, including examples which demonstrate them is crucial.

Strong leadership skills

While listing your skills like this isn’t inherently bad, it doesn’t give any indication that you really possess them. While hard skills can be shown through certifications or work experience, backing up your soft skills is harder. This is where including examples really makes the difference.

Strong leadership skills, hired and led a team of fellow developers to create a successful online platform for booking fishing vessels that is still running at bookfishing.com

In this case, the job description asked for “strong leadership skills” so it was important to make sure that phrase was in there. But an example was included which shows that you’re not simply stating that you have a skill, but possess the experience to back it up.

Hard skills to consider including

• Web development
• Programming languages like Python, SQL, Ruby/Rails, C++, ReactJS, Java, Javascript, HTML5/CSS3, Angular, etc.
• Experience with AWS
• Experience with Git
• Project management
• Agile development methods like Kanban or Scrum
• .NET framework

Soft skills to consider including

• Communication
• Leadership
• Self-motivation
• Patience
• Time-management
• Teamwork
• Creative problem solving

Why your resume should start with an objective or summary

We mentioned above that you want to convey the most important information about you as a candidate right away. One of the most effective ways to do that is starting your resume with an objective or summary. A resume objective is a short sentence stating who you are and what the goal of your application and resume is. A resume summary is a longer piece of text which can go into more detail about your qualifications or explain something like a gap in your work history.

In either of these cases, you have the chance to begin your resume by providing the reader with context which will affect how they read everything else on the page. Done well and you can form a powerfully positive first impression.

How to write a resume objective

A computer science resume objective should be concise and to the point. You want to get as much information as possible into a few words, so choose them carefully.

I am a talented app developer with the experience necessary to make your project succeed!

This example makes several critical mistakes. First, it’s written in the third person (resumes should be written in the third person). But more than that simple error, the vague language and boasting creates a sense of unprofessionalism. It risks creating the impression that this person is all talk.

iOS app developer with 5 years experience looking to use my Swift experience to build successful apps for iGo Development Inc.

In a single sentence, this objective tells you how much experience they have, what programming language they specialize in, and that they took the time to tailor this resume for a specific role. But more than that, this creates the impression that this person knows what they want and how to get it.

How to write a resume summary

Just because a resume summary can be longer doesn’t mean you should be wordy. Keep your summary concise and to the point. Focus on using it to provide information that doesn’t fit easily in other sections of your resume.

Because I’m a recent graduate from Northwestern with a degree in computer science I don’t have very much direct work experience, but I think some of the projects I worked on in university will help me succeed in this job. I know my work ethic can make up for my lack of experience.

This example is too informal and while it tries to sound confident, it sounds too much like a student who’s desperate instead of someone who’s competent and gets the job done.

Recent CS graduate from Northwestern looking to leverage existing skills in Python and SQL and gain experience in building AI tools for optimizing global supply chains at JR Logistics.

Despite being shorter, this version of the summary gives a lot more information. You come away from it knowing exactly who this applicant is and how they wish to grow in this role. Despite being a recent graduate, they already sound like a seasoned professional.

How to target your resume for each application

This has been mentioned briefly elsewhere, but it’s critical to tailor a resume for each job you wish to apply to. It means extra work, but skipping it and sending an identical resume to dozens or more companies will substantially decrease the likelihood of you getting hired.

The reason is not just that you can more effectively tailor your keywords and experience to the specific job description (though that’s tremendously important). Doing this also sends a message to the recruiter that you’re someone who takes the time to do something right. Companies do not want to hire IT workers who take shortcuts that end up creating more technical debt and problems in the long run. Taking the easy way and sending a cookie-cutter resume will make you look like exactly that kind of worker.

How to apply for a computer science role with little experience

The good news is that people in the IT field have tons of chances to develop their skills outside of a formal job. If you don’t have much experience, try participating in open source projects, find something to collaborate on using Github, or obtain a certification. All of these can go a long way to showing that despite your lack of formal experience, you have the drive and skills to succeed.

Also remember that succeeding in IT is about more than just technical skills. Your employer can teach you C++, but teaching you not to cut corners or to work well in a team is far more difficult. So, even with less technical experience, by showing these critical soft skills, you can make yourself an appealing hire.

How to make your resume stand out

All of the tips mentioned throughout this guide will help make your resume stand out to a recruiter. But beyond the content itself, a more immediate way to make your resume stand out from the competition is by using a great resume builder. Utilizing a computer science resume template that has clean and modern design will clearly differentiate you from the sea of nearly identical .doc resumes out there. This will go a long way to showing that you take the time to do things right instead of going the easy route.

Why a resume builder is an essential tool

Today, you need something beyond a basic .doc resume to look like a modern IT professional. Sure, you could create a custom resume yourself, but chances are that resume will never make it past ATS. Your efforts should focus on the content of the resume, so it makes sense to leave the design and ATS-optimization to a resume builder that’s been created from the ground up just for that purpose.

Resumebuild.com offers exactly that. It’s powerful builder tool has all of the computer science resume templates, examples, sections, and more than you need to create a resume that will get you hired. There’s good reasons resume builders are becoming the new normal, they optimize the entire process so you can spend your time applying to more jobs and increasing the chances of getting hired at each one. You wouldn’t code like it’s still the 2000s, so why apply for a computer science job like it is?