Headhunter Resume: Tips, Examples & Free Template Download

As any fan of “The Office” knows, a good headhunter will storm your village at sunset with overwhelming force and cut off your head with a ceremonial knife, but a fantastic headhunter will find the very best talent available to fill open positions for their company or clients.
Do you want to use your amazing searching and placement skills professionally? Ok, you need to “place” the right information on your resume first.
What do You Need to Know?
Luckily, your buddies at ResumeGiants are here to help! In this guide, we’ll cover all the resume-creation essentials to help you build the perfect headhunter resume, including:
- How to write a resume designed to showcase your headhunting skills
- Compiling a headhunter resume summary or objective
- Updating your experience and education resume sections
- Including relevant headhunting skills
- Headhunter resume examples and templates
- Tips, tricks, and advice to help you start your career as a headhunter (warpaint not included)
Since you’re already an expert of finding the perfect fit for any position, you might be ready to “charge the village” and get started on your resume right away. That’s okay; skip our amazing article and head over to our free resume builder. What’s more, you’ll find templates and examples to help you start your resume-building journey.
However, if you want a little more background before heading into the exciting world of headhunting, stick around. Not only do we have some amazing resume tips, tricks, and examples in the following sections, we’ll also give you a leg up on the job-searching competition!
Headhunter Resume Sample
Just to give you some inspiration before you get started on your own, first, let’s take a look at what a good headhunter resume example looks like:
[Roger E. Cruit]
[Headhunter]
[Biloxi, MS | 228-555-4473 | r.e.cruit@email.com]
Summary
Friendly, dedicated, and outgoing headhunter with 6+ years of experience identifying high-quality talent for a wide variety of clients. Skilled at assessing the needs of companies and assessing applicant resumes to identify ideal fits for specific positions, using attention to detail and communication skills.
Experience
Recruiters R’ Us | Gulfport, MS
Headhunter
2018 – 2023
- Recruited talent for top organizations, including Amazon, Verizon, and Microsoft.
- Built a database of over 1,000 high-quality candidates to fill open positions quickly.
- Conducted in-person and phone interviews for potential candidates to determine qualifications and precise fit with the role.
- Worked with hiring managers to assess and identify their needs and ensure candidates were a fit with the company culture and job requirements.
- Negotiated pay packages up to $250,000 using proven salary negotiation tactics.
- Increased client satisfaction from 80% to 90% in two years.
Education
University of Southern Mississippi | Long Beach, MS
Bachelor of Science in Psychology
2009 – 2013
Skills
- Time management
- Written and verbal communications
- Organization
- Problem-solving
- Negotiation
- Recruitment practices
- Talent acquisition
- LinkedIn Recruiter
- Indeed ICMS
- Microsoft Office
Certifications
- Digital Headhunter Program Certification, 2022
- Certified People Sourcing Professional, 2020
- DevSkiller Tech Recruitment Certification, 2019
Languages
- English (native)
- Spanish (fluent)
- French (proficient)
If you’re all about the picking but not really too excited about the finding part of being a headhunter, check out this guide for how to write a recruiter resume. It’s a very similar job, but you don’t have to seek out the candidates.
Similarly, if you want to handle more of the backend of the hiring process, perhaps you’d be more interested in an HR generalist position. There certainly are plenty of positions available when it comes to finding, hiring, and managing the best employees!
How do I Choose the Best Resume Format?
The best candidates to fill a position can come from anywhere, and there’s no “best” way to fill every job. Similarly, there’s not one perfect headhunter resume format that’ll land you any job you apply to. However, there are definitely a few time-tested formatting guidelines you should follow when writing your resume:
Our Best Tips
- Use reverse-chronological order for your experience and education sections.
- Leave plenty of white space between sections to keep the page clean.
- Keep your resume to one page (unless you absolutely can’t help it).
- Use bold headings above each section to make it easy to scan for information.
- Select a professional font like Cambria, Calibri, or Arial.
- Choose a readable font size between 13-15pt for headings and 11-12pt for body text.
- Save your resume as a PDF to prevent formatting issues.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the best headhunting applicant was always at the top of a list? Well, employers wish for the same thing, and you can make their dreams come true!
Additionally to the above pointers, always put the most important information at the top of each section. This is so that the reader (potential employers) is immediately interested. Your resume is no place for suspense!
How to Write a Resume Summary or Objective for Headhunting Work
As any headhunter knows, every good meeting starts with a first impression. If a potential applicant meets you looking sloppy and unkempt, you probably won’t hire them. The same goes for your resume. Except instead of a handshake, your first impression is your resume summary or objective.
That’s to say, the key to a winning headhunter resume summary or objective (whichever you choose) is detail, detail, and more detail! It’s going to set you apart from the competition. Also, don’t forget to throw in plenty of resume power words to grab the reader’s attention.
💡TOP tip
Resume summaries are best for applicants with professional headhunter experience, while resume objectives are better for entry-level applicants.
Resume Summary for a Headhunter: Example
Writing a headhunter resume summary is a big deal, because it’s the first impression the hiring manager will get of you! To give you a little inspiration, here’s an example of a good resume summary that would please any hiring manager:
Right ✅
Friendly, dedicated, and outgoing headhunter with 6+ years of experience identifying high-quality talent for a wide variety of clients. Skilled at assessing the needs of companies and assessing applicant resumes to identify ideal fits for specific positions, using attention to detail and communication skills.
See all those specific skills and experiences jammed into two sentences? We can see straightaway that it’s a strong resume summary, ideal for a headhunter.
What About an Entry-Level Resume Objective?
If you don’t have much of a resume to summarize, perhaps a resume objective is for you! While you might be focusing on your career objectives rather than professional experience, the rules remain the same: It’s all about the details.
To illustrate our point, here is an objective for a headhunter to give you some ideas:
Right ✅
Recent college graduate with a degree in psychology seeking an entry-level headhunter job to optimize operations at ResumeGiants Offices by filling open positions with the ideal candidates. Looking to use communications skills, attention to detail, and outgoing personality to identify and attract quality talent.
Even if this applicant couldn’t speak about their professional experience, they still made sure to give plenty of detail about their skills and goals in a way that will make any potential employer perk up!
💡TOP tip
You should use the employer’s name in your resume objective accordingly. This will show that you don’t just copy and paste the same one for every application. Moreover, it proves your attention to detail, which is super important for a good headhunter.
How Should I Detail my Headhunting Experience on my Resume?
You’re a headhunter. You know how important experience is. Applicants can say they have the necessary skills all they want, but it takes a good resume experience section to prove it. That’s why your experience section needs to be perfect if you want to join the exciting world of talent acquisition!
To make an effective headhunter resume experience section, you need to touch on three key details about your professional background:
- Work history
- Key accomplishments
- Responsibilities
Since you’re the best there is (obviously), you probably have tons of experience you want to talk about in your resume. While that’s great, hiring managers don’t have time to read novels about your background. It’s best to limit your resume’s experience section to your top 3-7 examples — that is, whatever fits on one page!
💡TOP tip
Customize your experience section to fit the job description. Don’t include an example if it’s not relevant to the position you’re applying to.
Our Expert Advice
To make the most of your experience section, here are a few resume best practices to keep in mind:
- Use concrete examples of numbers and statistics.
- Customize your experience to fit the job you’re applying to.
- Keep all information concise and to the point.
- Include keywords from the job description.
What is applying for a job if not a competition? It’s you versus all the other applicants. That means you want to make your experience section match the job description as closely as possible! If you look like the absolutely perfect candidate, hiring managers won’t have any choice but to choose you.
Headhunter Resume: Experience Section Examples
Now you know what goes into an altogether fantastic resume experience section, but what does it look like in action? To demonstrate, here’s what a good experience section might look like for a headhunter:
Right ✅
Recruiters R’ Us | Gulfport, MS
Headhunter
2018 – 2023
- Recruited talent for top organizations, including Amazon, Verizon, and Microsoft.
- Built a database of over 1,000 high-quality candidates to fill open positions quickly.
- Conducted in-person and phone interviews for potential candidates to determine qualifications and precise fit with the role.
- Worked with hiring managers to assess and identify their needs and ensure candidates were a fit with the company culture and job requirements.
- Negotiated pay packages up to $250,000 using proven salary negotiation tactics.
- Increased client satisfaction from 80% to 90% in two years.
So, what makes this such a great headhunter resume experience section? It’s all the numbers and details! As long as you have the specifics, you’ll fly high above the other applicants. With this in mind, be sure to include plenty of them!
How do I Approach the Education Section of my Resume?
Your education section might not be the most important part of your resume, but it’s still something employers will want to look at! Luckily, there are only three pieces of information that employers really want to see:
- Where you went to school
- Dates of attendance
- Qualification earned
Headhunter Resume Education Section: Example
Still not sure how you want to put together your education section? Here’s a quick example:
Right ✅
University of Southern Mississippi | Long Beach, MS
Bachelor of Science in Psychology
2009 – 2013
If you’ve been to school for a long time, you can add as many degrees as you have to your education section. Just remember to list them in reverse-chronological order, with the most recent degree at the top.
You can also add your GPA or any academic achievements you’ve earned, but only if they’re impressive and relevant to the position.
💡TOP tip
If you have a college degree, you can omit your high school experience. Save the space for more important information.
What are the Best Headhunting Skills for my Resume?
You need lots of skills to be an efficient headhunter. That’s why it’s important to show potential employers you have what it takes with a great resume skills section.
To give some examples, think of hard skills as something you could get a certification or degree in, like specific workforce management software or online job board skills. On the other hand, soft skills are almost like personality traits, like communication or organizational skills.
To give you an idea of what to add to your own resume, here’s a list of a few hard and soft skills that look good on a headhunter’s resume:
Soft Skills
- Time management
- Written and verbal communications
- Organization
- Critical thinking
- Negotiation
- Data-driven mentality
Hard Skills
- Recruitment practices
- Talent acquisition
- LinkedIn Recruiter
- Indeed ICMS
- CareerBuilder
Does my Headhunter Resume Need More Sections?
There’s always more you want to brag about yourself, but there’s some information that just doesn’t fit nicely into the standard sections of a resume. That’s where “other” sections come in.
In general, other sections are dedicated to showcasing skills and background information that doesn’t quite fit anywhere else.
In reality, you’re welcome to add as many “other” sections as you deem necessary, but make sure they’re impressive and relevant to the position you’re applying to.
Examples of ‘Other’ Sections for Your Resume
Not sure what other sections to add? Here are just a few extra sections that look great on a headhunter resume, just to give you an idea of what to look for.
Certifications
- Digital Headhunter Program Certification, 2022
- Certified People Sourcing Professional, 2020
- DevSkiller Tech Recruitment Certification, 2019
Languages
- English (native)
- Spanish (fluent)
- French (proficient)
Key Pointers to Remember
To conclude, you can be assured that you now know the pieces to put together for a great headhunter resume. At any rate, as you compile your resume be sure to keep these proven tips in mind:
- Customize your resume to fit the job description.
- Include specific details wherever you can.
- Choose a clean and easy-to-read layout.
- Use a professional font.
- Save your resume as a PDF.
If you need a little inspiration to get started, check out the Resumegiants free resume templates.
Just find the one that best fits your style, input your information, and you’ll be ready to apply to your new job. In fact, it won’t be long before you’ll be the one reading the resumes as a professional headhunter!