HR Director Resume: Templates, Examples, & Essential Skills

As an HR Director, you’re used to being the one who finds the talent for a company. This time, let us help you get noticed by hiring managers with our customized resume templates. Create the ideal resume and get noticed by an employer in no time.

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Margaret Buj
Reviewed by
Margaret Buj
Career expert
Updated on February 3, 2023
Written by
Siobhan Brier

An HR director is a crucial member of any company’s corporate landscape. HR directors have many duties that are essential to the effective functioning of any organization.

They’re responsible for hiring new employees, managing company policies, creating presentations, planning compensation packages, resolving conflicts, and more.

The most successful HR directors have resumes that stand out from the crowd and emphasize these abilities, putting them in the best possible position to land a job.

In this guide, we’ll help you create a strong HR director resume using templates, examples, tips, and tricks, like:

  • Creating an HR director resume that follows the correct format
  • Following the job description to optimize your HR director resume
  • Highlighting the soft and hard skills you’ll need as an HR director
  • Looking at sample HR director resumes as guidelines

HR Director Resume Sample

Let’s take a look at our sample HR director resume template.

Resume Example
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[Maggie Smith]

[Human Resources Director]

[137, Pendale Avenue, PA | 241-926-8527 | maggie.smith@gmail.com]

Summary

Experienced HR Director with 8+ years of experience working in human resource management across digital and IT sectors. Adept at developing work policies and  translating business vision into HR initiatives that improve performance, profitability, growth, and employee engagement.

Experience

Human Resources Director
Quail and Clark
2014 – 2022
* Oversaw a team of 20 HR professionals to improve work-life balance and mental health of employees during COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Curated new work policies and benefit programs for employee welfare.
  • Designed an internal platform to assess employee performance metrics.
  • Reduced employee turnover rate by 34% through Speak Up initiative for employees.

Human Resources Assistant
Quail and Clark
2013-2014
* Oversaw HR policies and programs alongside senior HR managers.
* Managed onboarding process for summer interns.
* Helped input employee data into company system for annual performance review.

Education

Bachelor of Arts in Human Resource Management

New York University, NY
2010 – 2013
* Graduated magna cum laude with a 3.7 GPA.

  • Excelled in management, psychology, and sociology.
  • Relevant Coursework: Business Management, Employee Recruitment and Retention, Human Resource Ethics, Foreign Language Policy

Skills

  • Communication
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Administration Knowledge

Certificates

  • SHRM Certification in Human Resource Management (Society for Human Resource Management, 2013)
  • HR Certification – Level II (LinkedIn, 2014)

Feel free to use this HR director resume example as a guide when drafting your own. It encompasses all you’ll need to create a robust application and set your human resources director resume apart from the rest.

What’s the Best HR Director Resume Format?

The way you format your director of human resources resume is equally as important as the content you put on it.

An HR director’s resume should usually be 1-2 pages long. In general, though, the shorter, the better; your resume should be easy to read in just a minute or two.

Here are some essential sections you put on a director of HR resume:

  • Contact/personal information
  • Resume summary
  • Work experience
  • Qualifications and achievements
  • Soft and hard skills

A solid HR director resume should use a reverse-chronological format. This means that your most recent experiences will be listed first, followed by the next most recent one, and so on.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when making your HR director resume:

  • Use professional fonts.
    • Most people are familiar with fonts like Times New Roman, Arial, Verdana and Calibri. They look professional, neat, and, most of all, readable. Stick to the basics with this one.
  • Use single line spacing.
    • In order to ensure your content isn’t cramped, use single line spacing. This makes sure there’s enough breathing space on your resume.
  • Use single margins.
    • While it’s good to have breathing space on your resume, you don’t have to have too much negative space. To avoid an empty-looking resume, use single-inch margins.
  • Make your headings bold.
    • Bold headings can help the reader navigate through your HR director resume. Make sure your headings are in a bigger font compared to the regular text on the rest of your resume.
  • Avoid pictures or images.
    • In almost all cases, HR director resumes shouldn’t have images or pictures; this often doesn’t look professional and can clutter your resume. You can use this valuable space for your qualifications and work experience instead.
  • PDFs are the way to go.
    • When it comes to digitally sending or uploading your HR director resume, PDF files are the universally accepted format. Stick to PDFs to ensure your resume can be opened by anyone and that its layout remains undisturbed.

If you find it challenging to get the perfect format for your HR director resume, you’re certainly not alone. Fortunately, with the help of our resume templates, you don’t have to worry anymore! In just a few clicks, you’ll have a structured resume ready to go.

How to Write an HR Director Resume Summary

A resume summary is the first thing a hiring manager sees when they start reading your resume.

A resume summary is a 1-2 short paragraph that describes you, your qualifications, experience, and skillset.

💡 top tip

Your resume summary is the elevator pitch of your resume. It’s the first impression, so make it count!

HR Director Resume Summary Example

Check out these two sample human resources director resume summaries:

Wrong ❌

HR director with over a decade of experience in many different industries. Created positive work environments where I worked and provided employees with access to training programs.

Right ✅

Experienced HR director with 12+ years of practice managing various human resource departments across research, consultancy, and technology industries. Created a positive work environment while providing employees access to multiple training programs.

As you can see, the first example gives you a brief summary of the candidate. However, the second example shows personality while giving us adequate information concisely.

Entry-Level HR Director Resume Objective

Below are two objectives from separate human resources director resume samples; one provides a much better breakdown of your skills, accomplishments, and value as a potential employee than the other:

Wrong ❌

Adaptable, entry-level HR director with experience in salary planning and policy planning. Created suitable work environments through interpersonal skills.

Right ✅

Adaptable HR professional with 2+ experience in salary and policy planning. Used strong interpersonal and team-building skills to create a positive work environment. Praised by senior management for time management abilities.

How to Describe Your HR Director Experience

The experience section of an HR director’s resume is one of the most important; it highlights all your achievements over the years.

Use your experience section to highlight your accomplishments in a professional setting. It’s a great way to emphasize your skills practically.

💡top tip

Use a thesaurus to avoid sounding monotonous! Use action verbs to strengthen your resume. For example, use “collaborate with” instead of “work with.”

How to Quantify Your HR Director Experience

Have a look at those tip for quantifying your HR Director experience:

  • Have the job ad on hand and use it to tailor your resume and leave out those responsibilities that aren’t mentioned in the job ad. 
  • Then, take those responsibilities and transform them into accomplishment statements, using power / action verbs (led, oversaw, increased) and PAR (Problem-Action-Result) formula.
  • Use numbers to quantify your milestones. 

You can see some examples of HR achievements below:

  • Handled all HR issues in a 75-employee finance firm
  • Oversaw the recruitment process, which reduced lead time by 35%
  • Increased employee retention by 17% 
  • Created HR organization – recruitment, staffing, onboarding, training – for both expatriates and local national hires in Brazil, Mexico, and Spain
  • Rolled out the company’s first HR shared services center for delivery of internal coaching services

HR Director Resume Examples: Experience

Here are a few sample HR director resume accomplishments and experiences you can use to guide your own as you create your HR director resume:

Wrong ❌

HR Director
Jupiter Consultancy, PA
2014-2022

  • Had meetings with team leaders to address staffing needs
  • Edited job listings for vacant roles
  • Screened applicants for hiring process
  • Led interview process for senior roles
  • Came up with summer internship program

Right ✅

Human Resources Director
Jupiter Consultancy, PA
2014-2022

  • Provided HR leadership during a period of rapid growth with better than 18% increase in annual revenues and 10% gain in
  • profitability. Currently, supporting initial efforts to establish a secondary manufacturing facility to meet customer needs.
  • Captured $50K in benefit cost reductions and avoided an additional $800K in retirement plan funding.
  • Introduced metrics-based performance management system with a heavy emphasis on operating results. Spearheaded
  • value-add employee recognition and awards programs.
  • Re-invented and implemented new recruitment, staffing, and workforce development programs to meet advancements in
  • product operations, technology, and management.
  • Championed successful EH&S program design/implementation and company-wide employee communications initiative

Focus On Your HR Education Section

An HR director often needs a college degree, ideally in a business discipline, so be sure to list the schools you’ve attended and the qualifications you received in this section.

List your most valuable degree first, and use a reverse-chronological format. You can also provide any further training or certificates you’ve received.

💡 top tip

You don’t need to include your high school diploma if you have a college degree. The same logic applies if you have a degree higher than a Bachelor’s, too; spend the bulk of your education section discussing the most recent and relevant qualifications you have.

HR Director Resume Education Section

Let’s take a look at how you can keep your HR director resume’s education section engaging for recruiters:

Wrong ❌

BA in Human Resource Management
Penn State University, PA
2015 – 2019

  • Graduated with 3.8 GPA
  • Relevant Coursework: Strategic Management, Business Management, International Affairs, Foreign Language Policy, Human Resource Ethics

Right ✅

Bachelor of Arts in Human Resource Management
Penn State University, PA
2015 – 2019

  • Graduated magna cum laude with a 3.8 GPA.
  • Excelled in business management and social psychology.
  • Relevant Coursework: Strategic Management, Business Management, International Affairs, Foreign Language Policy, Human Resource Ethics

The Best HR Director Skills for a Resume

This section will cover your soft and hard skills. Soft skills are general skills that can be applied across various professions, while hard skills are field-specific skills that are developed on the job.

We’ve listed a few skills that you can list on your HR director resume:

Hard Skills

  • HR Best Practices
  • Employee Relations & Diversity
  • Talent Acquisition
  • Staff Coaching & Mentoring
  • Organizational Development
  • Employee Performance Improvement
  • Leadership Development
  • HR Policy Design
  • Change Management
  • Workforce Planning & Development

Soft Skills

  • Management skills
  • Time management
  • Leadership
  • Organizational skills
  • Communication skills
  • Interpersonal skills
  • Decision-making
  • Problem-solving
  • Confidentiality
  • Teamwork
  • Adaptability

How to Add Other Sections for an Effective Resume

The “Other” section of your HR director resume can help set you apart from other candidates. It helps distinguish your resume from the hundreds of applications that recruiters go through every day.

💡top tip

If you know any foreign languages, add them to your resume! Additional languages can be a huge bonus on any resume, especially one in the human resources industry.

HR Director Resume Sample “Other” Sections

Here are some examples of what an “Other” section would look like on an HR director’s resume:

Wrong ❌

Certificates

  • SHRM Certificate
  • IFEBP Certificate
  • LinkedIn Certificate

Right ✅

Certificates

  • SHRM Certification (Society for Human Resource Management, 2017)
  • IFEBP Certification (International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, 2016)
  • HR Certification (LinkedIn, 2016)

Key Takeaways

In this guide, we learned:

  • When creating an HR director resume, make sure you include a resume summary which highlights your skills and achievements and is tailored to each specific role.
  • Make sure to include quantifiable achievements to show the impact you’ve made as an HR Director.
  • Don’t forget to include education, work experience, and other sections on your HR director resume.
  • Be clear and concise when listing examples of experiences as an HR director.
  • Highlight any soft and hard skills you have in the skills section.
  • Include any other certifications or qualifications you have that are relevant to the position.

We hope this guide helps you make the perfect HR director resume to land the job you’ve been eyeing for so long!

If you need more help with your HR director resume, our resume builder has hundreds of ready-made templates to help you create a brand-new HR director resume in minutes!

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