Recruiter Resume: Template for Download & Writing Guide

As a recruiter, you’re used to selecting people for a job, not finding one. Luckily, we have the best tools that can help you become just as successful in finding a job as finding an employee. Create a resume with our perfectly-outlined template and find your ideal job.

View in fullscreen
Harrison Howe
Written by
Harrison Howe
Career Writer
Updated on November 15, 2023

Who does a doctor go to when he’s sick?

That’s the kind of question that might pop into your head when you think: Who does a recruiter send his/her resume to?

Since your resume might be more scrutinized by those in the same profession you are seeking to enter, you will need to make extra sure that it stands out.

So, if this is work you are interested in pursuing, answering the following questions will help you build a stronger application:

  • How do I best describe my experience?
  • Is my education section detailed enough?
  • What recruitment skills should I highlight?

Maybe you are an entry-level applicant, which can influence what parts of your resume you focus on more.

In this article, we’ll answer these questions to help you create an application that will make sure you’re not the only recruiter happy with your resume.

To make the process even simpler you can take advantage of our AI-powered resume builder along with our expert advice on how to quickly make a job-winning application.

Review our Recruiter Resume Sample

If you’re not sure where to start, no worries! Refer to these helpful recruiter resume samples for an idea of what your own document should look like:

Resume Example
Copied!

[Holly Flax]

[Human Resources Recruiter]

[PA 18504   |   555-555-5555   |   holly.flax.hrpro@randomemail.com]

Summary

Strategic Recruiter with 5+ years of experience and proven results in recruiting and retention across various industries. Utilizes methods to fill high-level positions, streamline hiring processes, improve retention, and create new recruitment pipelines. Strong ability to explain company brand and secure top talent leading to increased success in production, sales, and corporate growth.

Experience

Recruiter

07/2020 to Current

Talent Resource Solutions, Scranton, PA

  • Developed and implemented recruiting plans for a company with 2,000+ employees.
  • Created college recruitment program covering 14 state colleges and universities and coordinated annual visits to each institution.
  • Spearheaded full-cycle recruitment process for management and assistant management positions across all business lines.
  • Coordinated travel arrangements, including reserving flights and hotels, arranging car transportation, and managing calendar of events.
  • Increased retention rates by 20% through the introduction of rewards programs and recognition of top performers in three business divisions.
  • Trained staff of three recruiters to optimize interviewing processes and detail company brand to job candidates.
  • Filled 310 full-time, permanent positions, 198 part-time positions, and 88 contract positions.

Staffing Recruiter

02/2016 to 06/2020

Dwight Staffing Services, Wilkes-Barre, PA

  • Assisted in the management of multi-state recruiting efforts to source candidates for administrative and mid-management positions for Fortune 500 companies.
  • Worked with top clients to review staffing needs and positions, create job descriptions, and determine salaries for short- and long-term opportunities.
  • Interviewed candidates and reviewed resumes to assess qualifications and determine optimal placement.
  • Followed up with applicant references to verify capabilities and work history.• Implemented improved hiring metrics and sourcing strategies, resulting in decreased time to hire by 2 days within a one-month period.

Education

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration: Human Resource Management

Clarion University, Clarion, PA

2014

Skills

  • Microsoft Office
  • Talent acquisition
  • College recruitment
  • Organizational skills
  • Communication skills
  • Analytical skills
  • Attention to detail

Certifications

  • Professional Recruiter Certification (PRC), 2020
  • SHRM Certified Professional, 2020

Sample Resume for Recruiter with No Experience

If you are just starting off in your career, take a look at this entry-level candidate’s resume, and how it relates to the recruiting role.

Resume Example
Copied!

[Toby Flenderson]

[Recruiter to be]

[PA 18504   |   444-555-5555   |   toby1410@randomemail.com]

Summary

Detail- and goals-oriented individual with a proven record of delivering improved organizational function and performance results seeking position requiring job candidate recruiting and placement. Strong time management, evaluation, and communication skills with the ability to emphasize employee relations, training development, and staffing assessment.

Experience 

Store Manager
10/2020 to Current
Household Goods Emporium, Scranton, PA

  • Oversee all store functions, i.e. management, inventory, payroll, hiring, and training.
  • Create employee schedules.
  • Interview candidates to fill positions in sales and shipping/receiving.
  • Developed and implemented an employee training program, resulting in a 12% decrease in errors and a 10% increase in retention.
  • Perform monthly inventory audits.
  • Generate weekly sales reports.
  • Resolve customer and employee issues.

Education 

Associate of Science in Business Administration

York College, York, PA

2019

  • Relevant Courses: Principles of Management; Communication for Business Professionals; Data Driven Decision Making; Communication in Professional Cultures

Skills

  • Microsoft Office
  • Talent acquisition
  • College recruitment
  • Organizational skills
  • Communication skills
  • Analytical skills
  • Attention to detail

Certifications

  • Professional Recruiter Certification (PRC), 2022
  • SHRM Certified Professional, 2022

Recruit the Best Recruiter Resume Format

As an experienced or even novice recruiter, you are likely well aware that hiring managers and recruiters spend only 6 or 7 seconds scanning every resume.

That means setting up your resume to your strengths is the best choice. 

There are 3 typical resume formats that are used:

  • Reverse chronological
  • Functional
  • Combination

The chronological format is what usually works best regardless of how much experience you have. However, this is especially true for seasoned applicants.

It’s best to list your work experience after your summary, in reverse chronological order. 

This format for a Recruiter resume really allows you to showcase your skills and accomplishments in:

  • Talent acquisition
  • Retention
  • Recruiting methods

For some entry-level or beginner Recruiters you may want to use a functional format. This will start off with your education and focus more on your skills since you don’t have as many professional accomplishments yet.

You can then add any other relevant sections like certifications, internships, and awards.

Make a Strong First Impression with Your Recruiter Resume Summary

How do you get a Recruiter to recruit a Recruiter?

You start off with a powerful Recruiter resume summary. Resume objective statements were common for applicants with little experience, however, they’re being increasingly seen as obsolete. Your summary should mention:

  • How long you’ve been a Recruiter/in another relevant  role
  • Key accomplishments with data to back them up
  • Your skills and expertise 

Remember: you have only seconds to grab a hiring manager’s attention, so that summary should mention as much as you can get into a short paragraph.

Recruiter Resume Summary Example

Let’s take a look at good and bad examples of resume summaries, so you can see what goes into an effective statement and mistakes that you should avoid.

Wrong ❌

Strong recruiter with skills in hiring, interviewing, and candidate assessment. Knowledgeable in various applicant tracking systems. Good communication and organizational skills. More than five years of experience.

This summary doesn’t give anywhere near enough information to be useful to a recruiter, which you must be aware of us! Avoid adding generic skills and information like in this example.

Right ✅

Driven, well-connected recruiter with seven years of experience in talent acquisition, training program development, and full-cycle recruiting strategies. Responsible for filling executive positions across multiple industries, exceeding recruitment goals by 30% by placing 500+ candidates over a three-year period. Skilled at screening candidates and describing job goals to new employees and knowledgeable about employment laws and labor relations.

A well-written summary for a Recruiter like this doesn’t get a foot in the door, it gets your whole body past the threshold! This includes plenty of specific information and data that backs up this candidate’s accomplishments.

💡 top tip

Avoid listing too many accomplishments or successes in your summary. A major point or two is enough to whet the appetite of a hiring manager and get them to read on.

Writing Your Resume Summary When You Don’t Have Experience

No recruiter experience = not having any specific recruiter career accomplishments, so if that’s the case, then you should write an entry-level summary.

For an entry-level Recruiter resume, the focus will be a bit different than in an experienced summary statement. 

In this case, it will be better to mention the most relevant qualities related to your:

  • Transferable skills
  • Relevant coursework
  • Certifications
  • Achievements relevant to being a Recruiter

Let’s see some examples, starting with the weaker entry-level resume summary.

Wrong ❌

I have recently finished college and looking for a job. I studied a lot of subjects and think I can talk to people well. I am good at using LinkedIn and want to try working in recruiting. I would like this job to start gaining experience.

This summary comes across as informal and does not effectively communicate the candidate’s potential value to an employer in the recruiting field.

Right ✅

Recent Human Resources graduate with a strong foundation in talent acquisition and management, backed by a certification in Professional Recruiting. Proven skills in communication and relationship-building, honed through extensive coursework in organizational behavior and psychology. Eager to apply a data-driven approach to recruiting in a dynamic corporate environment.

This summary effectively shows a clear understanding of the key aspects of recruiting and a readiness to apply these skills in a professional setting. Including some relevant coursework can really demonstrate the specifics you are knowledgeable in.

What’s more, they mention their professional certification to back it up.

Get Recruited With a Strong Experience Section on Your Recruiter Resume

If your resume summary or objective is your document’s appetizer, your experience section is the main course!

Have you worked in an HR setting? Familiar with hiring processes and training programs? Possess the ability to assess job candidates and resumes?

Your relevant experience will be one of the parts of your resume that will win a hiring manager over.

Here’s where you get to let a recruiter know that you’re… well, recruitable! And the best candidate for the job.

💡 top tip

Use action verbs to describe your experience, such as “recruited”, “assessed”, “spearheaded”, “developed”, etc. Avoid passive voice (i.e., “the training program was developed by me.”)

Clearly state which tasks you managed, which systems you mastered, and specific accomplishments, such as increasing retention rates or developing a time- and money-saving training program.

Here’s an example of an experience section that still needs a bit of work.

Wrong ❌

Senior Recruiter
05/2020 to 1/2022
Depth Charge Media, Trenton, NJ

  • Managed hiring staff
  • Pre-screened job candidates
  • Implemented training processes to ensure the best talent placement
  • Reviewed compensation and benefits reports

Managed how large a staff? What pre-screening processes were conducted? What were the hiring and retention rates for the training processes that were implemented?

Remember, your Recruiter’s resume is being reviewed by a fellow professional. They are going to expect details when it comes to the work experience. Don’t disappoint, or you won’t be among the swimmers in that company’s talent pool.

Right✅

Senior Recruiter
05/2020 to 01/2023
XYZ Media, Trenton, NJ

  • Oversaw the full recruitment cycle to ensure the company maintained staffing levels in three locations
  • Created and managed Campus Recruitment Program; held four job fairs across the state throughout 2022 resulting in the hiring of two permanent employees and three interns
  • Developed pre-screening practices for candidates to ensure employee diversity and cultural fits
  • Trained staff of two junior recruiters and one recruiting intern on behavioral interviewing practices, enhancing proficiency by 20%.
  • Reviewed and edited job descriptions for all upper- and mid-management roles
  • Implemented training and career development programs, resulting in an 8% increase in retention

If you explain your experience like this, with accomplishments backed up by metrics, your responsibilities, and expertise, you’ll land an interview in no time!

Make sure that your experience section is as good as it can be by reviewing our resume examples for proper formatting and language tips.

Entry-Level Recruiter Resume: Experience Section

Wondering how to write a resume for a Recruiter job with no experience? You know at some point you’ll need to write your experience section.

But, there’s always a solution to this problem! Even if you’re completely new to the field.

Everyone starts somewhere, and you’re sure to have some tasks and responsibilities in your work history that would be effective in a role as a recruiter. You’ll need to identify and highlight these in your entry-level recruiter resume.

In your experience section, to cover up for your lack of work history you can do the following:

By mentioning any jobs or training you’ve had where you used skills that you can apply to the Recruiter position, you’ll give yourself a much better chance of landing the job.

Get Schooled on Writing an Education Section for a Recruiter Resume

You worked hard to earn your qualifications. Here’s where it pays off!

Your education section is useful whether you have experience or not. 

However, you will find it can have the most impact on an entry-level resume or for a Recruiter position that is not looking for much or any experience.

Wrong ❌

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration,

XYZ College

2021

GPA: 3.8

This example does not have enough detail to help your resume stand out. And that GPA: it’s advisable not to include your GPA if it’s under 3.7.

Right ✅

Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management

ABC University

2020

GPA: 3.8

  • Relevant courses: Recruitment and Selection; Training and Development; Labor Relations; Intro to Counseling; Communication: Personal to Professional

With a strong GPA and courses in recruiting, training, and communication, you show yourself to be hard-working, dedicated, and efficient.

The education section is a space where you can also list projects, awards, Greek life, or if you made the Dean’s list.

An employer will notice these traits, and you’ve likely made up for in your academics what you might be lacking in experience.

💡 top tip

Leave out your GPA and relevant courses if you have experience as a recruiter.

Apply an Effective Skills Section to Your Recruiter Resume

One of the first answers to the question “What should a Recruiter always include on their resume”, has to be skills. 

When you list the right skill set on your professional Recruiter resume,  you’ll really boost your profile.

Regarding skills, there’s more to it than bullet points listing each ability. Put some action into those key competencies, and they’ll really jump out at a hiring manager.

So, instead of:

Wrong ❌

  • Hiring
  • Screening
  • Headhunting
  • Technical skills

You might list:

Right ✅

  • Talent acquisition
  • Business intelligence and data analysis expertise
  • Knowledge of Desktop communications software
  • Strong candidate vetting
  • Passive recruiting strategies
  • Time accounting software knowledge
  • Knowledgeable in Applicant Tracking Systems (Oracle Taleo Cloud Service, Google Hire, JobVite)

In general, you’ll want to mention the following types of skills throughout your resume:

  • Personnel sourcing
  • Multitasking skills
  • Interpersonal skills
  • Communication skills
  • Interviewing skills
  • Networking skills
  • Presentation skills
  • Research skills
  • Management skills

Go the Extra Mile with Extra Sections for Your Recruiter Resume

Do you have any professional recruiter or human resources certifications to add to your staffing recruiter resume? Have you attended, or spoken at, any relevant conferences about HR practices or recruiting? Did you contribute to a professional publication?

If you have, any of these are great additions to your application. 

Specific achievements, such as winning a company or other award, could also be mentioned here.

You can add them under headings such as:

  • Accomplishments
  • Certifications
  • Publications

These can be really impactful if you don’t have experience as a Recruiter. 

The sample below shows how you can include these types of extra sections in your resume:

Example
Copied!

Accomplishments

  • Top Newcomer, ABC Recruiting Firm, 2021: Surpassed quarterly hiring targets by 30% in the first year.
  • Volunteer Coordinator of the Year, 2020: Led 50 volunteers, boosting community event participation.

Certifications

  • Professional in Human Resources (PHR), 2021: Mastery in HR practices and U.S. laws.

Publications

“Diversity in Recruitment,” The Recruiter’s Journal, Oct 2021: Co-authored paper on diversity in hiring.

If you are applying to a job that is more academic in nature, and more related to Human Resources and Recruitment research, you might need to look at if you should write a CV, rather than a resume. Always double-check!

Key Points

Before you consider your resume complete, follow this checklist to be sure you have all the details you need; remember, you need to impress a Recruiter before you can become a Recruiter:

  • Write a powerful career objective or professional summary.
  • List all your work experiences, most recent first; bullet point all responsibilities, especially those most relevant to recruiter job duties.
  • Note your degrees earned, dates, and name of college or university under your Education section, immediately following your Experience section.
  • Identify both hard and soft skills; be specific about what systems you have worked in and how you have applied these skills.
  • Add any other details under an additional section: volunteering, hobbies/interests, achievements, awards, conferences, etc.

Remember: before you can be recruited or are even recruitable, it’s going to take the right resume to get noticed.

With our free online tools such as our creative templates and builder,  you’re on your way to producing the kind of recruiter resume that will make you the ideal candidate…and, ultimately, the candidate who lands the job!

Free Resume Templates

Using resume templates that are proven to work will help you to move your career search forward. Start and customize as many resumes as you need with our free resume builder