17 HR Assistant Resume Examples & Guide for 2025

Jobs within the HR field are booming! According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is going to be an 8% increase in jobs within this field from 2021 to 2030.

In order to clinch a coveted human resources job, you need to format your resume so that it stands out among the throng of other applicants. In this article, you’ll gain a step-by-step guide to crafting the perfect HR assistant resume, combing through each individual section and giving tips to excel.

Choose the best format for your human resources assistant resume

Recently, we did a study of how our bespoke resume templates stood up against Microsoft Office templates in the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) software.

You know what we found? Enhancv's resumes perform significantly better than Microsoft Office templates when scanned with ATS.

In order to do well in ATS, you basically need to remove all spelling and grammar issues from your resume. In addition, make sure that your resume has no issues with these criteria:

• Length/Columns: It honestly doesn’t matter if you choose to use single or double columns for your resume, but a single page, double column resume does the best.
• Section headings: Section headings are important for ATS, as software will scan to make sure that you have specific sections. Try to stick with the classic headings, including “experience”, “skills”, and “education”.
• Color and design: Although ATS systems don’t scan for color, having a colorful resume connection makes it stand out to hiring managers.
• Fonts: You aren’t just limited to Times new Roman in Calibri when creating your HR assistants resume, and in fact ATS systems can read all Google approved fonts.
• File format: The best file format to use is PDF for a resume, specifically because the content of your resume won’t be shifted around.

In addition, consider creating your resume in the reverse chronological format. Reverse chronological format lists all of your most recent experiences first. This allows a hiring manager to see your career trajectory, where you started from and where you have ended up in your career journey.

In addition, if you’re switching careers or entering a creative field, use a hybrid resume format. With a hybrid resume format, your skills are given equal weight to your experience. It’s not uncommon to have two columns in a hybrid resume format, where experience is placed right next to your skills.

Customize your resume for the market – a Canadian format, for example, might vary in structure.

Add your contact information in the resume header

Did you know that your resume header is important for ATS software? Well, it is, and that’s why you should make sure that there are no grammar or spelling errors in it.

Here are some things you should include in your resume header:

• Your first name and last name
• Your title
• Your phone number
• Your email address
• Your location
• Relevant social media handles like LinkedIn (optional)

Create an interesting HR assistant resume summary

A resume summary is basically an elevator pitch, a short, succinct description of why you think you’d be a good fit at the company that you’re applying for. Resume summaries are also important for ATS software, as they scan for keywords in your resume summary. Make sure also to tailor your resume summary so that it’s easy to read for a hiring manager.

Below, you can find some things you should include in a resume summary:

• Your title and years of experience
• Your most relevant skills in your field
• Your top 1-2 professional achievements

Feature a standout HR assistant experience section

Your experience section allows you to list your major achievements throughout your career. Your experience section is also important to ATS systems. ATS scans through your experience to find industry-specific keywords.

Use a reverse-chronological format to push your most recent work to the forefront.

Below, you can find a list of important details to shape your experience section:

• Job title
• Company name, location, and description
• Date of employment: Use months and years, as this is important for ATS.
• Achievements and responsibilities: Quantify your achievements, adding facts and figures to lend credibility to your experiences.
• Use action verbs: At the start of each bullet point, use an action verb to describe your responsibilities.

Quantifying your experience

Data and practical examples can do a lot to back up the claims you make on your resume. Here are some quantifiable achievement examples from within the HR field to include on your resume:

List your education

Human resources assistants have unique qualifications through a mix of university education, specialized courses, and on-the-job training. When you first start out in the HR field, your education may be one of the top things a potential manager looks for.

Below, you can find a checklist of the most important things to put in your education section:

• Degree Name
• University, college, or other institution
• Location (optional)
• GPA (optional)
• Years attended
• Theses or coursework
• Honors (including Dean’s List)

List relevant HR assistant skills

Listing your job skills on a resume is important for two reasons. First, it allows you to narrow down your expertise for an HR manager, highlighting your specific skills. Skills are also major keywords for ATS software, and adding in skills listed in job postings may benefit you in the hiring process.

Hard skills

Hard skills are technical skills gained through training and experience, and they are easier to quantify. Follow this checklist to list the hard skills on your resume:

• Be clear and concise with the skill: Don’t say that you’re an expert communicator, when you really want to say that you that you have expert written and verbal communication skills.
• Tailor the skills to the job description: Put in a little of homework to learn about the skills that the job is looking for by scanning through the job description.
• Quantify or clarify the skills: Don’t just list that you’ve experience with onboarding tools, but mention which ones and the years of experience you have.

Soft skills

Soft skills are people skills. These skills are harder to quantify, but just as equally important as hard skills. Below, you’ll find a checklist of how to list soft skills on your resume:

• Research the job description: Just like hard skills, you need to know the expectations for the role to tailor your soft skills to fit it. Maybe the ideal candidate is a leader, one who can inspire their team, which you should list on your resume to help your chances.
• Use specific examples: Don’t just say that you’re a leader. Share when you were called to lead, and you excelled. Lean into your achievements and experience to showcase your soft skills.
• Use action verbs: Use verbs like, "collaborated", “adapted”, or “resolved” to add more to your resume skills section.

Include your HR assistant certificates

There are lots of certifications which you can list on your resume. From being a certified professional resume writer to being a Certified Human Resources Professional, every certification shows that you’ve put in the effort to be the best at what you do.

Here’s what you should include when listing your certificates:

• Certification name
• Name of issuer
• Year of obtainment
• Location (if applicable)
• Date of expiration (if applicable)
• Expected date of obtainment (if applicable)

Use other relevant sections to put the cherry on top

If you’re applying for a more specialized position or one that puts you in a management role, you want to include a “Day of My Life/My Time” section. Marissa Mayer used one on her resume, and it actually works just fine in ATS. ATS may not read it, but a hiring manager would be impressed by your time management skills.

Here are some other skills you could include:

• Membership of professional associations: Many states or countries have their own unique HR associations to govern the professional conduct of those in the field. Join one in your area to show your commitment.
• Conferences: Conferences show a desire to be constantly learning, so list relevant ones on your resume.
• Volunteering: If you’ve spent some time as a volunteer in a leadership role, the skills you gained might apply to becoming an HR assistant.
• Language skills: If you’re multilingual, this will open up doors to multinational companies.

Create a matching cover letter for your HR assistant resume

A cover letter allows you to open up and share more about what your resume says, whilst also sharing why you think you’d be a good fit at a particular company.

Here are some things you should include in your cover letter:

• Contact information that corresponds with the resumes.
• Greeting.
• Achievements in the first paragraph.
• Cover letter body:
  • Work experience
  • Skills
  • Why you’d be a good fit
• Call to action

Cover letter example

Key takeaways

• Job candidates have the best results when they compile their resume as a PDF document.
• Make sure the contact information in your resume header matches your cover letter.
• Sell your skills and abilities in your resume summary.
• Use the reverse chronological format for your resume experience section to put the most important information up front.
• Read the HR assistant job description to tailor your skills to the skills needed to fill the position.
• HR assistants may choose to list the professional associations as a separate section.
• Your cover letter is the first genuine opportunity to expand on your resume before the interview.