INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, HR Director positions are at a 9% growth rate, which is as fast as average. With that said, there are currently 161,700 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 14,800 to 176,500 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the HR Director jobs was $121,220 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $71,180, and the highest 10% more than $208,000.
Our conclusion? The HR Director job market is wide open for candidates.
Top HR director sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
An HR director resume experience section to be proud of
Writing a strong experience section for your HR director resume:
- List your previous jobs in chronological or reverse-chronological format;
- Use no more than 4-6 bullets per position;
- Mention only relevant work experience;
- Describe the tasks you were responsible for and how you managed to exceed expectations;
- Show you’re able to take charge by choosing action verbs over buzzwords.
Looking for real-life examples of what a strong experience section looks like? Check out our suggestions below!
- Como miembro del Comité de Dirección y con un equipo de 58 personas me responsabilizo de la gestión integral de los equipos de Tienda, Servicios Centrales y Logística, marcando estrategias y políticas que faciliten la consecución de los objetivos de la compañía y ayuden a transmitir los valores de la marca.
- He participado de la expansión e internacionalización de la compañía y del lanzamiento de ( Woman, Boys & Girls, Personal Tailoring, e-commerce)
- Principales áreas de responsabilidad; Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, Compensation & Benefits, Labour& Law, Payroll & Aministration, Organización, RSC)
- Atracción del mejor talento a través del diseño de acciones omnichannel adaptadas a la multidisciplinaridad y la multiculturalidad (Europa, Asia, Latam, USA) ( Headhunting, dinámicas de grupo, open house...)
- Desarrollo de equipos de alto rendimiento gracias al diseño e implantación de itinerarios de formación y desarrollo
- Proyecto Integral de employer branding incluyendo acogida, desarrollo y fidelización.
- Implantación de acciones dirigidas a conseguir los KPI's de la compañía. Definición de escalas salariales para cada uno de los países y sistemas retributivos para cada una de las líneas. Diseño de herramientas para una correcta optimización de los equipos y confección del presupuesto anual para todas las filiales.
- Negociación de : Pactos de Empleo, Planes de Igualdad, Traslados de Instalaciones, Cierres etc..
- Gestión de la nómina para E de Retribución flexible, Incentivos, Forcem
- Programas de RSC para la inserción de jóvenes en riesgo de inclusión social.
- Development and optimization of business processes, standards, procedures and regulations within the area of responsibility of HR
- Organization of effective staff recruitment process (timely and proper closing of the different levels of vacancies)
- Development of HR brand. Formation of the image of an attractive employer in the external and internal environment. Building and updating of the corporate culture.
- Formation and development of the personnel reserve
- The introduction of modern methods of adaptation and assessment of staff
- Responsible for employee relations, staff development and equal opportunity functions for the firm
- Providing HR advice and counseling to senior leaders
- Developed a performance management process to guide strategic decisions on salary increments and bonus pay out
- Developed a strategy on talent management and culture and values process.
- Responsible for South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Nigeria and Mauritius
- Developed customer centric talent strategy, resulting in 12% organic growth in 2009, case fill rate increase from 79% in 2009 to 90% in 2010, and market share gain in coffee from 18% in 2008 to 24% in 2009
- Embedded the employer branding strategy, improving labour turnover from 30% in 2008 to 18% in 2009
- Raised the bar on talent by stretching Executive Director’s objectives and linked them to Plant Global Efficiency and gross sales. This resulted in Plant Global Efficiency improvements of 40% in 2009 vs 2008; Linking talent development to Executive Directors’ performance goals. This resulted in improvements in absenteeism: 1.7% in 2009 vs. 4% in 2008
- Change Management: Championed the plant optimization strategy in 2008 and successfully retrenched 60 employees without any recourse to CCMA
- Compensation and Benefits: Established cross-functional local incentive plans to drive the local business. This resulted in: Cash Flow performance against target being exceeded by 46% in ‘09; and Operating/Net Income recognition against target being exceeded by 30% in ‘09.
- Achievements Acquisition of Cadbury by Kraft Foods (2010): Drove the integration of human capital between the two entities in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, Kenya and Mauritius. Resulted in over 2.3 thousand employees seamlessly working for Kraft Foods with no disruption to the business;
- Organizational Culture and Strategy implementation (2011): Part of team that developed the Kraft Foods culture and strategy to serve as “glue” to integrate the employees of the organization post the acquisition. Resulted in improved morale and productivity. Employees understood their workplace culture and had a better grasp of their goals and expectations from their managers, fellow employees and customers.
- Sunday Times Best 25 Big Companies 2018 with Employee Engagement at 86%
- Integration of the EE and BT sales teams moving to a multi brand operating model
- Building the Group approach to external talent from education programmes and ensuring the delivery of internal acceleration programmes
- Retail Week Be Inspired Ambassador
- Created HM, LLC HR strategy, HR Vision, and Mission
- Coached business leaders on key organizational and leaders issues which led to the development of the company’s 1st formalized succession plan model
- Developed and implemented company’s 1st formal, structured performance management and review process
- Planned and led organization design projects to streamline and implement new structures, which resulted in the utilization of an electronic pay voucher system as a reduction to administrative burden time & saving $17,334 annually
- Developed and adhered to HR fiscal budget -$50K annually
- Established and maintained an intimate understanding of the client organizations and the business, in the interest of building effective and productive working relationships with internal stakeholders and clients, at all levels of the organization
- Designed and initiated the transition to an electronic job application platform
- Relocated to The Netherlands to gain wider HR and commercial experience in Europe, securing an interim appointment as Interim International HR Director.
- Tasked with establishing HR to support KIC’s international roll-out across 6 European countries.
- Ensure the standardisation of all HR workflows, policies, procedures and structures.
- Introduced performance management and appraisal systems across all markets.
- Preparing HR plan for the corporate structure
- Predetermening job positions
- Developing payroll structure
- Hiring and sustaining plan
- Preparing training plan
- Administrative functions
- Create organisational structure
- Structure payroll process
- Initiate new approach for recruitment
- Coordinate HR for all European countries
- Lead organisational transformation and change agendas for Europe
- Accountable for a broad range of HR practices to build organisational capability and effectiveness through areas such as workforce planning, performance, employee engagement, organisational design, leadership development and employee relations to meet current and future workforce needs
- Coach and influence managers and leaders to create an environment where our people uphold and demonstrate integrity, ethical practices and the values of our business and actively lead on diversity and inclusion
- Provide leadership, direction and career development for 8 direct reports and their teams
- Year-on-year employee engagement improvement, 83% to 89%, through putting people engagement at the heart of activities
- 80% internal succession in Retail through award-winning development programme
- Integration of corporate function across three brands through redesigning organisational operating model and capabilities, saving of £6m over a three-year period
- Re-skilling of EE retail colleagues through COVID-19 pandemic by setting up to work remotely and take pressure of contact centre capacity
- Implemented TUPE transfers, new job sizing methodology and reward frameworks for c500 colleagues in the corporate teams supporting business integration
- Business partnering with leaders and managers of the operating units for the strategic management of the workforce
- Unions and Employee Relations, both at site and national level
- Compensation & Benefits policies and procedures
- Recruitment policies and processes, being an active partner in the selection and evaluation of leadership roles
- Management of the Talent and of the L&D strategy of the region
- Relaunched the role of human resources from service level to business partnership
- Developed and successfully implemented HR strategy
- Created the best employer brand that reached top positions not only within local companies but successfully compete with best multinationals
- Established efficient processes of Planning, Attracting, Developing and Retaining employess
- Increased Employee Engagement level to 20% during 3 years
- Successfully switched to grading structure
- Automatization of HR service processes
- Implementation of European Finance Service Center based in Parma
- 3 year cost saving project for Market Unit Italy (2.5 mio savings)
- Smart working project (global project awarded with the Barilla Excellence Award)
- Improvement for HR KPIs by 20-30% (Time to hire, Payroll quality)
- New Total Reward concept
- Salary market alignment concept created by me adopted by whole region (8 countries)
- Responsible for 2000 associates, incl. 1 factory in Russia employing 600+ people
- Co-leaded global EVP project team
- Launched EE wide Achievements Recognition Program
- Recruitment & Assessment Toolkit and Local Successors Improvement Plan via key org competencies and strategic positions identification
- 4 ways of cluster’s restructuring aimed to 1. provide countries’ GM’s with more and better strategic resources and 2. improve service level for representatives, 3. inject new org competencies to execute biz strategies and create own commercial marketing team, and 4. lay off obsolete manual jobs following business processes digitalisation
- Built EE HR team: business partners and centres of expertise (Talent Management and Development, C&B, HRIS, Expats services)
- Global Workday launch in EE
- Improved budgeting process and monthly monitoring of deviations
- Initiated RACI creation between regional, clusters and countries HR teams
- Highest employee engagement score (4.7) in the group
- Growing digital talent from 0 - 500
- Recognized as top agile partner by the Tech team/ recognized by as one of top 3 change makers in the division
PRO TIP
Include quantitative data throughout your HR Director resume to impress the hiring manager. Real facts and figures that show off your competency as an audit manager go a long way. Did you reduce the costs of audits? Manage a large team? Boosted efficiency? Show off the real numbers!
Action verbs for your HR director resume
Recommended reads:
Taking Control of Your HR Director Resume’s Skills Section
A skills section that shows what you’re capable of includes:
- Keywords from the job advert to help you pass ATS;
- Both hard and soft skills, incl. technical skills and people skills;
- Skills that are relevant to the position you’re applying for;
- No more than 15 skills – to keep your resume readable.
Top skills for your HR director resume
Microsoft Office
Project Management
Jira
Slack
Taleo
Workday
Organisation
Communication
confidentiality
Time management
Team work
Adaptability
PRO TIP
Avoid getting sidetracked by Applicant tracking software by including a tech skills' section matching the job description and your own qualifications.
Recommended reads:
HR director resume header: Tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your HR director resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Include a link to your portfolio in your HR Director resume header. Most companies will require that you include one in your resume, and even if they don’t, it’s an excellent opportunity to directly show them your proudest projects.
An HR director resume summary that spotlights your achievements
Checklist: A strong HR Director resume summary:
- Use adjectives that highlight the character traits you’re most proud of;
- Mention 1-2 of your biggest achievements;
- Add keywords from the job advert to increase your chances of passing ATS;
- Keep the recruiter’s attention by going for short sentences.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
When writing a resume summary or objective, avoid first-person narrative.
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Creating an impressive education section for your HR director resume
The education section: checklist
- List your degrees in reverse-chronological order;
- Include your degree subject, place of study, name of institution, and year of graduation;
- Add a line or two about your relevant certifications;
- Mention some classes and projects that have helped you gain additional skills.
Top certifications for your HR director resume
HR as a Strategic Business Partner
Better understand your value and role as a strategic business partner
Learn HR Fundamentals for a Career in Human Resources
Human Resource Management is key to developing any business or organization. Learn core HR roles and responsibilities.
SHRM Certification Exam Prep: Essential Steps for HR Pros
[2022 UPDATES] Learn how to best prepare for the SHRM-CP & SHRM-SCP exams
The Human Resources Certification Program (HRCI - PHR/SPHR)
An Exam Preparation Guide to the Human Resource Body of Knowledge
Ultimate Human Resources : HR Generalist Course with Payroll
Hands-on HR Certification : Remote Recruitment, Onboarding, HR Career Plan & Roadmap, Indian Payroll, Compensation, PF
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a HR Director. But, some are more effective than others. That’s why you mustn’t include every certificate other applicants might have. Try instead to earn and list a few of the difficult ones.
A professional format for your HR director resume
There are some aspects worth taking into consideration when choosing the format of your HR Director resume. These include the position and company you’re applying for, your total years of experience, whether you’ve been through some employment gaps, and so on.
Generally speaking, there are three basic resume formats for you to choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
The reverse-chronological resume format is just that: all your jobs listed in a reverse-chronological way, starting from the most recent and moving backward. It’s great for highly experienced professionals with over 10 years in the industry behind their backs. The reason for this: it’s almost entirely focused on experience and achievements.
The functional skills-based resume format, on the other hand, is just the opposite. It’s based on your skills, personality, and expertise. It highlights what you’re capable of even when you don’t have sufficient work experience. This makes it great for students, recent graduates, or people with larger career gaps.
If neither of these sounds like you, go for the combination resume format. It’s a combination of the best characteristics of other formats, which makes it great for showcasing different aspects of your career and education. It also gives you plenty of options to choose from – in terms of colors, structure, and sections.
Check out our additional tips on perfecting your HR Director resume’s style and layout:
- Choose traditional 1-inch resume margins;
- Go for a serif or sans serif resume font that’s easy to read yet looks professional (e.g. Arial, Verdana, or Calibri);
- Keep your HR Director resume short: one-page template are preferable, but if you have over 10 years of experience, you can also go for a two-page format;
- Save your resume as PDF and choose a suitable name, e.g. NameSurnameResume;
Tired of looking for ways to make your resume stand out? Read this article!
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PRO TIP
If you feel that you don’t have high chances in a particular company, due to lack of relevant experience, then you can still consider using a creative layout. That might help you get noticed and invited for an interview, as most of the other applicants will have boring resume designs.
Additional sections for your HR director resume
After drafting the required sections of your HR Director resume, it’s now time to move to something a bit more fun. There are a number of sections you can add to your resume depending on the company, the position, and how you’re feeling in general:
Adding the right kind of creativity to your HR director resume
It is through creativity that we express ourselves. And trust us, it’s important to show at least a bit of your personality if you want to leave a strong first impression.
But what are the ways to add creativity to your HR Director resume? Well, you can either go for a colorful and engaging template, or you could add some out-of-the-box sections, such as ‘life philosophy’ or ‘what my typical day looks like’.
It’s up to you! Just make sure that the level of creativity matches the position, the company, and the industry you’re applying for.
What makes a great HR director resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
