How to Write an HR Director Resume (With Template and Example)

When hiring for senior roles, companies review resumes evaluating experiences and skills. As a prospective human resource (HR) director, the resume allows you to highlight your competencies, proficiency, and suitability for a role. Understanding how to write your resume as an HR director can help showcase your skills and competence, increasing your chances of getting hired. In this article, we explain what an HR director resume is, detail how to write one, share some relevant skills, provide a helpful template, and give you an example to use.

What is an HR director resume?

An HR director resume is a document that outlines the qualifications of a candidate for an HR director, a senior human resource professional responsible for other HR personnel. While the HR director may head the human resources team for large companies with an HR department, the title may apply to lone HR personnel in smaller companies. The department handles employee-related duties, such as recruitment, performance evaluations, and coordinating exit processes.

The HR director for large departments may perform more senior roles, like drafting department and employee budgets. They may also create company policies and procedures that address compensation, labour relations, compliance, and employee training. The resume supports a candidate's ability to perform these duties and manage a company's human resources.

Read more: What Does a Human Resource Director Do? (With Job List)

How to write an HR director resume

The following steps can help you draft a resume for an HR director position:

1. Begin with contact information

One of the primary functions of your resume is to provide the hiring manager with different means to contact you. The standard information includes your full name, phone number, e-mail address, city, and province or territory. Ensure you use a professional e-mail address, cross-check your contact details, and verify their accuracy.

Related: 13 of the Best Human Resources Jobs

2. Draft your professional summary

The professional summary section comes after the header or information section. Here, you may write a short paragraph on your core proficiencies and how they make you a perfect fit for the job. For instance, as an HR director, you may briefly explain your achievement in previous roles and how you hope to replicate the same in future positions. Ensure you tailor your professional summary to your experiences and how they relate to the prospective role and keep it concise, using compelling and convincing words.

Read more: How to Write an HR Objective Resume Statement (With Examples)

3. Outline your work experience

You may list your work experience section after the professional summary. This section covers the previous positions that qualify you for the job. For example, a human resources director is a senior role, and most employers may require a professional with considerable experience.

When listing your previous experience, you may use the reverse-chronological format by first stating the most recent. Under this heading, you may create at least three bullet points, five for the most current role, itemizing your achievements at the job. It's advisable to begin each bullet point with action words to indicate performance.

Related: Why Work in HR? (With Average Salaries of Various Roles)

4. Include your educational background

This section details your degrees, graduation year, institution, and location. In addition, you may include the awards you received in this position, as they may increase your chances of getting the job. While most employers don't specify educational backgrounds for the role, they may prefer degrees in management and related fields. If you have any certifications that strengthen your experience and expertise as an HR professional, you can list them in a separate section following the skills section of your resume. Ensure to include the certification name, host organization, and the year of certification or expiry. All certificates should be up-to-date for you to include in your resume.

Related: What Can You Do with a Human Resources Degree? (Job List)

5. List your skills

After outlining your work experience, you may list relevant skills. You can include soft and technical skills in this section. While soft skills may apply across industries and roles, hard or technical skills are role and industry-specific. Ensure you review the job description and highlight the ones the employer requires. You may also research general industry skills that apply to the position.

Relevant resume skills for HR directors

Some of the in-demand skills for HR directors include:

• Leadership skills: Leadership skills for an HR director are your ability to oversee other junior employees while assigning tasks and ensuring general department efficiency. In addition, you may oversee other employee activities while evaluating performance and giving feedback.

• Decision-making skills: Efficient decision-making skills are the ability to make on-the-spot and efficient decisions for your department, employees, and the company. You may also make decisions concerning general company policies, hiring processes, and employee disputes.

• Communication skills: As an HR director, communication skills are your ability to convey and receive information efficiently from your team, helping you relay company decisions and policies to employees and discuss their performance with company executives.

• Empathy: Empathy is your ability to listen to employee complaints and empathize with them. You may apply it when resolving conflicts, making exceptions, or handling sensitive issues.

• Time management: Time management entails efficiently using your time to achieve set tasks. As an HR director, time management skills help you plan projects properly and evaluate team progress to ensure they work within a specified timeline.

• Organization: Organization skills are your ability to manage multiple tasks while remaining efficient and productive. As an HR director, you may require organizational skills to handle employee paperwork, company guidelines, incident reports, and payroll information.

Related: 10 Common Leadership Styles

Resume template for an HR director

Here's a template you can use as an HR director when writing a resume:

[First name] [Last name]

[Phone number] | [E-mail address] | [City], [Province or territory]

Professional summary

[Two to three sentences that highlight years of experience, relevant skills, education or certifications, and achievements as a professional.]

Work experience

[Job title] | [Employment dates]
[Company Name] | [City], [Province or territory]

• [strong verb + what you did (more detail) + reason, outcome, or quantified results]

• [job duty]

• [job duty]

• [job duty]

• [job duty]

[Job Title] | [Employment dates]
[Company Name] | [City], [Province or territory]

• [strong verb) + what you did (more detail) + reason, outcome, or quantified results]

• [job duty]

• [job duty]

Education

[Degree and major], [Year graduated]
[Name of school or university] | [City], [Province or territory]

Skills

[Skill] | [Skill] | [Skill] | [Skill] | [Skill] | [Skill]

Certifications

[Certification name], [Host organization], [Year completed or expiration date]

Read more: HR Designations (With Salaries and Job Descriptions)

Resume example for HR director

Here's an example of a resume you can use as an HR director:

Clarence Speinfield
123-456-7890 | speinfieldclarence@email.ca | Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

Professional summary

Hardworking human resources professional with eight years of experience working with over 30 human resources professionals. I also possess professional business acumen with experience handling large-scope HR responsibilities, including administering compensation programs, organizing employee training programs, and coordinating data and information systems. Currently seeking a senior HR role at a multinational organization to apply my expertise and maintain a positive and efficient work environment for employees to perform optimally and drive company-wide progress.

Work experience

Human resources director | May 2019-Current
Railking Solutions | Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

• employ conflict resolution, mediation, and negotiation skills to achieve zero labour strikes or arbitrations in three years

• design and implement the hourly pay structure by converting salaried route sales representatives throughout local and international offices

• implement training and feedback programs, accountability measures, and calendar management systems to ensure on-time product and service delivery

• conduct HR team and management team training through workshops and one-on-one coaching sessions, leading to more effective and sound hiring decisions

• execute a recruiting system ensuring that the company hires highly qualified candidates without violating union rules and guidelines

Human resource specialist | June 2015-April 2019
Abbot Consulting | Whitehorse, Yukon Territory

• reviewed company recruitment and onboarding processes, including selection, sourcing, interviewing, and screening, to hire the best talent

• developed new compensation and payroll policy to streamline the payroll process and base compensation on performance, seniority, market demand, and title

• doubled as the head of the total benefits team to coordinate benefits, compensation, and the wellness team

Education

Bachelor of Social Sciences, 2018
Luxermont University | Whitehorse, Yukon Territory

Skills

Training and development | Talent management | Recruitment | Benefits and compensation | Communication | Effective management