HR assistant resume example

What recruiters look for

• Accuracy with records: HRIS data entry, personnel files and Form I-9. One wrong date can cost a fine, so error-free numbers carry weight.
• Onboarding volume: how many new hires a month you handle, across how many sites, and how smoothly their first day goes.
• Discretion: you will see pay, medical leave paperwork and investigations. Say so without giving anything away.
• Systems you can use on day one: the HRIS, the applicant tracking system and Excel, named.
• Signs you will grow: an aPHR, a SHRM student chapter, HR coursework or a project you took on yourself.

Writing the summary

Say how long you have worked in HR and the size of the employer, then name the two or three things you handle best (onboarding, records, scheduling, benefits questions). Add your certification or the one you are studying for. Three sentences at most.

Bullet points that work

Strong lines for this role, beyond the ones in the example. Borrow the shape and put in your own numbers.

• Processed 300 new-hire files in a year with no missing documents found in the annual file audit.
• Built an Excel tracker for 45 employees on leave of absence, so no return-to-work date was missed for 12 months.
• Answered about 70 employee questions a week on PTO, benefits and policies, escalating only 1 in 10 to the HR generalist.
• Helped run open enrollment for 400 employees, booking 35 one-on-one sessions with the benefits broker.
• Scanned and indexed 6 years of paper personnel files into the HRIS, freeing a storage room.
• Rewrote the new-hire welcome packet in plain English and Spanish, cutting first-week questions to HR by a third.
• Organized two job fairs that brought in 260 applicants for seasonal warehouse roles.
• Ran the monthly headcount and turnover report for the HR manager in under an hour by building a saved report in the HRIS.
• Coordinated exit interviews and returned equipment for 90 leavers, recovering every company laptop and badge.

Skills to list

Certifications and licenses worth listing

• aPHR (Associate Professional in Human Resources) from HRCI: made for people starting out; no HR experience required, and it shows you are serious about the field.
• SHRM-CP: the next step once you have some HR work behind you; check SHRM’s current eligibility rules before you apply for the exam.
• Not required for most HR assistant jobs: accurate work and good references count for more at this level.

Length and format

One page. Summary, then your HR experience with three to four bullets, then earlier jobs with one or two bullets that show admin or customer-facing work. Education comes next with HR coursework or a SHRM student chapter if you graduated recently. A two-column layout keeps the systems and certifications visible beside your experience.

Common mistakes

• Writing “handled confidential information” with nothing else. Show it with volumes: records maintained, files audited, cases supported.
• Listing every HR topic from university as a skill (“strategic workforce planning”). Keep to the work an assistant actually does.
• Leaving out the HRIS. Many HR managers filter on it, and naming it shows you are trained.
• Telling stories that could identify an employee, even in a good light. Keep everything general.
• Calling yourself an HR generalist when your title was assistant. Use the real title; describe the bigger work in your bullets.