Recruiter Resume Tips

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writing resumeRecruiters spend a large part of their careers advising job-seekers on how to develop the best resumes, but who do the recruiters go to when they are changing jobs and need to optimize their own resumes?

It’s hard to be objective about your own resume. The truth is that recruiters are no different than other job seekers, and will sometimes need to consult resume advice sites or maybe even pay for a professional resume. The problem is that there aren’t many resume advice sites that specialize in the recruitment sector and for this reason, we have prepared a resume advice article especially geared towards recruiters.

We have not focused on skills areas like sourcing, interviewing, and assessment skills as these are core recruiting skills and it should be a given that these are portrayed in a recruiter resume. We have therefore focused on the skills and qualities which, if expressed in your resume, may help to provide you with an edge over your peers.

Tip 1: Social-media is King

Social-media has become a key recruitment channel for business, and therefore employers will expect their recruiters to have excellent skills in LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter and to be able to use them to source both active and passive candidates. Therefore, while working, you should be making maximum use of this medium to hire and find new staff and then when preparing your resume you should ensure to detail your competencies, achievements and successes in social-media candidate sourcing. Since social recruiting is now a common skill to have, focus on developing “next-level” skills like creating Facebook pages, running recruitment marketing campaigns using social PPC, and developing overall social media strategies and policies.

Tip 2: Think International

Thanks to the relaxation of global trade barriers and the desire to expand internationally, the ability to effectively source international talent is becoming a core skill in the recruiting world. Particularly when applying for roles within multinationals and even when applying to small companies with international customers, recruiters should ensure to accentuate any international recruitment experience on their resume, along with international assignments experience and any languages you may speak. This will ensure that your value as a potential international recruiter will shine through in your resume. Additionally, highlight experience you have with the “supply-chain” of recruitment and sourcing, meaning any involvement with developing cost-efficient recruitment methods involving outsourced recruitment functions.

Tip 3: Show that you are a multi-generational recruiter

For the first time in history, we have four generations working together in the world-place; these are: Veterans (Born before 1946), Baby Boomers (Born 1946 to 1964), Gen X (Born 1965 and 1979), and Gen Y (Born between 1980 and 2000). This is a genuine recruitment challenge as recruiters must be able to build talent attraction strategies that can target and appeal to each of these four different demographics, who are all attracted to slightly different things and who may search for jobs using different methods. The modern recruiter should be able to demonstrate their ability to develop a multi-generational recruitment strategy that can effectively target these groups – and these skills should be explained in detail in your resume. The ability to develop custom recruitment campaigns focused on demographics can be a key point of differentiation.

Tip 4: Show you are a technology early adopter

HR staff have not traditionally been perceived as early adopters when it comes to new HR technologies. However, new HR technologies such as cloud-based applicant tracking systems are now beginning to transform the way the talent attraction processes works making it more efficient, pervasive, and effective than it has ever been. Modern recruiters must be seen to be expert proponents of HR technology if they are to be viewed as potential assets to a new business. Therefore, while working, recruiters should be constantly developing their understanding of technology and should ensure to quickly adopt or at least lobby for new enabling technologies and training. Recruiters should clearly demonstrate in their resumes that they are proficient adopters of new HR technology.

By Kazim Ladimeji