CV Writing Skills for Senior HR Professionals

January 8th 2021 | Posted by phil scott

CV writing skills for senior HR professionals

CV Writing Skills for Senior HR Professionals

Top HR roles are exciting and challenging. They are also rewarding from personal achievement and financial point of view.

According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the average salary for an HR manager is £36,000 and the average remuneration for an HR Director is £70,000. However, it’s a competitive industry. So, if you want to secure one of these top roles, you need to have a CV that makes you stand out from the crowd.

The key to writing this type of CV is to create a structure that enables recruiters to clearly see the skills and experience that you can bring to the organisation. When you set about ensuring that your CV is tailored to give you the best chance of success, it’s useful to listen to what experienced professionals have to say and pay close attention to the factors covered in this article.

Attention-grabbing profile

Recruiters for the most exciting HR roles get numerous CVs emailed to them, so you need to grab their attention straight away if you want to make sure that yours stands out. Starting with a punchy profile makes this happen.

Successful HR professionals ensure that this part of their CV is around 5-10 lines in length and is tailored to the role they are looking to acquire. Bearing this in mind, create your profile so that it highlights your abilities by relating them to the required skills of the role while covering the following points relating to you:

  • Experience in the HR industry and within the specific sector.
  • Specific areas of expertise.
  • Achievements and results.
  • Knowledge of subjects that are relevant to the role.
  • Relevant qualifications.

This is an overview that is intended to capture the attributes that you have to offer before you go into more detail. Professionals that make a positive impression succinctly and in a relevant manner succeed in standing out to recruiters and building the career path they are aiming for.

Details of your core skills

The most impressive CVs contain details of skills that are a match for the requirements of the role. Concentrate on the important points of these skills as explanations that are too wordy or involved are likely to deter recruiters.

The most successful professionals use a list of bullet points that keep information relevant. The vital aspect of this section is communicating your suitability for the role in a way that can quickly and easily be understood.

Career and experience details

By the time you reach this stage of your CV, you have secured the interest of the recruiters with your expertly structured profile and core skills section. At this point, it’s time to examine your career and how your experience relates to the role you want to acquire.

Professionals who succeed in gaining top roles understand the value of structuring their career details, starting with the current or most recent role, so that they include:

  • An outline of each role.
  • Key responsibilities of each role.
  • Key achievements while carrying out the role. When discussing these achievements, statistics and figures often provide a greater impact.

Record of education and qualifications

When it comes to senior HR roles, experience is more impressive than qualifications in most cases. However, there is still a place for relevant qualifications on your CV. It’s only necessary to include advanced qualifications such as CIPD studies or a business/HR degree. Qualifications that you gained at school are not relevant at this point in your career.

Interests outside of the work environment

There is no requirement to include hobbies and personal interests in your CV. However, experienced professionals who volunteer using their professional expertise, or highly developed interpersonal skills include details in order to add value to their CV. Only include details of activities that help to highlight your suitability for the role.

Creating a CV that features all of these aspects, and covers no more than two A4 size pages, gives you the best possible chance of securing your ideal role as a senior professional.

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