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HR Generalist Resume Example
HR professionals read more resumes than anyone, so they know immediately when one is vague. An HR resume should be specific about scope: how many employees you supported, which parts of the employee lifecycle you owned, and which HR systems you ran.
Generalist roles cover a lot of ground, from recruiting and onboarding to benefits, policy and employee relations. Show the areas you handled end to end and attach a result to each where you can: time to hire, retention, completion rates.
The example
Rachel Kim
HR Generalist
rachel.kim@example.com · +1 (617) 555-0171 · Boston, MA · linkedin.com/in/rachelkim-hr
Summary
HR generalist with 6 years supporting 450 employees across 3 sites in healthcare services. Rebuilt onboarding and raised first-year retention from 71% to 83%. SHRM-CP certified, experienced in Workday and ADP.
Experience
HR Generalist — Meridian Care Services
May 2022 – Present · Boston, MA
- Support 450 employees across 3 sites through recruiting, onboarding, benefits, leave and employee relations
- Redesigned the 90-day onboarding program; first-year retention rose from 71% to 83% over 2 years
- Cut average time to hire for clinical roles from 46 to 31 days by restructuring interview scheduling
- Led the move from paper files to Workday for 450 employee records, completed on schedule
- Run annual compliance training; completion rate 98%
HR Coordinator — Lindell Engineering Group
Jun 2019 – Apr 2022 · Cambridge, MA
- Coordinated hiring for 60+ roles a year: posting, screening, scheduling and offer letters
- Processed biweekly payroll changes in ADP for 220 employees with no payroll errors reported
- Organized benefits open enrollment, including employee information sessions
Education
BS, Business Administration (Human Resources) — Northeastern University
2015 – 2019 · Boston, MA
Certifications
- SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) — Society for Human Resource Management (2023)
Skills
Recruiting & onboarding · Employee relations · Benefits & leave administration · Workday · ADP payroll · Employment law compliance
Languages
English (Native) · Korean (Conversational)
What matters for an HR generalist resume
State the size of the workforce
"Supported 450 employees across 3 sites" tells the reader at once whether your experience matches their company. Startups and large employers need different generalists.
Name the HRIS
Workday, BambooHR, ADP, Rippling: the system you know shortens your ramp-up, and it is often a filter in the posting.
Attach results to programs
If you rebuilt onboarding, how did first-year retention change? If you ran recruiting, what happened to time to hire? Programs with outcomes read as ownership.
Handle confidential work carefully
Investigations and employee relations matter, but describe them in general terms. Your discretion on the page is itself a signal to the reader.
FAQ
What should an HR generalist resume include?
The size of the workforce you supported, the lifecycle areas you owned (recruiting, onboarding, benefits, employee relations, compliance), your HRIS experience, and measurable outcomes. A SHRM or HRCI certification is worth listing.
Is an HR certification necessary?
Not always required, but SHRM-CP or PHR certifications are common preferences and useful screening terms. If you are studying for one, list it with the expected date.
How do I move from administrative work into HR?
Highlight the HR-adjacent tasks you already did: onboarding paperwork, scheduling interviews, maintaining employee records, coordinating training. Describe them with the HR terms used in the posting.
More examples
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PMP-certified, $2.5M portfolios, 96% on-time. Methodology mentioned once, outcomes everywhere.