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5 Ways Your HR Resume Should Change Post-COVID

Published on: Aug 19, 2021

 

5 Ways Your HR Resume Should Change Post-COVID

5 Ways Your HR Resume Should Change Post-COVID

COVID-19 has dramatically altered talent needs.

Employers are paying attention to different kinds of job candidates in this current working landscape, and HR professionals on the job hunt will need to update their resume to reflect these changes.

Follow these tips for writing a strong HR resume for the post-pandemic job market. (Students, stay tuned for our HRPA Resume Clinics!)

1. Highlight the skills you gained during the pandemic
To be sure, your resume should include the basic professional HR skills (e.g. good communication, relationship management, etc.).

 

But if you were still working during the pandemic, you know that there were the skills you had to master to ensure you and your employees remained motivated and productive. What kind of person did you need to become? Here are some of the skills many HR professionals developed over the course of COVID-19:

 

  • Critical thinking
  • Resiliency
  • Level-headedness in uncertainty
  • Decision-making
  • Growth mindset
  • An eye for training and development
  • Empathy [1] [2]

   

2. Underscore your pandemic achievements

 What exactly did you make happen during one of the biggest global crises? Because to create a powerful resume, you’ll want to flaunt everything you were able to accomplish during that time.

Take a look at a few accomplishments HR professionals were able to achieve last year:

  • Developing wellness programs to help employees manage growing mental health needs that emerged in the recent health crisis.
     
  • Spearheading diversity, equity and inclusion protocols in response to the racial injustices that were brought to the forefront in 2020.
     
  • Managing a crisis effectively and your ability to not buckle under pressure. Many HR professionals could be credited with deploying the tools and policies needed to keep their teams afloat.
  • Establishing the systems and processes that allowed your organization to work remotely during the pandemic. Post-pandemic, HR professionals will most likely be sought-out to write the plans that can support a hybrid workforce. [2]

 

3. Pump up remote working engagement

It’s not enough to say you “led a team in a remote working environment.” To truly stand out among a sea of applicants, you need to take it up a notch. Since remote working is the way of the future, your ability to excel virtually is one of those tangible feats companies are looking out for. And if your achievements helped your team become more engaged and productive, that’s even better as those are the two biggest pain points for businesses right now. [4]
 

4. Showcase your extracurriculars
A pandemic-related layoff doesn’t have to put a damper on your HR career growth. In fact, most recruiters will understand the gap in employment. But for an effective resume tune-up, perhaps show employers how you managed your time off effectively through volunteer experiences. Did you attend HRPA webinars, or other training events? Add it to your resume. This can reinforce your overall ambition and commitment to your HR practice - an attractive quality for employers. [4]
 

5. Delete your physical address
Before the pandemic, it was common practice to include your physical address at the top of your resume. But now, with the rise of remote working, recruiters have access to a much wider pool of candidates. Instead, replace your address with your LinkedIn profile or webpage with your work history. [3]
 

Citations:
 

[1] https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/summer2021/pages/what-your-hr-resume-should-look-like-after-the-pandemic.aspx

[2] https://www.onrec.com/news/news-archive/3-tips-for-drafting-a-standout-resume-in-the-post-pandemic-days

[3]https://hermoney.com/earn/careers/how-to-modernize-your-resume-post-covid/

[4] https://www.kornferry.com/insights/this-week-in-leadership/5-additions-to-make-on-your-resume-right-now