HR assistant CV example, with expert notes
An HR assistant role calls for administrative rigour, discretion and genuine people skills. Here is a CV that proves all three, followed by what to take from it for your own.
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The example
Sophie Turner
HR Assistant
Birmingham · sophie.turner@example.com · +44 7700 900789
Profile
HR assistant with four years' experience in a 250-employee manufacturing company. I handle employee administration from hiring to leaving, prepare payroll inputs and coordinate recruitment. Organised and discreet, I am looking for a generalist HR assistant role with a share of recruitment and learning and development.
Experience
HR Assistant2022 – present
Midland Precision Ltd, Birmingham
- Managed HR administration for 250 employees: contracts, amendments, right-to-work checks, leavers.
- Prepared monthly payroll inputs, with no errors flagged at payroll close all year.
- Coordinated 40 hires a year: job ads, shortlisting, interview scheduling.
- Tracked the training plan and course bookings.
HR Administrator (apprenticeship)2020 – 2022
Horizon Consulting, Birmingham
- Maintained personnel files and the HR database.
- Drafted employment letters and answered routine employee queries.
Education
CIPD Level 3 Foundation Certificate in People Practice · 2022
Skills
HR administration · Payroll input · Recruitment coordination · Employment law (basics) · HRIS · Excel (pivot tables)
Languages
English: native · Spanish: B2
Profile, employers and figures are fictional: borrow the structure, not the content.
Why this CV works
- The scope comes first: 250 employees is the scale that tells a recruiter whether you are ready for their company.
- Each core HR area has its own bullet: administration, payroll, recruitment, training. The reader ticks off their needs.
- Rigour is proven by a result (no payroll errors flagged), not claimed.
- The apprenticeship counts as experience: it is presented as a job, with its duties.
What you can quantify in HR
- The headcount you support, the number of files or payslips handled.
- Hires per year, time to hire.
- The number of training sessions organised, employees trained.
- An improvement in turnaround or accuracy (contracts, payroll, compliance checks).
Keywords you'll often see in job ads
HR administration, contracts, payroll input, recruitment, onboarding, learning and development, HRIS, right to work, confidentiality, employment law. Use the ones from the ad, in its own words.
Common mistakes
- Staying vague about scope: “HR administration” without a headcount says nothing about your level.
- Forgetting the tools: the payroll software or HRIS you used is often a screening criterion.
- Claiming discretion instead of showing it through what you were trusted with (payroll, personnel files, leavers).