Tips for Writing an Entry-Level Recruiter CV

Breaking into the world of recruiting can be both exhilarating and challenging. One of the key steps towards landing that dream job as an entry-level recruiter is crafting a CV that effectively highlights your skills, experiences, and enthusiasm for the role. Whether you’re fresh out of college or making a career change, your CV needs to catch the talent acquisition and/ or hiring manager's eye and make a strong case for why you're the right fit for the job. Below are some tips to help you construct an effective entry-level recruiter CV within a recruitment agency.

What is an Entry-Level Recruiter?

The role of an entry-level recruiter focuses on facilitating candidate sourcing, screening and overall recruitment for your company’s clients, and in many cases, assisting in the business development (client generation) too. As the role is entry-level, much of the work focuses on supporting senior efforts such as rolling out recruitment plans or helping with sourcing and screening prospective candidates.

Entry-level recruiter positions are an excellent opportunity to develop the right skills and experience to become a more senior recruitment professional. The role typically involves you in all aspects of recruitment, including things like finding relevant candidates for the roles you’re working on, screening said candidates, prepping them for interviews, etc.

It’s also a role that has become closely aligned with the use of recruitment database software as well as social media marketing to source candidates. So are you can imagine, it can be a fun yet challenging role in which you’ll need to wear many hats. Some of the main skills required for this role include:

• Communication (listening as well as clearly communicating yourself)
• Effective candidate screening, sourcing and placement
• Executive search and recruitment skills
• Marketing and sales
• Negotiation
• Organisation and time-management
• Candidate and client relationship management

To learn more about this type of role and how to enter the industry as a graduate, we’ve created a graduate recruitment careers toolkit that covers all you need to know about getting started in recruitment.

Tips for Writing an Entry-Level Recruiter CV That Gets You Noticed

To give yourself the best opportunity to secure an entry-level recruiter role, it’s important that you craft a compelling CV to get you noticed. This is especially true if you’re new to the world of recruitment, as you’ll need to showcase your skills and experience in a way that demonstrates your ability to thrive in the role. So, let’s go over a few tips for writing your entry-level recruiter CV:

Start with a Captivating Objective Statement

The objective statement is the first section of your CV, appearing right after your name and contact details. This is where you present your career goals and enthusiasm for the recruitment industry in a concise manner. It’s really important to make this part engaging and tailored to the specific role you're applying for as it’s the first piece of information employers will read about you. An example of a good objective statement can be found below:

"Motivated and results-oriented professional seeking an entry-level recruiter position to leverage strong interpersonal skills and fulfil a passion for sales."

Showcase Your Educational Background

For those with little to no experience in recruiting, the educational section can be a great place to showcase relevant courses or training that can be applied to the job. If you've studied psychology, marketing, business, or similar fields, make sure to highlight this. Don't forget to include any relevant teams or societies you have been a part of (or led), coursework or projects that demonstrate your ability to understand people, work with others and manage teams.

Highlight Transferable Skills

The lack of direct experience in recruiting shouldn't discourage you. You can still stand out by emphasising transferable skills you’ve gained from other experiences, such as internships, part-time jobs, or even volunteer work. Try to think about what skills you already have that could be useful in the role and include them as transferable skills. To help you get started, take a look at some of the examples below:

• Communication skills
• Sales and customer service skills
• Organisation skills and time management
• Problem-solving skills
• Teamwork skills

Detail Your Work Experience Creatively

For an entry-level position, it really pays to focus on experiences that highlight your ability to interact with people, organise tasks, or work in a team. If you've worked in customer service, for example, this can be framed as experience in "managing client expectations." Or, if you performed administrative tasks in a previous role, you could mention you have experience in “handling sensitive and important data”.

Include Relevant Soft Skills

Recruiters need a diverse set of soft skills to be effective in their roles. Unlike technical skills, soft skills can be gained through a variety of means and often lean into your own personal attributes and strengths. These include empathy, active listening, and the ability to build rapport quickly. You may mention these in your skills section, or better yet, demonstrate them through your experiences or achievements.

Use Action Verbs and Metrics

Your CV becomes compelling when you use action verbs and measurable metrics. For example, instead of saying "Worked on a team that improved client relations," say, "Collaborated in a team that enhanced client relations by 20% through personalised outreach". You might also want to consider using the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) technique to clearly demonstrate your experience and successes.

Don’t Neglect the Extra-Curriculars

Participation in extracurricular activities can also offer a window into your interpersonal skills and dedication. If you were a part of any clubs, student government, or sports, include these to showcase your ability to take on responsibilities and work as part of a team. Just make sure that you frame these extracurricular activities in a way that’s relevant to the role.

Proofread and Tailor for Each Job Application

This should go without saying, but your CV must be free of grammatical errors and typos. Additionally, customise your CV for each job application. Research the company culture and job description, and then tailor your CV to highlight the most relevant skills and experiences. For example, you might be applying to a specialist recruitment agency which only recruiters in a specific industry, such as finance, teaching or healthcare. If you have experience or an interest in that industry, make sure you highlight that!

Find Your Perfect Role in Recruitment

Breaking into the recruiting industry at an entry-level position requires a well-crafted CV that highlights your potential as a future recruiter. By focusing on your educational background, showcasing transferable skills, and detailing your work experience creatively, you'll be setting yourself up for success in your job search.

Ready to find your perfect role in recruitment? Take a look at the latest vacancies at Globe Locums today.