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Want a stronger resume? Use our extensive library of professional resume examples as practical starting guides. You’ll also find ready-made content with our helpful Resume Builder – simple click, customize, and download.

Find out what is the best resume for you in our Ultimate Resume Format Guide.

How to Format an Onboarding Specialist Resume

Candidates looking to apply for an onboarding specialist position are expected to have a top-notch resume. Create your own job-winning resume, starting with the right format.

A resume format is the way you organize your skills and experience. Seasoned candidates can show off their expertise by listing their work history first. Those with less experience or with employment gaps can put a spotlight on their skills and shift the attention away from their lack of experience.

For instance, let’s take a look at the following two sample job candidates to see the strategy behind choosing the right resume formats. Both have technical skills and work experience but follow different career paths. The first has experience and consistent employment, while the second candidate is pretty new to the workforce.

The first candidate can use a chronological resume to highlight their steady employment. The second candidate can highlight their skills and shift the attention away from their short experience with a functional resume.

Chronological Resume

Candidate A

  • 10 years in the workforce
  • 1 year at this job
  • BA Economics

Work Experience

Square Payroll – Onboarding Specialist
October 2012 – present, New York, NY

  • Managed accounts, optimizing new merchants from other payroll providers to Square Payroll.
  • Improved the onboarding process, decreasing merchant and Square’s onboarding time by 30%.
  • Streamlined the operational onboarding process by adding workflow directly into Square Payroll’s database as tasks instead of managing onboarding employees through a shared spreadsheet.

Functional Resume

Candidate B

  • 2 years in the workforce
  • 2 years at this job
  • BS Training and Development

Professional Skills

Management Skills

  • Knowledge of applicable federal, state and local regulations pertaining to equal employment opportunity, immigration and company policy per management direction.
  • Interacted with multiple levels of candidates, human resource employees and hiring managers to schedule interviews, including candidate travel.
  • Accountable for the accurate completion of the new hire paperwork and personnel files.

Onboarding Skills

  • Created an updated policy handbook specific to company operations.
  • Wrote and designed a monthly newsletter to help new hires with details about the company and culture.
  • Prepared new hires with a customized welcome package and onboarding kits.

Onboarding Specialist Resume FAQ.

What should I put on my resume for human resources?

Make your resume stand out with these seven top essential skills for your resume:

  1. Employee relations
  2. Onboarding
  3. Human resources information software
  4. Training and developmental skills
  5. Business management skills
  6. Leadership skills
  7. Communication skills

Showcase your skills with six to eight bullets that highlight your leadership and HR experience. Then organize your credentials with the right type of resume format.

For seasoned candidates, the chronological format will show off your experience; or, you can choose a functional format to highlight skills rather than experience.

You can also learn how to keep your resume in demand with our hundreds of job-specific resume examples to inspire you to create a job-winning resume quickly and easily.

What are the responsibilities of an onboarding specialist?

The biggest role of an onboarding specialist is to welcome new hires to the team. Their major responsibilities include preparing contracts, payroll information, job descriptions and maintaining the employee handbook.

They guide you through each step of the hiring process, setting up orientation and introducing newcomers to the company culture.

Onboarding specialists also coordinate job-specific trainings and help new hires fit into their new role.

How do I become a good onboarding specialist?

Effective verbal and written communication skills are a must for a good onboarding specialist. Combining key skills such as organizational skills and time management also help set you apart.

Having the proper certifications or a bachelor’s degree in human resources management or customer service is highly recommended. Having different levels of education and credentials can help you land a better paying job.

Other outstanding qualities of a good onboarding specialist are having a firm grasp of employee relations and experience using different types of human resources information systems.