Automatically apply for jobs with Zippia

Upload your resume to get started.

Professional recruiter skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

Quoted experts

Tonya Courtois,

Dr. James Lampley

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical professional recruiter skills. We ranked the top skills for professional recruiters based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 34.2% of professional recruiter resumes contained applicant tracking systems as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a professional recruiter needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 professional recruiter skills for your resume and career

1. Applicant Tracking Systems

Here's how professional recruiters use applicant tracking systems:

Cultivate and maintained a solid network of consultants and update databases and applicant tracking systems.
job boards, and applicant tracking systems; RWS, networking, social media, cold calling and referrals.)

2. Human Resources

Human resources is a set of people in a business or a corporation that are designated to locate, interview, and recruit new employees into the company. They are also responsible to maintain the integrity of the employees and help them sort their problems out. They try to introduce and manage employee-benefit programs.

Here's how professional recruiters use human resources:

Distributed fully executed Physician/Professional Provider Agreements to both physician/mid-level provider and the appropriate Human Resources department.
Worked collaboratively with the Human Resources Director on career development, communication, and retention programs.

3. Background Checks

Here's how professional recruiters use background checks:

Performed appropriate background checks on applicants being seriously considered for a specific position.
Qualified candidates by performing behavior based interviews and reference/background checks.

4. Reference Checks

Here's how professional recruiters use reference checks:

Screen candidates, conduct behavioral interviews, administer evaluations, conduct background investigations and reference checks.
Evaluated and interviewed potential candidates to assess qualifications and conducted reference checks.

5. Recruitment Process

Here's how professional recruiters use recruitment process:

Guide candidates through recruitment process and maintained relationships throughout and afterward.
Facilitate intake sessions with various leaders to calibrate the candidate search and establish a plan of action for the recruitment process.

6. Work Ethic

Here's how professional recruiters use work ethic:

Developed solid candidate base utilizing relationship and networking abilities and solid work ethic.
Source resumes to select most qualified candidates and interview candidates to better assess qualifications, personal characteristics and work ethic.

Choose from 10+ customizable professional recruiter resume templates

Build a professional professional recruiter resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your professional recruiter resume.

7. Linkedin

Here's how professional recruiters use linkedin:

Researched and recruited potential employees through LinkedIn
Source candidates using SmartSearch (ATS), obtaining employee referrals, attending job fairs/networking events, job boards and LinkedIn.

8. Source Candidates

Here's how professional recruiters use source candidates:

Utilized tools such as networking, cold calling, job postings, Linked In, and career boards to source candidates.
Utilized internal database, as well as online databases such as Monster, CareerBuilder, etc., to source candidates.

9. Phone Screens

A phone screen refers to the stage of the recruiting process that occurs after narrowing the applicant pool through candidate's resumes and before they are asked for a face-to-face interview. Phone screenings are typically conducted over a call from a recruiter or talent acquisition team coordinator at a company to assess the applicant's suitability for a specific position and discuss basic qualifications and information about a job. This is usually a short call that lasts between 15 and 30 minutes. Phone screens can also be useful for employers to get a picture of realistic market expectations from applicants for a specific job.

Here's how professional recruiters use phone screens:

Conduct phone screens and in-person interviews, and manage the interview process by training managers and on proper interviewing techniques.
Screened prospective candidates through phone screens, internal interviews and references.

10. Open Positions

Open positions may refer to a potential investment trade, where the trade has been established and recognized but has not yet closed. This is common for many investors holding a great deal of stock but have not yet sold those shares; however, there is considerable risk in holding multiple open positions given the market fluctuation.

Here's how professional recruiters use open positions:

Determined qualified candidates for open positions by conducting behavioral interviews and matching previous experiences with existing position requirements.
Screened and interviewed candidates for open positions* Wrote and delivered job offers to potential associates

11. Interview Process

The interview process is a multi-stage measure for recruiting new employees. Applicants are scrutinized based on previous work experience and preliminary assessments with HR before interviews are generally able to take place.

Here's how professional recruiters use interview process:

Conducted initial screening/interview process for client companies.
Explain the hiring process and client company philosophies to the candidate and motivate and prepare candidate for all interview processes.

12. Business Development

Business development is the ideas or initiatives that work to make business work better. Selling, advertising, product development, supply chain management, and vendor management are only a few of the divisions involved with it. There is still a lot of networking, negotiating, forming alliances, and trying to save money. The goals set for business development guide and coordinate with all of these various operations and sectors.

Here's how professional recruiters use business development:

Utilized a combination of previous client contacts, candidate relationships, and third party partnership/contracts for business development.
Recruited professionals in the areas of application development, infrastructure, collaborative technologies, business development and operations.

13. Career Fairs

Here's how professional recruiters use career fairs:

Attend local professional meetings and membership development meetings in addition to career fairs for recruiting and company recognition.
Coordinated and implemented career fairs and recruiting events at local colleges and universities.

14. Drug Screens

A drug screen is a drug test that consists of a collection of blood, urine, saliva, or even a hair sample. The samples are used to determine the presence of any chemical remnants which are present in the body after the intake of any drug.

Here's how professional recruiters use drug screens:

Established interview screening questions, coordinated verification of background/drug screens, and any additional coordination of candidates as necessary.
Coordinated drug screens and background investigations.

15. Quality Candidates

Here's how professional recruiters use quality candidates:

Worked directly with hiring managers to place high-quality candidates within open requirements for local and national customers.
Maintained a diverse pipeline of quality candidates.

5 Professional Recruiter resume examples

Build a professional professional recruiter resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 5+ resume templates to create your professional recruiter resume.

Create my resume

Build a professional resume in minutes using this template.

What skills help Professional Recruiters find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on professional recruiter resumes?

Tonya Courtois

Recruiting Manager, Emmaus Homes

To be most attractive to us a resume should be more than just a list of a person's work history and the skills they acquired while they occupied each role. A resume that will stand out to us, is a resume that tells us how a candidate problem-solved during their tenure at each job. We are also looking for candidates who closely align with our core value system. A one size fits all resume is not a best practice. Candidates should do their homework and clearly and specifically identify past behaviors that demonstrate they share our values. Resumes should be full of well-written examples of how they added value.

What professional recruiter skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Dr. James Lampley

Professor, East Tennessee State University

I would encourage a graduate or graduate student to use the gap year experience to learn a new marketable skill or to work with under-served groups. Learn how to do something that not a lot of people can do.

What technical skills for a professional recruiter stand out to employers?

Ryan Smolko

Associate Director, Career Center, Muhlenberg College

Technical skills vary by industry and the technical skills needed today are not those that will be needed five or even one year from now. Adaptability is key to staying relevant in their career both now and in the future. O*Net is a great resource for students to see technical skills commonly used in their jobs of interest.

The technical skills everyone should be continually working on are Excel/Tableau and Canva/PowerPoint. Working with large amounts of data is almost universal in today's economy regardless of industry or position. You can also have the best data in the world but if you can't present it in a dynamic way it won't be seen which is why being well versed in presentation and design tools can be a big advantage.

Do you want to know more?

List of professional recruiter skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a professional recruiter resume and required skills for a professional recruiter to have include:

Applicant Tracking Systems
Human Resources
Background Checks
Reference Checks
Recruitment Process
Work Ethic
Linkedin
Source Candidates
Phone Screens
Open Positions
Interview Process
Business Development
Career Fairs
Drug Screens
Quality Candidates
Internal Database

Interview Candidates
Healthcare
In-Person Interviews
Technical Professionals
ATS
Professional Organizations
Cold Calls
ICIMS
Client Relationships
HRIS
Phone Interviews
Face-To-Face Interviews
Professional Positions
Bullhorn
Monster
Wage Rates

Employment Agencies
Taleo
Strategic Sourcing
Scheduling Interviews
Interview Coordination
Professional Candidates
Community Services
I-9
Exit Interviews
Technical Positions
Candidate Tracking
EEO
PeopleSoft
Twitter
Disciplinary Measures
Qualifying Candidates

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse business and financial jobs