Administrative Assistant Cover Letter | Examples & Tips

However, the application can be quite daunting, and you will need to produce and submit an administrative assistant cover letter in order to surpass the other candidates.

If this all sounds like a lot of work to take on, don’t worry —we’re here to help. Throughout this guide, we will be outlining everything you need to know about writing an administrative assistant cover letter, providing you with examples, tips, and tricks to help you get started. Read on to find out more!

How to Write a Cover Letter for an Administrative Assistant

We hope that that assistant cover letter example helps give you an idea of what you should aim for in your document. As you can see, it’s actually pretty simple, but it is important to follow a structure.

The structure of your cover letter should consist of four key parts - contact Information, introduction, body paragraphs, and a closing statement. While this represents a pretty universal structure for writing cover letters, you will need to ensure that yours is personalized specifically toward an administrative assistant job.

This means: you should bring up your current achievements, administrative duties, scheduling responsibilities, business experience, and other relevant experiences. Now, let’s take a deep dive into each section of the cover letter, step by step.

Start your administrative assistant cover letter with the header

As you can see in the example above, you need to begin your administrative assistant cover letter with a header (also known as a heading). This is pretty simple to do —you will simply need to start by writing the date that you are applying for the job, your contact information (such as name, professional email address, and phone number)—. Lastly, the job position that you are applying for.

As simple as that, but let’s see how to do it correcty.

Examples

CORRECT

11/02/2021
Name: Harry Smith
Email: harry.smith@gmail.com
Contact Number: +1 234 567 89
Application: Administrative Assistant at Dempack Ltd..

01/09/2021
Name: Jennifer Harris
Email: jennifer.harris@gmail.com
Contact Number: +1 234 567 89
Application: Administrative Assistant at Snapchat Co.

Open Your Administrative Assistant Cover Letter Introducing Yourself

Now that you’ve provided context to your prospective employer with a header, it’s now time to get started on the bulk of the document. This will begin as all great documents do - with an introductory paragraph.

This section should:

• introduce yourself as a potential employer
• directly state that this cover letter is supporting your job application
• briefly outline why you are interested in the job
• naturally mention keywords or achievements relevant to the job
• Express enthusiasm for the career

Examples

CORRECT

Dear Mrs. Fox,

I am writing this cover letter in support of my application to the position of administrative assistant at Yunbar Offices. I was very thrilled to come across this job opportunity, I come from an office-based administration environment and felt that my skills match the job description perfectly.

As you can see in this example, the applicant has approached the reader directly, outlined their intent to apply for the job, expressed enthusiasm for the job, and concisely explained why they believe they are fit for the job.

INCORRECT

Hello, my name is David and I am currently an administrative assistant for a company in New York called TechCo. I think I would fit in great at your team due to the fact that I have excellent skills in IT, database management, liaising between team, and much more.

While I am not particularly passionate about being an administrative assistant, I think that I should be able to work with the skills that you require.

Let's see what's wrong here

It should be pretty obvious as to why this is an incorrect example of an introductory paragraph: it is informal, does not directly specify that it supports a job application, and most importantly is not concise. It provides too much information early on regarding skills, while demonstrating a lack of enthusiasm for the job.

Keep things simple, introduce yourself, and briefly outline why you want the job —save the rest for later sections.

Explain Why You Are the Best Administrative Assistant for the Job

Now that you have introduced yourself, you will want to explain to the hiring manager in more detail why you believe you are the best administrative assistant for the job.

Here you can discuss your current or past relevant experiences, outline major skills that are required for the job, and even dive into specific responsibilities that you have held and believe are transferable to the job. You shouldn’t be bragging or overselling yourself here - simply explain what you are sufficient at, the experience you currently have, and why this is applicable to the job.

Examples

CORRECT

In my current position with InterNet, I hold several responsibilities and achievements that would be highly transferable to this position at ReadyNet. The administrative infrastructure and responsibilities are very similar, so I believe that I would be able to apply my current skills to your company's framework with ease. In addition, my database management and invoice framework worked extremely well at improving cost and time efficiency for the company, and I am confident that I could achieve similar results with ReadyNet.

• I saved $6,000 per annum in recruitment by improving administrative workflows
• I increased sales by 4% in 2020 by integrating an algorithmic administrative workflow into the CRM infrastructure

This example does a great job at explaining exactly what the candidate was responsible for, demonstrating how this would be transferable to the company through a positive attitude. What’s more, the candidate lists two key achievements to back up their claims in the form of concise bullet points.

INCORRECT

While working at Apple, I have been responsible for a broad range of tasks that I assume will also be required at Sony. My boss was really happy with my progress and gave me a raise for improving a variety of things in the workplace such as data entry efficiency and CRM workflows.

This is not a very good example of explaining why the candidate is suitable for the job: it’s vague, informal, and does not provide enough detail in regards to the job. Other than a couple of general keywords, it is difficult to understand exactly what the candidate achieved at their current workplace and why it would be useful to the new job.

Finish Your Administrative Assistant Cover Letter with a Call to Action (CTA)

Now that you have written both your introductory paragraph and explained why you are suitable for the job, it’s time to write what we call a ‘call to action’ (CTA). This is where you directly suggest to your potential employers that they follow up on your application, encouraging them to get in touch and give you a second look.

Examples

CORRECT

I would be very enthusiastic if given the opportunity to discuss this administrative assistant job with you further, and would be happy to provide further detail into how I improved the financial and time efficiency of Microsoft's administrative team.

This is a particularly strong example as it demonstrates enthusiasm within the candidate to follow up on their claims. They are essentially inviting themselves to an interview in order to get to know the company better and demonstrate their professional abilities in detail.

How to boost your CTA

• Don’t be afraid to be direct, confidence comes across excellently when it comes to CTAs
• Leave the ball in the employer’s court, don’t leave them wondering whether you would be willing to follow up on your claims.

The Farewell: Close Your Cover Letter Professionally

Now that you’ve left the employer with a strong CTA, it’s time to finish up your cover letter. It’s going to be essential that this final section is strong - it could leave a lasting impression on your employer and is thus equally as important as the introductory section.

Examples: How to finish your letter

There aren’t many ways of finishing your letter professionally - you are limited to just one or two options. Here are two simple yet effective examples of how you can professionally finish your cover letter:

CORRECT

Sincerely,

David Jones

or…

CORRECT

Yours Sincerely,

Jeniffer Altock

What you have to avoid

You should always avoid any informal or emotional language when finishing your cover letter. Some classic mistakes include using finishing statements such as:

• Best Wishes
• Take Care
• Cheers
• Fondly

You should also avoid following this finishing statement with a first name. Always use your full name when signing off a cover letter.

Tips to Improve Your Administrative Assistant Cover Letter

Now that we’ve covered every individual section for your administrative assistant cover letter, let’s take a look at some final tips to improve the document.

Keep it Concise and Snappy

Once you have completed your admin assistant cover letter, you should read over everything that you have written to ensure that it is high quality. You don’t just want to outline why you are fit for the job with waffly language, but you want to do it in a way that is punchy and makes a powerful statement. Read the entire document out loud to get some perspective into how your employer will read the document - it’s one of the best tips I’ve ever come across.

Proofread your Work

It goes without saying that you should always proofread your cover letter before submitting it - there’s nothing that says ‘red flag’ like some informal vocabulary, inappropriate punctuation or typos. Use proofreading software to ensure that everything is in check, or even pass the document on to a friend or family to get a second look - it can never hurt!

Be Direct

We’ve already mentioned this a few times, but we cannot emphasize it enough - be direct when you are writing your cover letter. Sure, being overly direct in life is not always a good thing, but trust us - when it comes to applying for jobs, it will make you stand out. Assert your confidence and do not shy away from the CTAs, they are going to make a big difference.

Reinforce Your Cover Letter with an Administrative Assistant Resume

While a cover letter for an administrative assistant position is essential, you will have no chance of getting the job if your resume isn’t strong too. Always make sure that you support your cover letter by going into greater detail on your resume. For example, if you briefly mention a particular responsibility that you had with a company on your cover letter, you should outline this in deeper detail on your resume.

Resumes are generally held up more by bullet points and information, whereas cover letters are where you can reference this information and use it to sell yourself as an employee.

So, to stand out in every hiring process, you should also prepare an outstanding administrative assistant resume.

This way, your application will be solid and the hiring manager will be anxious to invite you to an interview

Key Points: Writing an Outstanding Cover Letter from Zero

To finish things off, let’s summarise all of the points covered so far when it comes to writing your cover letter from scratch. Keep these to hand, and we’re sure that you will be writing fantastic supporting cover letters for administrative positions in no time!

• Stick to the structure. Always have a header, introduction, one or two body paragraphs and closing paragraph.
• Never forget to include a CTA - this really will make a difference to your potential employers and their perception of how you come across.
• Always keep your cover letter concise and to the point. The last thing your prospective employer’s will want is a cover letter full of waffle!
• Optimize your cover letter for key words! If a key skill or responsibility is listed in the job description and you know that it is important, make sure you mention it (as long as it is relevant).