The position you are getting into is an interesting, challenging, and highly demanded one. To become an administrative assistant, you need to create the perfect skills resume that convinces the hiring manager you are the right fit. This guide works for everyone: whether you already have experience or you’re just starting and looking for a sample resume for business administration fresh graduate to model your own…
That is where we can help you. We have analyzed hundreds of administrative assistant job descriptions to come up with the perfect resume format that helps you land more job interviews.
Additional Information About The Administrative Assistant Resume
The average annual pay for an administrative assistant job is $40,000 based on 45,000+ salary profiles 💰(Payscale.com).
It is a rewarding career that can lead to roles such as executive assistant to the CEO or HR and administration manager within the next five years. By combining the right education with hands-on experience, you could even progress to positions like general manager or other top-level executive roles. This position offers unlimited growth potential, as it involves direct interaction with company leadership.
Since there is no strict rule on the qualifications required, candidates from diverse backgrounds apply for these jobs. To stand out and get more interview calls, focus on highlighting your administrative assistant skills effectively in your resume.
How to make an Administrative Assistant Resume
You should write your administrative assistant resume in the same organized way as the rest of your administrative duties at work. Here are a few general guidelines and tips for success:
- A one page resume is ideal
- Follow a standard structure and layout throughout
- Pick out the important keywords in the job description
- Keep your writing brief and to the point
- Prioritize your strengths
A recruiter spends less than 10 seconds on average on resumes of administrative assistants as they often get hundreds.
Most organizations now use the applicant tracking system to shortlist resumes in the initial stages. This system tracks the keywords and checks the alignment with the job description.
A clean layout and an organized structure would make your life easy when writing.
The layout of the Administrative Assistant Resume
Plan your resume layout first. Then it is a matter of organizing your experience and expertise. Create a resume for your next administrative assistant position using the following format.
- Header with name and contact information
- Professional summary
- Work experience
- Education
- Skills
- Additional sections
The structure of the Administrative Assistant Resume
There are three main structures for writing your resume: they are the functional, reverse chronological, and hybrid. For an administrative assistant where the latest experience and expertise matter the most, we recommend the reverse chronological approach.
In reverse chronological order, we list down the most recent information first.
This structure gives hiring managers quick access to the latest information about you.
Start with the Header of the Administrative Assistant Resume
You do not have to spend most of your valuable time on this section. However, make sure you write the most up to date information in your contact section to hear back from the recruiters.
Example of a header / Example of a bad header for Administrative Assistant
CORRECTTania Williams
Administrative assistant
taniawilliams@gmail.com
+1 254 63 82 29
https://www.linkedin.com/in/taniaw
INCORRECTAdministrative assistant
Tania Williams
tanialol@gmail.com
+1 217 53 22 68
101, main street, apt 123,
Washington DC
USA
We have highlighted few important facts you should consider while writing your resume heading,
- Start the resume with your name. Not with the position you hold
- Use an appropriate email address. However, do not use your current office email
- Your residential address is not necessary for the resume header
- Consider putting the link to your LinkedIn account so that they can search further about you. Make sure you keep LinkedIn updated
- If you maintain a career blog, you may link that
Is a photo required in the Administrative Assistant Resume?
For the safe side, do not include a photograph in the resume. Some organizations consider it discrimination against the candidates. For instance, 80% of US based companies strictly don’t shortlist resumes with candidate’s photos.
Professional summary for Administrative Assistant
If you are an experienced candidate, write an intriguing Profile Summary. If you are applying for an entry level position or you are in a career change, you may write a Resume Objective Summary highlighting your passion and enthusiasm towards the position.
You can use this sample to write your own profile summary. See if you can identify the difference between the CORRECT and INCORRECT summaries.
INCORRECT
An administrative assistant with 5+ years of industry experience in administrative functions in a tech company, looking for an opportunity in a senior position
CORRECT
An administrative assistant with strong communication skills with 5+ years of experience in legal and construction excited to join LUCY LLC to become a key player in their dynamic work environment. In my previous position, being the main administrative assistant, managed schedules and travel plans for the CEO while overseeing the general administration functions
Consider the following while writing your summary section,
- Limit it to two sentences
- Tell what you have done
- Tell what you can do
- Prove your points with numbers whenever possible
- Pick the keywords from the job description
Work Experience in the Administrative Assistant Resume
By writing an impressive work experience section, you increase your chances of getting more interviews.
You will learn how to write your experience section to make your resume stand out among the top 5% of applications 👇
Describe your work experiences on your Administrative Assistant Resume
Follow these general guidelines when writing the work experience section,
- Describe your biggest achievements using numbers to gain credibility
- List your experiences in reverse chronological order to showcase your latest experience first
- Comply with the job description
Examples of professional experiences for Administrative Assistant junior
INCORRECTAug 2019 to Present
ACL Company
- Procurement of daily stationery requirement
- Managed client inquiries at the front desk
- Provided administrative support
- Typing and editing documents
- Data entry
- Answering phone calls
CORRECTAug 2019 to Present
ACL Company
- Carried out monthly procurement of stationery for all store locations and managed an annual budget of $100,000
- Managed client inquiries and helped increase customer satisfaction by 15%
- Carried out the tender process for office equipment purchase of $200,000
- Supported operations in the finance and marketing departments by providing administrative support
- Created, edited, and proofread proposals sent for corporate clients
- Managed the client database and updated CRM weekly
The experience section is important even if you do not have experience. If you have little or no experience as an admin assistant, write about your project experience while studying or write about the experience you have using MS Office applications and other relevant tools.
Examples of work experience for Senior Administrative Assistant
INCORRECTAug 2016 to Present
Alum Contractors
- Recruitment of new staff
- Assisted with legal correspondence
- Managed travel arrangements
- Client invoice handling
- Involved in other administrative duties
- Increased efficiency in office work
CORRECTAug 2016 to Present
Alum Contractors
- Carried out the recruitment drive to hire 50+ new employees for all departments within 3 months
- Dealt with the attorneys and helped contract clients with the legal requirements
- Planned and managed an annual travel budget of $1 million for the executives
- Trained staff in the finance department for ERP entry of invoices
- Introduced an internal communication platform and managed the transition to reduce the email communication lead time by 25%
Spend 70% of your resume writing time optimizing this section. As a senior administrative assistant, having a solid experience section is the only way to stand out from the rest.
Education in the Administrative Assistant Sample Resume
Education qualifications for an administration assistant are not rigidly defined. However, a few organizations might even ask for a bachelor’s degree as the minimum requirement which they would state in the job advertisement.
Any academic qualification related to HR, administration, or management would be considered relevant for most of the jobs in the market.
Should you start with education or work experience in Admin Assistant Resume?
If you are applying for a senior admin assistant position, you should prioritize your experience section in the resume. However, if you do not have much experience or your greatest strength is education, you could give it the priority.
How to properly list your education in an Administrative Assistant Resume?
Use a consistent format when presenting your educational credentials.
Our recommendations are in the following bullet points:
- State your degree type and the major
Eg: Bachelor's degree in human resource management
- Indicate the year of graduation and the year of commencement
- The university or institution and its location
Eg: Columbia University, NY
- Achievements, honors, or awards (if any)
- Explain what you learned, if relevant
- If your grade point average is above 3.0, you can also mention that
Example of the education section of an Administrative Assistant
Skills to put in the Resume for an Administrative Assistant
The resume skills section is not a critical deciding factor for recruiters. However, if you write it wrong, you could get your resume rejected.
Many applicants make the mistake of filling this section with generic skills. A better approach is to use a balanced mix of soft, hard, and IT skills tailored to the job description. For example, if you’re creating a business administration CV as a fresh graduate, start with administrative assistant skills and basic skills like time management, communication, and Microsoft Office proficiency. These are considered core Sample CV skills and can be paired with more advanced abilities later on to show professional growth.
What are the main skills sought for in an Administrative Assistant Resume
The following are the relevant skills recruiters generally look for in an administrative assistant resume.
Soft Skills: Hard to measure (generic)
- Verbal communication and phone etiquettes
- Strong written communication skills with email etiquettes
- Time management
- Listening skill
- Emotional intelligence
- Complete tasks with precision
- Teamwork and delegation when needed
- Detail oriented
- Problem-solving
- Attention to detail
- Organizational skills
- Flexibility
- Business intelligence
Hard Skills and IT skills: Easy to measure (specific)
- Fast and accurate typing (words/minute)
- Calendar management (Calandly, Google calendar)
- Basic technical skills such as setting up projectors, photocopying, scanning, and managing media files
- Database management
- MS Office (Excel, Outlook, Powerpoint, Sharepoint)
- Call handling
Key Skills for a Junior Administrative Role
A junior administrative assistant would mostly be involved in operational tasks. Those are the skills an administrative assistant junior should focus on writing. However, it is vital to refer to the job description here. The recruiters state the skills they are particularly looking for.
A mix of soft, hard and IT skills is recommended.
- Strong verbal and written communication
- Flexibility
- Emotional intelligence
- Time management
- Setting up projectors, photocopying, scanning and, managing media files
- Microsoft Office (Excel, Outlook, Powerpoint, Sharepoint)
- Calendar management (Calandly, Google calendar)
Key Skills for a Senior Administrative Role
A senior administrative assistant would typically be involved in managerial tasks. As above mentioned, refer to the job description to get an idea of the skills the recruiter is specifically looking for. Use those keywords.
- Teamwork and delegation when needed
- Strong written and verbal communication
- Problem-solving
- Business intelligence
- Database management
- Calendar management and scheduling tools
- MS Office (Excel, Outlook, Powerpoint, Sharepoint)
- Call handling
Additional Headings for your Administrative Assistant Resume
Additional headings are a great way to give a pleasant surprise to the hiring managers.
Utilize this section to showcase something extraordinary that distinguishes you from the rest of the applicants.
Computer skills and certifications in an Administrative Assistant Resume
An industry specific skill certificate is the best thing to include in this section. It instantly makes you an expert in the subject and acts as a catalyst in the shortlisting process.
CAP (Certified Administrative Professional) is one of the TOP certifications awarded by the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP). To earn the credential, you must meet the requirements for education and experience set forth by the institution.
However, there are many administrative certifications offered by local universities and institutions.
You should also include certifications you’ve completed or are currently pursuing in areas like communication or IT. Advanced courses in MS Office, cloud computing, database management, or ERPs are especially valuable for administrative roles. Pairing these with CV skills such as organization, problem-solving, and time management shows that you can balance fundamental abilities with advanced technical expertise.
Interests in an Administrative Assistant Resume
We do not recommend listing your interests in most cases. A generic set of interests would kill the formality of your resume.
However, if there is any skill mentioned in the job description that aligns with your interests, consider including them.
Languages in an Administrative Assistant Resume
Having fluency in a few relevant languages could come in handy for an administrative assistant in an international organization as they deal with multicultural staff and clients in other countries.
Mention the level of fluency for each language when listing the languages. Using our pre-designed resume templates, now you could easily state your fluency.
Summary: Key Points for Writing a Perfect Administrative Assistant Resume
- Name and contact information should appear at the top of your resume
- A summary highlights your greatest accomplishments, experience, and skills in a 2-3 sentence statement
- List down your experience in reverse chronological order
- If your education is stronger than your experience, list education before experience
- Put together a mix of soft, hard, and IT skills
- Create a pleasant surprise for the hiring manager by adding additional sections such as Certifications, Interests, and Languages
Write a Cover Letter That Goes With Your Administrative Assistant Resume
Though every organization does not ask for cover letters, you could use one to your advantage in situations where you are applying for a position in a specific company of your interest, you are in a career change, or you are applying as a fresh graduate.
Make it your sales pitch to state your passion and the input you can give to the position. You should be concise and to the point as to why they should hire you.
