An Administrative Assistant is a multi-talented key employee to any organization, capable of solving a wide range of problems that the higher management and the staff face.Your administrative assistant skills resume should highlight how your ability to solve problems could help the organization as a whole.
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
Experience
June 2019 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%
Aug 2017 to May 2019 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% Provided administrative support for the operational management in the finance and marketing departments Created, edited, and proofread proposals sent for corporate clients Managed the client database and updated CRM weekly
Education
Bachelor’s degree in HR management, 2014-2017 Columbia University, NY HR strategy Management accounting GPA- 3.8/4
Diploma in Advanced Communication 2018-2019 Institute of Communication Science, NY Public speaking Copywriting
Skills
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
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 that you are the perfect fit.
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.
Try our resume builder to create an amazing resume for your next Administrative Assistant job.
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 leading to becoming an executive assistant to the CEO or an HR and administration manager in the next 5 years.
If you can develop the education qualifications together with experience, you could even later progress to become a general manager or a top-level executive position in the long run. The position leads to unlimited potential to grow as it involves direct interactions with the management of the company.
As there is no hard and fast rule as to what the qualifications of an administrative assistant should be, applicants from different backgrounds apply for the jobs. To stand out from the crowd, and to get more calls for interviews, you can follow our guided approach to creating 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 good header / Example of a bad header for Administrative Assistant
CORRECT
Tania Williams
Administrative assistant
taniawilliams@gmail.com
+1 254 63 82 29
https://www.linkedin.com/in/taniaw
INCORRECT
Administrative 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
Resume objectives follow the same format
Work Experience in the Administrative Assistant Resume
By writing an impressive work experience section, you increase your chances of getting more interviews.
80% of the recruiters only check the experience section for shortlisting
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
INCORRECT
Aug 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
CORRECT
Aug 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.
INCORRECT
Aug 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
CORRECT
Aug 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.
Use action verbs to start sentences in the experience section
Eg: Managed, Executed, Introduced, Coordinated
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
Education
Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, 2014-2017
Columbia University, NY
Financial accounting
Management accounting
GPA- 3.8/4
Diploma in Advanced Communication 2018-2019
Institute of Communication Science, NY
Public speaking
Business writing
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.
The main mistake applicants make writing this section is to load it up with a general set of skills. We recommend using a mix of soft, hard and, IT skills based on the hiring managers requirement.
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
Administrative assistant skills list for a junior
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)
Administrative assistant skills list for a senior
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 can also include a certification you completed or reading for in communication or IT. Advanced certification courses in MS Office, cloud computing, database management, ERPs are all relevant IT skills for administrative assistants.
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.
Your resume and cover letter should positively complement each other
Frequently Asked Questions for an Administrative Assistant Resume
What are the top 3 administrative assistant resume skills?
Strong verbal and written communication
Time management
Microsoft Applications (Excel, Outlook, Powerpoint, Sharepoint)
How do you write administrative skills on a resume?
Include a mix of soft, hard and IT skills in your skills section. If you are an experienced assistant, you should focus on writing more managerial skills and if you are a junior, your focus should be on writing more operational skills.
What are good skills for an administrative assistant?
Teamwork and delegation
Strong written and verbal communication
Time management
Problem solving
Business intelligence
Database management and ERP
Calendar management and scheduling tools
Advanced Microsoft Excel
Call handling
What is your greatest strength as an Administrative Assistant?
You can state your strong communication skill, time management or your IT skills as the greatest strengths. However, to give a more tailored answer, you should refer to the job advertisement and see what skills the recruiter expects.
CORRECT
INCORRECT
