Start Your Virtual Assistant Resume with the Header
Your VA resume should start with the header. A resume header consists of the applicant's name and contact information. This is the first part of your resume the hiring manager reads. In fact, they only read your name.
Most VA candidates get this section right – with a few exceptions that we have mentioned👇
A good & a bad header
CORRECTVirtual assistant
timamb@gmail.com(234)456-2784
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mluther
INCORRECTVirtual Assistant
timambrose@synergy.com(234)456-2784
11, main street, apt 407,
Washington DC,
USA
A good and a bad resume header is subjective – we define a good header as one that tells the hiring manager who you are and how to contact you. Any header that doesn’t serve this purpose is a bad header.
- Make your name bigger than all other texts.
- Put the right job title as in the job advertisement.
- Put your personal email address and mobile number.
- Include a link to your LinkedIn profile if that’s where you’re professionally active.
- Do not include your physical address.
Hook the Reader with an Outstanding Professional Summary
Do the elevator test!
If you met the potential employer in an elevator where you have 30 seconds to describe yourself, what would be the two sentences you would use – that’s basically your professional summary.
As that 30 seconds on the elevator could lead to an hour-long meeting, the right resume summary would hook the reader to read it in full and call you for a meeting.
A professional summary should consist of about 2 short sentences: where the first sentence describes your experience, key skills, and the passion to join the new team and the second sentence should explain how you excelled in your previous work.
Entry-level candidates could consider writing a virtual assistant resume objective highlighting your enthusiasm for joining the company as a VA.
Here’re a few tips to write a great professional summary:
- Answer the dominant questions of the employer. Most CEOs need to free up their time from less value-adding activities. Tell them how you did it.
- Use numbers to add credibility.
- Add relevant keywords.
Example professional summary
CORRECTA passionate virtual assistant with over 6 years of experience in administrative and organizational support seeks to join The Synergy Tech to provide exceptional customer service. In my previous job as a VA handled multiple clients for a B2B tech company creating the link between all customer-facing departments – generating over $200,000 in annual sales.
INCORRECTA passionate candidate with 5 years of experience in administrative support seeks a virtual assistant position
Example objective summary
CORRECTAn aspiring virtual assistant with experience in providing high quality customer service for technology-based products seeks to join AMD Technologies to assist the management in daily administrative and client handling tasks saving them more time for strategic business functions.
INCORRECTA dedicated candidate who previously worked as a customer relationship executive in an ERP company seeks to become a virtual assistant in a reputed company.
Demonstrate Your Virtual Assistant Experience
CEOs don’t have time to teach you how to do your job – they’re looking for candidates who can work with minimum guidance. Therefore, whether you’ve worked as a virtual assistant or not, you should write an extensive work experience section on the RELEVANT experience.
We’ve given you two examples of experienced and entry-level virtual assistants.
Let’s say you don’t possess any virtual assistant experience – still, you can apply for VA jobs.
How?
Working as a virtual assistant is a comparatively new progression in the job market. Previously, CEOs hired secretaries, administrative assistants, and personal assistants (PA) to support their work. If you’ve worked in any of these positions or happened to work in administration, you could turn that into a killer experience section. Refer to our examples and use a similar writing style.
Experience Section for a Pro VA
INCORRECTAug 2019 to Present
Intel Vision
Virtual assistant
- Carried out calendar management for the CEO
- Booked travel tickets and scheduled meetings
- Worked with other staff to meet deadlines
- Communicated with partners, clients, and suppliers
CORRECTAug 2019 to Present
Intel Vision
Virtual Assistant
- Booked travel and accommodation for the management for travels in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East – managed an annual budget of $120,000
- Managed CEO’s calendar scheduling meetings with staff and shareholders
- Worked as the VA to the CFO for 6 months until a full-time VA was assigned to her – I was praised for time management
- Introduced a Saas CRM system for inbound marketing which from the CEO’s words “revolutionized” the work in marketing, sales, and services
Most experienced virtual assistants get to work with C-level executives in different size companies. These CEOs delegate most of their team management and administrative tasks to the VAs.
Therefore, focus on demonstrating your leadership, team management, and delegation skills more often in your experience section.
Experience Section for an Entry-level VA
INCORRECTAug 2021 to Present
Ktech
Virtual assistant
- Hired freelance designers and developers
- Paid freelancers monthly
- Helped the CEO to free up his time
- Involved in content management on the website
CORRECTAug 2021 to Present
Ktech
Virtual assistant
- Worked with the founder and CEO in developing a content strategy for the brand and planned on execution
- Maintained communication with over 15 freelance designers and developers in creating website content and developments
- Advertised, shortlisted, and hired over 10 freelancers – scheduled final interviews with the CEO
- Helped the CEO to free up his time on administrative functions and focus on strategic growth – 35% monthly time saving
Most entry-level virtual assistants are hired by solopreneurs. The work you’ll get would be more technical such as managing CMS platforms, sending emails, and managing social media platforms could be part of your work. You’ll also get to hire and work with other freelancers.
In such incidents, you should focus your experience around skills such as team building, recruitment, and other relevant technical skills.
Does Your Freelance Experience Make a Difference?
There’s no doubt that most VAs are freelancers – some of their work lasts a couple of weeks or months. Can you include them on your resume?
Of course! Freelance experience demonstrates your ability to handle multiple projects at the same time. Also, freelancers are typically exposed to different industries and niches making them invaluable to VA positions.
Here’s how to list your freelance experience:
CORRECTThe virtual assistant to the CEO Founder, 2019-2020 (4 months)
- Carried out the total recruitment process- hired 6 freelancers and 2 full-time developers.
- Assisted CEO in scheduling meetings with potential investors and partners – received $2M seed funding after rounds of meetings.
- Setup the tools and systems required for cross-team communication.
Eiden Tech
Virtual assistant, 2020 (2 months)
- Developed the company’s social media content plan for the next 6 months.
- Worked with the content team to conceptualize content ideas and coordinated from writing drafts to publishing.
- Created analytics reports for the management decisions.
Your Academic Background Matters
Your academic background matters to a remote job more than it matters to a physical job.
Why?
Because that’s a legit way for the recruiter to know you’re smart and you have the qualifications. A bachelor’s degree or a Master’s qualification would be ideal.
Some virtual assistant job descriptions highlight the type of academic qualifications they expect from the candidates – even if they don’t, you should include them in a separate section on the resume.
Start the education section with your highest qualification – use a consistent format highlighting the type of degree, institution, years of graduation, and any other relevant information.
Languages
Your language proficiency would be something of interest to the hiring manager. For example, if you are fluent in both English and German, you would have a better chance of getting a job as a VA to a German-speaking manager. Of course, you could demand higher pay.
Your language skills could be nicely presented on your resume with one of our resume templates.
State the level of fluency in each language for the recruiter to have a clear idea.
CORRECTEnglish Native
Japanese Full working proficiency
French Limited working proficiency
INCORRECTEnglish
Chinese
German
Interests
Before writing your interests section, go through the website of the company you apply for – check what are their values, beliefs, and purpose – some companies have strictly defined the type of employees they’re hiring and this applies to freelancers as well.
For example, some companies promote remote work and hire people who work from different destinations in the world while traveling – some companies hire people who believe that the future is Metaverse and crypto.
If you have the same interests your potential employer values the most, your interests section could get you the job.
Tips to Improve Your Virtual Assistant Resume
Apart from the tips we shared throughout the article, here’re some final notes to stand out:
- Proofread your resume before sending it through – use a tool like Grammarly to check accuracy.
- If you don’t have the experience they’re looking for, it’s not your mistake – but if you don’t have the key certifications required, it’s your mistake – so acquire them before applying.
- Tailor your resume to each job – research the company and the industry to see what their ideal candidate would look like – be that candidate.
- Structure your resume sections effectively using a professional resume template with multiple columns.
Key Takeaways: Writing a Winning VA Resume
- Start your VA resume with the header.
- Write a powerful professional summary to hook the reader.
- Your VA experience section is the critical element on your resume – take more time to optimize it.
- Use a consistent format to write your education section – more qualified candidates have more chance of getting high-paid jobs.
- List both soft skills and hard skills – read the ob description to pick what skills to write.
- Use the additional sections such as skills certifications, languages, and interests to create a pleasant surprise for the hiring manager.
Complement Your Resume with a Cover Letter
In most virtual assistant jobs, you’ll be asked to submit a cover letter along with your resume. In some cases, the cover letter is optional – therefore, most candidates skip it. However, if you’re serious about the position, you should write a killer cover letter that should be tailored to the job.
Writing a cover letter is no magic. It would be an extension of your professional summary. Keep your virtual assistant cover letter to about 3 short paragraphs.
In the first paragraph, state the reason why they should hire you – how you could solve the most troubling issues the employer is facing.
In the second paragraph, demonstrate how you solved those problems for your previous clients and employers – give examples with figures.
In the final paragraph, state your interest to join their team – give reasons as to why you’re particularly interested in the company.
When you’re applying for multiple jobs, creating cover letters for each position would be unmanageable. Our resume builder has a cover letter creating functionality in which you could easily create a perfect cover letter with the same template you used for the resume – easy to tailor saving you hours of your time.
FAQ
How do you make a Virtual Assistant resume with no experience?
Most companies prefer to hire virtual assistants with solid working experience. However, the VA job description is not a unique one – it’s a combination of administrative jobs, secretary, personal assistant, and many more.
Read the VA job description and see whether your previous work experience aligns with the roles and responsibilities. In your experience section, focus on writing relevant achievements and accomplishments without just repeating the roles and responsibilities. Be specific about the details.
For example, if the virtual assistant job you’re applying for is a customer communication role, you could give examples from your sales job where you were providing exceptional customer service.
How to increase my chances of getting hired as a virtual assistant?
Here’s a list of ways to increase your chances of getting hired as a VA:
- Write an exceptional resume and a cover letter for the job.
- Check the relevant certifications you could acquire that add value to your position – start working on them.
- Research about the company at the CV writing stage and interview stage – you should have a clear idea of where the company and the industry are heading – their new projects – and the culture they promote.
