Administrative Assistant CV Examples & Templates
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Jump-start your career with an administrative assistant CV. If you’re not sure how to start, follow our tips and examples to inspire your writing. Our comprehensive guide will help you create a winning CV for an administrative assistant and stand out from the competition!
Here is a sample of an administrative assistant CV:
Start by editing this administrative assistant CV sample template or explore our 40+ CV templates to find the best one for you.
Administrative assistant CV example (text version)
Julie Dawson
Colorado Springs, CO 80901
555 555 555
(555) 555-5555
example@example.com
Summary Statement
Dedicated administrative assistant with 10 years of experience managing large and small offices. I have worked with numerous branches, including payroll and human resources, which allows me to facilitate an efficient workflow and improve communications between multiple departments. Expert-level proficiency with Microsoft Office and PeopleSoft. Senior executives consistently rely on me to maintain schedules, oversee meetings and improve customer relations.
Core Qualifications
- Multi-line telephone systems
- Typing speed 67 WPM
- Document filing
- Database and client management systems
- Decision-making
- Training and development
- Strong organizational skills
- Problem-solving
Education
June 2017
University of Colorado Aurora, CO
Bachelor of Arts Business
June 2015
Front Range Community College Westminster, CO
Associate of Arts Office Administration
Work Experience
November 2017 – Current
Nextar Media Group, Inc. – Colorado Springs, CO
Administrative Assistant
- Oversee schedules for all executives and manage booking for conference rooms and group workspace.
- Work with the HR department to facilitate recruitment drives, including setting up and running a booth at local career fairs.
- Train four new administrative assistant interns in office management procedures and schedule on-the-job mentoring with multiple departments.
- Maintain and improve online databases of client accounts and external vendors, including updating information when necessary, increasing 75% of productivity.
June 2013 – October 2017
Robert Half – Colorado Springs, CO
Receptionist
- Managed front reception desk by answering phones, greeting and directing 100 visitors per day and responding to email inquiries.
- Maintained work schedule for two senior executives, including travel plans and teleconference meetings.
- Created a new system for receiving and filing physical mail and fax documents that improved efficiency and eliminated delays in time-sensitive issues.
June 2012 – May 2013
Life Care Solutions – Colorado Springs, CO
Office Intern
- Performed numerous administrative tasks as necessary, including scheduling meetings and travel, working with external vendors, interacting with visitors and answering phone calls and emails from customers.
- Participated in on-the-job training with several different departments, including human resources, payroll, accounting and executive support.
- Helped plan and execute annual holiday parties, including organizing 40 vendors, researching venues and maintaining guest lists of 300.
Honors and Awards
Awarded Employee of the Month twice and received highest possible score during the annual performance review.
Certifications and Licenses
OCG Typing Certificate (OTC) – (2019)
Administrative Assistant Certification (CAA) – (2018)
Relevant Skills
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including dealing with customer complaints and giving formal presentations to executives.
- Proficient in all Microsoft Office applications, Oracle PeopleSoft and Intuit QuickBooks.
- Experience planning, coordinating and facilitating physical meetings and remote video conferences.Extremely organized and attentive to detail.
- Comfortable performing a variety of roles, including payroll support, front desk reception, personal assistant and organizational point of contact.
Languages
- English
Native or Bilingual - Spanish
Limited Working
Hobbies and Interests
- Avid reader and host of a bimonthly book club.
- Enjoy learning to cook unique meals from a variety of international cuisines.
- Active in local professional women’s support group.
- Assistant leader for local Girl Scout troop.
- Volunteer at library teaching seminars on Microsoft Office for beginners.
Important CV sections
Contact details
The contact section or your header must have the information needed to reach you. Include your full name, city, state and ZIP code. Also, add your phone number and email address. Finally, add any professional website, LinkedIn profile or any other professional networking profile, such as a specialized organization. Remember to keep it strictly professional, with no side hustles or personal websites.
Personal statement
This section will come immediately after your name and is the first section that a hiring manager will read. Also known as the resume summary or objective statement, it highlights your career, professional accomplishments and years of experience. Pick your best and create a summary of no more than five sentences. Remember to use concise, strong words.
Skills
Whether you’ve acquired your skills through education or experience, your skills also known as core qualifications on your CV play an important role in your document. It shows what you bring to the table to help the company succeed. Include a mix of hard and soft skills, like active listening, language, discretion, resilience and organizational skills.
Although placing your CV skills section directly under your summary is optional, we recommend placing it at the top of your CV template. Doing so helps potential employers find your core qualifications quickly when they scan your CV for relevance, and it is often the section that recruiters and hiring managers value most.
First administrative assistant job? No problem. Add transferable skills from employment in other industries, volunteer opportunities, internships and those learned in school.
Work history
List your current and previous work experience in reverse-chronological order. It’s best to place it in the first quarter of your CV so potential employers can find it easily. Showcase your work history with a bulleted list of three to five job-specific accomplishments for every job you list in your CV employment history section.
If you are starting your career and have no experience, you can still include relevant work experience by adding community service, volunteer work and extracurricular activities.
Education
Depending on your level of experience and field of study, you can arrange the education section of your CV in any order, similar to the skills and work history sections.
Use bullet points and include the educational institution’s name, the degree conferred and graduation year. Provide your GPA if you got a 3.5. or higher, and note academic honors, awards, grants, scholarships, or fellowships. If it has been 10 years since your graduation, you can omit the date. If you did not attend college, list your high school and any other post-high school course you’ve completed.
Optional CV sections
Depending on your professional history and the focus of your CV format you can add optional sections that can strengthen your CV. Some of these sections are:
- Certifications
- Research
- Publications
- Awards and honors
- Languages
- Grants, fellowships and scholarships
- Volunteer work
- Conferences and speaking engagements
- Relevant hobbies and interests
See why MyPerfectResume is a 5-star resume builder
Action verbs for an administrative assistant CV
An administrative assistant keeps a company running smoothly. Powerful action words will help demonstrate the valuable experience you already have.
Check out the list below and include them on your administrative assistant CV.
- Administer
- Manage
- Appoint
- Arrange
- Delegate
- Enforce
- Coordinate
- Execute
- Maintain
- Prevent
- Protect
- Distribute
- Gather
- Supply
- Secure
- Solicit
Use these words to create a strong CV for an administrative assistant. Write it quicker and easier with our CV Maker. Our CV Maker has step-by-step guidance and expert suggestions to get your administrative assistant CV to the next level.
Best skills for an administrative assistant CV
Review the job description carefully and match the required skills to the skills and traits that fit you.
Your skills might include:
- Data entry
- Attention to detail
- Discretion
- Filing systems
- Planning and scheduling
- Organization
- Time management
- Written and verbal communication
- Foreign languages
- Database management
Certifications for an administrative assistant CV
A CV for an administrative assistant that includes certifications will backup the entire document. Certifications add value to your knowledge and reiterate your training and experience. These are some certifications you can consider:
- International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP)
- Professional Administrative Certification of Excellence (PACE)
- Certified Administrative Assistant (CAA)
Pair your CV with a matching cover letter
FAQ
How to write a CV for an administrative assistant?
To write an administrative assistant CV, start by adding the five primary sections with detailed information.
- Contact information
- Personal profile
- Skills
- Job history
- Education
Once you’ve taken care of the basics, include additional sections to help you stand out from the pool of applicants.
- Professional memberships or associations
- Presentations
- Publications
- Certifications and licenses
- Volunteer experience
- Hobbies and interests
Remember to include what the employer is looking for by adding keywords from the job description.
Visit our How to Make a CV page for more detailed information on writing a CV.
What are the top 3 skills for an administrative assistant CV?
The top three skills to include in a CV for an administrative assistant will depend on the company. Always pay close attention to the job description and website to include transferable skills that suit their needs.
Communication skills, like language, written and verbal communication and active listening will always play an important role, no matter the industry. Organization skills, like time management and attention to detail are also among the top skills to include in your CV.
How do I make being an administrative assistant sound good in my CV?
Administrative assistants are a vital part of any company’s backbone. Their ability to anticipate needs, communicate with numerous departments and coordinate within the intricacies of a company makes them an incredible asset and resource. An administrative assistant CV should reflect that through its primary sections.
To make your CV shine, follow these tips:
- Add a section for extra training, certifications, awards and honors.
- Include a special section for community initiatives and volunteer work.
- Create subcategories for your skills under the skills sections. For example, a technical section for your computer knowledge, a soft skills section for communication and people skills, and a hard skills section for industry-specific skills.
For additional inspiration, visit our CV examples page!
Best practices
- Include measurable achievements: Use measurable achievements to describe your administrative assistant skills and experience.
- Add action words: Enhance the impact of your CV with dynamic verbs that convey your capabilities effectively to make an impact on your administrative assistant CV.
- Customize your CV: Tailor your CV to your target administrative assistant job.
- Use keywords: Incorporate keywords from the job description to align your CV with potential ATS scans and employer expectations.
- Format your CV: To improve readability and response, ensure your CV is formatted for easy reading by both ATS software and hiring managers.
- Falsify experience: Never lie about your administrative assistant experience and skills. Honesty is crucial in establishing trust and professionalism.
- Overstate abilities: Avoid boasting about your “incomparable” administrative assistant abilities, as these can seem unprofessional and unsubstantiated.
- Mention irrelevant information: Exclude irrelevant personal information such as your ethnicity and age.
- Include non-relevant skills: Do not list skills and experiences that do not pertain to administrative assistant work.
- Skip proofreading: Always proofread your CV to avoid risks of appearing unprofessional due to typos or grammatical errors. An administrative assistant CV with errors is unprofessional.
Interview tips
Learn about the company before your interview.
It’s crucial to learn more about the company’s values and goals before the interview.
This will show the employer your interest and commitment. It’ll also help you catch a glimpse of the company culture.
Being able to show that you have in-depth knowledge about your potential employer shows genuine interest, dedication and commitment — traits that hiring managers look for in every job candidate they talk to. Plus, having a glimpse of the company culture before you arrive will give you an idea of what to expect on arrival so that you can feel confident.
Rehearse at home.
Practice makes progress. While researching the company, take some time to review the most common interview questions, such as:
Then, ask a friend or relative to help you practice by performing a mock job interview. They’ll ask you questions and give you feedback on how you did. Write down the answers that worked and continue practicing. Do it in front of a mirror to see your facial expressions and body language. You’ll be ready for the interview in no time.
Be proactive and ask questions.
The rule of thumb is to ask three questions at the end of the interview. Being prepared will show the hiring manager that you have a genuine interest and are enthusiastic about the position.
Here are possible questions for your list:
- What goals have you set for this position?
- What is the expectation for the role?
- What is the biggest challenge faced by this position?
- What motivated you to apply to this company?
- How would you describe the company culture?
- Are there opportunities for advancement in this position?
Round up your references.
A potential employer will want to check your previous employers. Be one step ahead by reaching out to possible references, like a previous manager or colleague and requesting their assistance. Whoever you reach out to should be able to vouch for your work ethic and skills. Explain to them where you are in the process and let them know that they could receive a phone call or email. Also, ask if they could prepare a letter of recommendation for you.
If this is your first full-time job, you can request a reference from other areas of your life, like a former professor, community leader or volunteer coordinator that can vouch for your skills.
Resume examples for the next step in your administrative career
- Personal Assistant Resume
- Administrative Assistant Manager Resume
- Receptionist Resume
- Data Entry Clerk Resume
- Executive Assistant Resume
- Store Assistant Resume
- Administrative Coordinator Resume
- Office Assistant Resume
- Assistant Front Office Manager Resume
- Bilingual Receptionist Resume
- Administrative Front Desk Clerk Resume
- Medical Billing And Coding Specialist Resume
- Medical Receptionist
- Secretary Resume
- City Clerk Resume
- Non Profit Administrative Assistant Resume
- Gym Receptionist Resume
- Administrative Officer Resume
- Accounts Administrator Resume
- Front Office Assistant Resume
- Administrative Assistant Resume
- Procurement Specialist Resume
- Medical Office Assistant Resume
- Procurement Analyst Resume
- Auto Title Clerk Resume
- Document Specialist Resume
- Excel Professional Resume
- Document Controller Resume
- Medical Billing Professional Resume
- Facilities Manager Resume
- Office Manager Resume
Cover letter examples for the next step in your administrative career
- Administrative Assistant Cover Letter
- Clerical Assistant Cover Letter
- Data Entry Clerk
- Data Entry Specialist Cover Letter
- Executive Assistant Cover Letter
- Office Administrator Cover Letter
- Office Assistant Cover Letter
- Office Clerk Cover Letter
- Office Manager Cover Letter
- Personal Assistant Cover Letter
- Practice Manager Cover Letter
- President Cover Letter
- Receptionist Cover Letter
- Store Administrative Assistant Cover Letter