Administrative Assistant Resume Guide + Tips & Examples
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Administrative assistants are gatekeepers, confidants and above all, dedicated professionals that keep companies running smoothly. A career as an administrative assistant can open doors at your dream company. These administrative assistant resume examples will take your document to the next level.
With this guide, you can create or edit your existing administrative assistant resume to highlight your administrative skills, calendar management expertise and those interpersonal skills that set you apart from the competition.
Start by editing this administrative assistant resume template, or explore our 40+ resume templates to find the best one for you.
Administrative assistant resume example (text version)
Sasha Cooper
Philadelphia, PA 19111
(555) 555-5555
example@example.com
Professional Summary
Dedicated and results-driven administrative assistant with a solid track record of 10 years in providing seamless administrative support to executives and teams. Skilled in calendar management, travel coordination and document preparation. Adept at handling confidential information and maintaining a high level of professionalism. Known for efficient multitasking and exceptional organizational abilities.
Work History
November 2019 – Current
AFG Inc. – Philadelphia, PA
Administrative Assistant
- Coordinate and manage executive calendars, scheduling appointments, meetings and conferences.
- Create, edit and proofread various documents, presentations and reports, ensuring accuracy and adherence to company standards, minimizing errors in communication materials by 96%.
- Oversee daily office operations and implement a supply tracking system, reducing waste and lowering procurement costs by 20%.
September 2016 – October 2019
Robert Half – Philadelphia, PA
Secretary
- Organized monthly meetings and domestic and international travel arrangements, including booking airfare, hotel and ground transportation for 12 staff members.
- Implemented a digital filing system, reducing document retrieval time by 25% and minimizing the risk of data loss or misplacement.
- Coordinated bookkeeping activities in QuickBooks and Lawson, including invoicing and accounts payable.
June 2013 – August 2016
Prime Connections – Philadelphia, PA
Receptionist
- Efficiently managed the front desk, greeting over 100 daily visitors, answering calls and directing inquiries to appropriate personnel.
- Managed incoming and outgoing mail and packages, ensuring timely distribution and accurate record-keeping.
- Achieved a 95% accuracy rate in data entry, minimizing errors and facilitating more reliable reporting for management.
Skills
- Record keeping
- Spreadsheet management
- Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
- Customer service
- Microsoft Office
- Database management
- Communication and teamwork
- Time management
Education
Temple University Philadelphia, PA
BBA Business Management
Certifications
Certified Administrative Professional (CAP) – (Updated 2023)
Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Certification – (2021)
Important resume sections
Contact details
A bold header with your current contact information is the start of your administrative assistant resume. Include your full name, city and state. Add your phone number and a professional email address. Finally, include your professional website or LinkedIn profile.
Personal statement
Display your best skills and related work experience in your administrative assistant resume’s professional summary.
In no more than five sentences, let the recruiter know: your years of experience, one or two relevant professional accomplishments and your strongest skills.
For example:
Effective administrative assistant with five years of experience. Expert in calendar management and safekeeping confidential information. Adept at implementing organizational systems that reduce the likelihood of documents getting lost by 95%.
Skills
Use bullet points to create a balanced skills section on your administrative assistant resume. Include hard skills like calendar management, Google Workspace and project management tools, and soft skills like time management, foreign languages, and excellent written and verbal communication.
If this is your first job, include transferable skills from other employment, training or school.
Use the job description to tailor your resume to the administrative assistant position.
Work history
Build the work history section of your administrative assistant resume in reverse-chronological order. Add the company names, locations and dates of employment and, for every job, include a bulleted list of three measurable accomplishments.
For example:
Administrative Assistant
The Big Company February 2021-current
- Improved scheduling system, resulting in a 35% error reduction and a 15% increase in meeting productivity.
- Maintained secure filing systems for the C-suite, ensuring company policy and regulation compliance.
- Awarded Employee of the Year 2022 for improving workflow, reducing travel costs by 20% and anticipating staff needs.
If you’re applying for your first administrative assistant position, include other relevant work experience, like volunteer experiences, community services and professional projects.
Education
Start your administrative assistant resume’s education section with your highest degree and include the educational institution’s name, the degree and graduation year — if you graduated in the last 10 years.
No college? No problem! List your high school and any other post-high school course or training you’ve completed.
See why MyPerfectResume is a 5-star resume builder
Action words for your resume
Action words add power to your resume by showing the direct impact you had in the role. Use them to describe your achievements, job duties and tasks.
Examples of action words for your administrative assistant resume:
- Assist
- Manage
- Organize
- Review
- Prepare
- Provide
- Assist
- Execute
- Coordinate
- Handle
- Produce
- Answer
- Distribute
Building a professional administrative assistant resume is quick and easy with our Resume Builder. Upload yours or start a new one from scratch. See the finished result in one of our 800+ resume examples for all industries and career stages.
Best skills for your resume
Your administrative assistant resume needs a balanced skills section. Review the job description and carefully identify the required skills that fit you.
Some skills to include in your administrative assistant resume:
- Microsoft Office
- Bookkeeping
- Recordkeeping
- Spreadsheet management
- Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
- Foreign languages with a level of proficiency
- Data entry
- Time management
- Database management
- Excellent verbal and written communication
- Office inventory management
- Flexibility
- Customer service
- QuickBooks
- Attention to detail
Certifications for your resume
Including certifications in your administrative assistant resume can help you stand out from the applicant pool.
These are a few certifications to consider for your administrative assistant resume:
- Professional Administrative Certification of Excellence (PACE)
- Certified Administrative Assistant (CAA)
- Certified Administrative Professional (CAP)
- Microsoft Certified Dynamics 365 Fundamentals (ERP)
- Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS)
Still working toward a certification? Include it with the expected completion date.
Pair your resume with a matching cover letter
FAQ
What is a good objective for an administrative assistant resume?
The resume objective is a great alternative to a professional summary when you don’t have much experience in the field you’re after. Like the rest of your resume, it should be tailored to the job position. Include your strongest job-relevant qualifications and skills, years of experience (if any) and important achievements.
For example:
Aspiring administrative assistant with five years of experience in customer service roles. Strategic planner with database management experience and data entry expertise. Discreet, organized and excellent communicator. Basic Mandarin speaker.
How do I list education on an assistant resume example?
If you have more than one higher education degree, start with your highest degree and work your way backward. If not, list only your highest level of education completed, whether that’s a high school diploma or a bachelor’s degree. For example:
Associate of Applied Science in Business Administration
Northwest Technical College
May 2021
Take the lead from the assistant resume example on this page to accurately complete your education section.
What skills should I put on my resume for an administrative assistant?
Grab the hiring manager’s attention by matching your skills to those in the job description. This is, after all, a laundry list of what they’re seeking.
This section must be balanced between hard skills, which are the technical skills that help you perform your job, and soft skills, which are your natural abilities and work habits.
For example, soft skills like time management, organization and attention to detail are key to performing as an administrative assistant. These skills are also transferable, which helps candidates switch careers.
Your hard skills could include Microsoft Office, bookkeeping knowledge and data processing. Feel free to include other skills helpful to your industry.
What do I put on a resume for an administrative assistant?
Your administrative assistant resume should always be customized to the role you’re applying for.
Match their skills and requirements to your own. Then, from your employer research and industry knowledge, include other skills that would be beneficial to the role and help you stand out from the candidate pool.
Write a resume with the help of this guide and our Resume Builder, which provides step-by-step guidance and job-specific content suggestions.
How do I write a cover letter for an administrative assistant resume?
A cover letter is your chance to expand, not repeat, your resume. If the resume is your calling card, a cover letter is your official introduction.
Use it wisely by giving a distinctive purpose to each section of your letter:
- Introduce yourself and your interest in the company in the first paragraph.
- Explain why you’re a candidate to consider using your quantifiable achievements on the body paragraphs.
- Close with a call to action to the employer.
Need help? Our Cover Letter Builder is easy to use and provides expert suggestions on what to include in your administrative assistant cover letter. Check it out for yourself in our 200+ cover letter examples for all industries and career stages.
Best practices
- Use measurable achievements to describe your abilities and experience as an administrative assistant.
- Use action words to make an impact on your administrative assistant resume.
- Tailor your resume to your target administrative assistant job.
- Use keywords from the job description throughout your administrative assistant resume.
- Format your administrative assistant resume so that it’s easy to read by ATS software and human eyes.
- Lie about your administrative assistant experience and skills.
- Boast that you’re the “best administrative assistant ever.”
- Add skills and experience not pertaining to an administrative assistant.
- Forget to proofread. An administrative assistant resume with errors is unprofessional.
Interview tips
Research the prospective employer.
Learn about the employer’s history, goals, values and people before your administrative assistant interview. This will prepare you for the interview and show your dedication and commitment.
Practice at home.
Prepare for the interview by practicing the most common interview questions, such as:
- How Do You Determine Priorities in Scheduling Your Time?
- What Is the Most Significant Contribution You Made to the Company During a Past Job?
- What Is the Biggest Mistake You’ve Made?
- What Have You Accomplished That Shows Your Initiative and Willingness to Work?
- What Kind of Supervisor Do You Work Best for?
Find an interview partner, a person whose feedback you can trust, and practice. Ask them for feedback and work with them to improve your answers.
Pro tip: Practice in front of a mirror. Look at your facial expressions and body language, which hiring managers will notice.
Ask questions in your interview
Prepare questions for the interviewer to help you learn more about the role, the employer and how this position fits into your career plans. For example:
- What do you enjoy most about working for this employer?
- Why did you choose to work for this employer?
- What’s the career path for this role?
- What are you looking for now that your previous employee couldn’t provide?
- What are your expectations for this position?
- How do you measure performance?
Ask open-ended questions (What, How, Why) and allow the interviewer to answer before moving on to the next question. You can bring the questions written down in a small notebook or on your phone.
Round up your references.
Reach out to former managers, colleagues, teachers and people able to vouch for your career to be potential references. Explain to them where you are in the process and if they should expect a phone call or email. Don’t forget to ask if they could write a letter of recommendation for you.
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
CV examples for the next step in your administrative career
How we reviewed this article
Since 2013, we have helped more than 15 million job seekers. We want to make your career journey accessible and manageable through our services and Career Center’s how-to guides and tips. In our commitment to bring you a transparent process, we present our Editorial Process.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
- Forbes Administrative Assistant Job Description [With Examples]
- Travel Perk 10 tips to become the best administrative assistant
- U.S. News Administrative Assistant Overview
- O*Net OnLine Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
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Administrative Assistant Resume Example
Nilda Melissa is a Certified Professional Resume Writer who has written for The Washington Post and Latina Style Magazine. She has a master's in Journalism from Columbia University and is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
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