Administrative Assistant resume examples for 2024

Administrative Assistant resume format and sections

1. 1

   1. Add contact information to your administrative assistant resume

   Your name should be the biggest text on the page and be at or near the top of the document. Your address doesn't need to include your street name or house number - listing your city and state works just fine. Your email address should be professional, but not your current work email address. It's not a good look to use your work email for personal projects (job-searching). Your social media can be included if you have a fully-fledged LinkedIn page or another social media page that showcases your relevant skill set.

   Administrative Assistant Resume Contact Information Example #1

   Dhruv Johnson

   d.johnson@email.com | 333-111-2222 | www.linkedin.com/in/dhruv-johnson

   Do you want to know more?

   How To Write The Perfect Resume Header
2. 2

   2. Add relevant education to your administrative assistant resume

   Your resume's education section should include:

   • The name of your school
   • The date you graduated (Month, Year or Year are both appropriate)
   • The name of your degree

   If you graduated more than 15 years ago, you should consider dropping your graduation date to avoid age discrimination.

   Optional subsections for your education section include:

   • Academic awards (Dean's List, Latin honors, etc. )
   • GPA (if you're a recent graduate and your GPA was 3.5+)
   • Extra certifications
   • Academic projects (thesis, dissertation, etc. )

   Other tips to consider when writing your education section include:

   • If you're a recent graduate, you might opt to place your education section above your experience section
   • The more work experience you get, the shorter your education section should be
   • List your education in reverse chronological order, with your most recent and high-ranking degrees first
   • If you haven't graduated yet, you can include "Expected graduation date" to the entry for that school

   Check More About Administrative Assistant Education

   Majors

   Business

   31.5%

   Psychology

   7.8%

   Accounting

   6.8%

   General Studies

   5.0%

   Show More

   Administrative Assistant Resume Relevant Education Example #1

   Master's Degree In Elementary Education 2007 - 2008

   University of South Florida Tampa, FL

   Administrative Assistant Resume Relevant Education Example #2

   High School Diploma 2011 - 2013

3. 3

   3. Next, create an administrative assistant skills section on your resume

   Your resume's skills section should include the most important keywords from the job description, as long as you actually have those skills. If you haven't started your job search yet, you can look over resumes to get an idea of what skills are the most important.

   Here are some tips to keep in mind when writing your resume's skills section:

   • Include 6-12 skills, in bullet point form
   • List mostly hard skills; soft skills are hard to test
   • Emphasize the skills that are most important for the job

   Hard skills are generally more important to hiring managers because they relate to on-the-job knowledge and specific experience with a certain technology or process.

   Soft skills are also valuable, as they're highly transferable and make you a great person to work alongside, but they're impossible to prove on a resume.

   Example of skills to include on an administrative assistant resume

   • Customer Service Skills.
      

     Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

   • Data Entry Skills.
      

     Data entry means entering data into a company's system with the help of a keyboard. A person responsible for entering data may also be asked to verify the authenticity of the data being entered. A person doing data entry must pay great attention to tiny details.

   • Scheduling Appointments Skills.
      

     Scheduling appointments is the practice of finding a free slot with the person(s) you want to meet. The process of scheduling appointments involves finding mutually free time, negotiating follow-ups, sending reminders, and creating new appointments. Scheduling appointments is important to ensure that the timings of consecutive meetings do not clash with each other.

   • Telephone Calls Skills.
      

     Telephone calls are a communication means through which a caller is connected to the called party. The call is done through a telecommunications device called a telephone. The caller can use a landline, mobile phone, or satellite phone to make the call.

   • HR Skills.
      

     HR stands for human resources and is used to describe the set of people who work for a company or an organization. HR responsibilities revolve around updating employee records and carrying out management processes like planning, recruitment, evaluation, and selection processes. HR is a key contributor to any company or organization's growth as they are in charge of hiring the right employees, processing payrolls, conducting disciplinary actions, etc.

   Top Skills for an Administrative Assistant

   Customer Service, 14.3%
   Data Entry, 10.9%
   PowerPoint, 6.2%
   Travel Arrangements, 5.3%
   Other Skills, 63.3%
   See All Administrative Assistant Skills

   Not sure which skills are really important?

   3 Big Tips For Listing Skills On Your Resume
4. 4

   4. List your administrative assistant experience

   The most important part of any resume for an administrative assistant is the experience section. Recruiters and hiring managers expect to see your experience listed in reverse chronological order, meaning that you should begin with your most recent experience and then work backwards.

   Don't just list your job duties below each job entry. Instead, make sure most of your bullet points discuss impressive achievements from your past positions. Whenever you can, use numbers to contextualize your accomplishments for the hiring manager reading your resume.

   It's okay if you can't include exact percentages or dollar figures. There's a big difference even between saying "Managed a team of administrative assistants" and "Managed a team of 6 administrative assistants over a 9-month project. "

   Most importantly, make sure that the experience you include is relevant to the job you're applying for. Use the job description to ensure that each bullet point on your resume is appropriate and helpful.

   What experience really stands out on Administrative Assistant resumes?

   Angela Robbins Ph.D.

   Associate Professor of History, Meredith College

   History majors-and in fact, all students in the Humanities-practice skills in the classroom which have real-world, job performance implications, as laid out above. In my experience, students need to do a better job of communicating on their resumes what exactly those skills are so they do stand out. Job-seekers might list critical thinking skills, leadership skills, and the ability to work on a team on their resumes, for example, but for them to be able to point to specific examples from their classes and projects, and to be able to talk about those in interviews, is especially valuable. Internships also really stand out, because employers want to know that students have practiced these skills outside the classroom and have gained real-world experience, too.

   Don't have any experience?

   How To Show Your Experience On a Resume... Even When You Don't Have Any

   Work History Example # 1

   Assistant Secretary

   AT&T

   • Typed, edited and proofread business documents for approximately 10 managers.
   • Managed payroll, schedule and manage overtime for 250 employees.
   • Created PowerPoint presentations that showed how it would be cost effective, boast morale, and lower absenteeism.
   • Assisted repair premises technicians infield for troubleshooting issues at hand.
   • Assisted with bookkeeping, payroll, A/R and A/P processing for over 30 sales representatives.

   Work History Example # 2

   Department Secretary

   University of Miami

   • Prepared course materials such as handouts and PowerPoint presentations.
   • Demonstrated ability to follow up on information accurately; assured that communications between IT, Tutoring and Billing departments operated efficiently.
   • Worked with grants, medical foundation, contracts, purchasing, and personnel payroll.
   • Reconciled payroll on a bi-weekly basis for all academic/summer graduate salaries and student workers.
   • Maintained database for the Center of Aging's medicine disposal services.

   Work History Example # 3

   Sales Administrator/Administrative Assistant (Part-Time)

   Best Buy

   • Prepared PowerPoint presentation "20 Political Scandals in the Past 20 Years"; for annual event given by association CEO.
   • Designed and implemented LDAP to enhance the security of the cluster.
   • Processed payroll storewide for up to 150 employees.
   • Systemized the daily and weekly task of scheduling associates, processing payroll, confirming daily bank deposits, and resolving discrepancies.
   • Prepared business reviews and worked closely with senior management to develop plans to execute them.

   Work History Example # 4

   Leasing Agent

   FPI Management

   • Completed applications through On-Site, and Yardi systems.
   • Provided excellent customer service to future residents and vendors Gave property tours Accepted rent checks Created work orders thru Yardi
   • Started the application process by using Yardi to assigned the prospective desired apt.
   • Created & administered all legally required paperwork & contracts on behalf of owner.
   • Checked email consistently as well as posted daily internet ads.

   Show More
5. 5

   5. Highlight administrative assistant certifications on your resume

   Specific administrative assistant certifications can be a powerful tool to show employers you've developed the appropriate skills.

   If you have any of these certifications, make sure to put them on your administrative assistant resume:

   1. Medical Assistant
   2. Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA)
   3. Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA)
   4. Word 2010 Certification
   5. Certified Medical Office Manager (CMOM)
   6. Dental Assistant (RDA)
   7. Microsoft Office Specialist: Expert (Office 365 and Office 2019)
   8. Microsoft Office Specialist Master Certification (MOS)
   9. Nationally Certified Medical Office Assistant (NCMOA)
   10. Microsoft Office 365

   More Certifications For Administrative Assistant
6. 6

   6. Finally, add an administrative assistant resume summary or objective statement

   A resume summary statement consists of 1-3 sentences at the top of your administrative assistant resume that quickly summarizes who you are and what you have to offer. The summary statement should include your job title, years of experience (if it's 3+), and an impressive accomplishment, if you have space for it.

   Remember to emphasize skills and experiences that feature in the job description.

   Are you a recent grad?

   Read our guide on how to write a resume summary statement