How do I get an administrative assistant job with no experience?

To get an administrative assistant job with no experience, a person should get applicable education and certifications. Entry-level administrative assistants should have at least a high school diploma or its equivalent. However, many positions prefer a minimum of an associate's degree in a business, communications, or similar program.

What does an administrative associate make?

An administrative associate makes about $41,000, on average. The lowest 10% earned less than $27,000 on average; meanwhile, the highest 10% typically earned more than $67,000. Administrative associates perform advanced administrative duties for businesses and public and private organizations. Their duties include overseeing budgets, issuing payments, and organizing events on the office calendar. They also assist with high-level correspondence on behalf of managers.

What is the highest-paying administrative job?

The highest-paying administrative job is a hospital administrator. Administrative responsibilities will vary with the specific type of company or work being done. The annual average salary for a hospital administrator is approximately $111,000. This salary reflects the administrator's responsibility to operate all areas of a hospital efficiently. Similarly, the average salary of a city administrator is approximately $94,000 annually. Both positions represent large operations with many departments that must work effectively.

How To Become An Administrative Associate: What It Is and Career Path

What is an administrative associate and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Anne McConnell Ph.D.

An administrative associate is in charge of the administrative tasks of a company, mainly its departmental operation. They perform financial operations, including approving expenditures, issuing payments to vendors, and keeping track of account balances. They make arrangements for special projects such as opening new branch offices, preparing travel arrangements for conferences, scheduling maintenance, implementing mass mailings, and so on. Additionally, they oversee what others are doing and train new office administrators.

Administrative associates are hired by businesses, government, non-profit organizations, and educational institutions. Employers require a minimum of an associate's degree in a business-related field with at least three years in a similar role. Applicants must be proficient in Microsoft Office and must possess multitasking, attention to detail, communication, and maths skills. They must be experienced in managing payments, budgets, expenditures, and payroll administration.

The average annual salary of an administrative associate is $43,254, ranging from $29,000 to $64,000.

What general advice would you give to an Administrative Associate?

Anne McConnell Ph.D.

Professor, West Virginia State University

I would say it's important to be very attentive to the way you communicate with your employers, managers, and co-workers. Even sending an e-mail can be an opportunity to demonstrate your professionalism and communication skills. Some people think that no one knows how to write anymore, or how to communicate in a professional way. I don't think that's true. But we don't always think about how our writing can be a tool to communicate our competence and seriousness. If you know how to write and communicate professionally-which college grads do-then make sure to demonstrate that in the workplace.

ScoreAdministrative AssociateUS Average

Salary

2.7

Avg. Salary $34,873

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.0

Growth Rate -8%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.73%

Asian 3.84%

Black or African American 9.36%

Hispanic or Latino 16.37%

Unknown 3.87%

White 65.82%

Gender

female 78.43%

male 21.57%

Age - 52

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 52

Stress Level

6.0

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

4.4

Complexity Level is basic

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

7.6

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an administrative associate

Explore administrative associate education requirements

Most common administrative associate degrees

Bachelor's

56.6 %

Associate

18.8 %

Master's

8.8 %

Start to develop specific administrative associate skills

Skills	Percentages
Administrative Tasks	11.58%
Purchase Orders	10.01%
Customer Service	9.73%
Telephone Calls	9.04%
Travel Arrangements	8.78%

Complete relevant administrative associate training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New administrative associates learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an administrative associate based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real administrative associate resumes.

Gain additional administrative associate certifications

Administrative associate certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific administrative associate certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for administrative associates include Certified Billing and Coding Specialist (CBCS) and Certified Professional - Human Resource (IPMA-CP).

More About Certifications

Research administrative associate duties and responsibilities

Manage consultants' calendar, arrange travel, paid bills via QuickBooks software.
Support medical doctors, manage sensitive and confidential records pertaining to high risk patients with emphasis on accuracy.
Enter invoices in QuickBooks and P2P.
Fulfill medical record requests from patients, providers and insurance companies in a HIPAA compliant way.

Prepare your administrative associate resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your administrative associate resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an administrative associate resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Administrative Associate Resume templates

Build a professional Administrative Associate resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Administrative Associate resume.