Do you want to be an administrative assistant?
If so, you’re in luck! We’ve reviewed as many administrative assistant resumes as we could find to figure out exactly what goes into a good administrative assistant resume. This guide will help you write your own resume. Let’s get started.
Methodology
The goal of this guide is to give you real data what the “must haves” of administrative assistant resumes are.
To do that, we compiled and analyzed data from administrative assistant resumes and 24 administrative assistant job listings to get the data used for this our administrative assistant resume guide.
In addition to administrative assistant-specific resume data, we built a database of nearly 1 million resumes and job listings, and we use a propriety machine learning model to understand the anatomy of the best resumes in general.
Quick note: using the data below can help you build a competitive resume, but it’s always important to be creative, unique, and personal to stand out.
If you want more info on our methodology, you can check it out here.
Administrative assistant resume objective data + administrative assistant objective examples
Pop quiz: do administrative assistant’s really need to use an objective?
In general, whether or not you need an objective or professional summary can depend a lot on your personal career level (check out our article on resume objectives), but this is what our analysis found for administrative assistant’s specifically:
- 33% of administrative assistant’s included an objective section
- 27% of administrative assistant’s included a professional summary
- 47% of administrative assistant’s included neither an objective nor a summary
Administrative assistant objective examples
A highly creative entry level administrative assistant , and a resourceful individual looking for a responsible position to gain practical experience.
Seeking a position as an administrative assistant in a fast-paced environment, utilizing my organizational skills and attention to detail to support a productive office.
A highly motivated and experienced administrative assistant seeking a position where I can utilize my skills in communication, scheduling, and project management to support the growth of the company.
As a highly organized and detail-oriented administrative assistant, I am seeking a challenging opportunity to use my skills in data entry, customer service, and calendar management to support the success of the organization.
Skills for administrative assistant resumes
These are the skills that occurred most frequently in in administrative assistant resumes, which means they tend to be core competencies or highly desired skills.
Of course, you should only list skills that you actually have, and you should prioritize skills most relevant to the job you're applying for. But these are good core skills to include on your resume.
To get more detail on building a powerful skills section, take a peek at our article on resume skills.
*Note: to find skills our machine learning model basically looks for common words, so take these with a grain of salt and use your best judgment.
Most common administrative assistant resume skills
Most common hard skills for administrative assistant resumes: Microsoft word, excel, outlook, data entry, and calendar management.
Most common soft skills for administrative assistant resumes: communication skills, customer-service skills, decision-making skills, detail-oriented, and project management.
Other good administrative assistant resume skills
- Communication
- Problem solving
- Appointment setting
- Customer service
- Phone etiquette
- Research skills
- Calendar management
- Travel planning
- Email management
- Faxing
- Transcription
- Recording minutes of the meeting
- Data entry
- Filling systems
- Billing
- Inventory and supply management
Administrative assistant skills section examples
Note: these examples are formatted the same here just because it’s simple, but we have more detailed formatting advice (and examples) in our guide to resume formatting.
Administrative assistant skills example 1
Communication | management | appointment setting | customer service | sales | leadership | phone etiquette
Administrative assistant skills example 2
Problem solving | communication skills | research skills | customer-service skills | calendar management | decision-making skills | travel planning
Administrative assistant skills example 3
Filling systems | email management | listening skills | interpersonal skills | transcription | customer-service skills | recording minutes of the meeting
Work experience for administrative assistant resumes
Your work experience section is almost always the most important part of your resume. Because it’s difficult to pull trends from this kind of section, this section is mostly just examples.
For some advanced strategies for writing about work experience on a resume, refer to our article on building a strong work experience resume section. We also have a guide on writing a resume with no experience if you’re just starting your career.
For now, it’s good to remember that the most important experience for any administrative assistant resume is the most relevant experience.
A couple examples for you:
Administrative assistant work experience examples
WORK EXPERIENCE
Sr. Associate Administrative Assistant
Table Your Needs, 2020-2022
Responsibilities
- Monitor financial markets and the performance of individual securities
- Contact prospective clients to present information and explain available services
- Manage the finances of the facility, such as patient fees and billing
- Oversee the maintenance and repair of machinery, equipment, and electrical and mechanical systems
- Address complaints regarding food quality or service
WORK EXPERIENCE
Associate Administrative Assistant
Mystery Meats Co., 2017-2022
Responsibilities
- Repair or replace malfunctioning components, parts, and other mechanical or electrical equipment
- Bathe animals, trim nails, clip hair, and attend to other grooming needs
- Acting as the point of contact among executives, employees, clients, and other external partners
- Managing information flow in a timely and accurate manner
- Managing executives’ calendars and set up meetings and effectively communicated to resolve disputes
WORK EXPERIENCE
Administrative Assistant Intern
Astonishing Studio, 2013-2012
Responsibilities
- Preparing monthly reports – expenses and invoices
- Conducting research for the company
- Maintaining databases, including contact details
- Contribute to team effort by accomplishing related results as needed, coordinating office procedures, implementing clerical duties and administrative processes, and carrying out duties such as filing, typing, copying, binding, scanning, etc.
- Arranged travel, meeting spaces and personal accommodations for senior staff traveling to customer locations
Education for administrative assistant resumes
For most positions, work experience is more important than education, although it can be important for new grads or for fields in which specific classes are industry-standard.
So it’s not a big section, but it’s still important, and often, administrative assistant job postings list a minimum education requirement.
Check out our blueprint for education on resumes for our full playbook on education sections.
Data from our sample of 993 administrative assistant resumes
- 10% administrative assistant resumes listed an associate’s degree
- 59% administrative assistant resumes listed a bachelor’s degree
- 27% administrative assistant resumes included a masters degree
- 1% administrative assistant resumes mentioned a doctoral degree
Administrative assistant resume education examples
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science
Blinn College District, 2020
Awards & Honors
- Magna Cum Laude
- Foreign Language Award
EDUCATION
Associate of Arts
FLS International – Las Vegas, 2017
Certifications for administrative assistant resumes
Certifications aren’t a strict requirement for every job, but there are almost always certifications you can get to boost your chances of success.
If you want to see how to build these sections, we have a guide about certifications on resumes.
We did a little research and found certifications can help administrative assistant’s specifically, according to CareerOneStop.
Administrative assistant certification examples
CERTIFICATIONS
Certified Administrative Professional
International Association of Administrative Professionals, 2020
Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS): Microsoft Office 2013
Microsoft Corporation, 2017
CERTIFICATIONS
Certified Administrative Professional, Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS): Microsoft Office 2013, Certified Associate in Project Management
Administrative assistant resume action verbs
Using our database of nearly 1,000,000 publicly available resumes, we compiled an index of action verbs and cross-referenced it with our sample of 993 administrative assistant resumes and job postings to uncover which action verbs are most commonly used by administrative assistant’s and administrative assistant employers.
The most common action verbs on administrative assistant resumes are: program, process, assist, prepare, and manage.
The most common action verbs on administrative assistant job postings are: review, lead, plan, handle, and perform.
Other action verbs for administrative assistant resumes:
- Counsel
- Field
- Develop
- Direct
- Track
- Design
- Test
- Create
- Coordinate
- Report
Full administrative assistant resume example
Lastly, we wanted to give you a couple full administrative assistant resume examples..
Please note: you can write a better resume than this. This is just a quick illustration to show you how these pieces might fit together.
If you’d like to see “perfect” resumes, we have a showcase of resume examples.
Administrative assistant resume example
Angela Randolph
Administrative Assistant
4070 Davis Street, Augusta, GA
A highly motivated and experienced administrative assistant seeking a position where I can utilize my skills in communication, scheduling, and project management to support the growth of the company.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Sr. Associate Administrative Assistant
Table Your Needs, 2020-2022
Responsibilities
- Managed master calendar of appointments, meetings and off-site functions for team
- Handled and processed highly sensitive information to maintain strict data confidentiality
- Opened, sorted and distributed incoming mail and electronic correspondence
- Supported executives with project coordination, data analysis and administrative assistance
Associate Administrative Assistant
Mystery Meats Co., 2017-2022
Responsibilities
- Handled telephone, email and postal mail inquires, personally handling basic questions and compiling lists for management review
- Prepared presentations and reports for management to aid in key financial planning and decision-making
- Organized data and forecasts to help complete accurate quarterly, yearly and project-specific budgets
- Answered incoming calls and directed messages to correct party
Administrative Assistant Intern
Astonishing Studio, 2013-2016
Responsibilities
- Organized computer files, sensitive documents and home office supplies
- Created spreadsheets and presentations for supervisors
- Filed and retrieved documents and entered company data and metrics into databases
- Performed shopping, bill payment and mail management duties for time-poor executive professionals
CERTIFICATIONS
Customer Service Representative Certification
International Society of Certified Electronics Technicians, 2020
Certified Associate in Project Management
Project Management Institute, 2017
SKILLS
Communication | phone etiquette | leadership | decision-making skills | communication skills | nursing | email management
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science
Blinn College District, 2020
Associate of Arts
FLS International – Las Vegas, 2017
What experts say about administrative assistant resumes
Before we wrap it up, we want to leave you with some advice from other experts we admire.
“Get to the point unless you’ve got decades of experience under your belt.” – How to write an Administrative Assistant resume
“Include numbers on your resume numbers translates to results and results translates to value so the more numbers you can include on your resume the better.” – How To Quantify Your Resume As An Administrative Assistant
“If you have three to five years, offering five years experience in the areas of, and you might want to list three different specific areas of administrative work that you’ve done.” – Resume Writing for Administrative Assistants
Want help with your administrative assistant resume?
We hope you found this guide useful!
While we love making these guides, we know that there’s always room for improvement. If you have any feedback or suggestions for the guide, let us know!
