Methodology
The goal of this guide is to give you real data what the “must haves” of business administration resumes are.
To do that, we compiled and analyzed data from business administration resumes and 22 business administration job listings to get the data used for this our business administration resume guide.
In addition to business administration-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.
Business administration resume objective data + business administration objective examples
Pop quiz: do business administration’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 business administration’s specifically:
- 33% of business administration’s included an objective section
- 26% of business administration’s included a professional summary
- 48% of business administration’s included neither an objective nor a summary
Business administration objective examples
A highly motivated business administration who aims to make use of their interpersonal skills to achieve goals of a company that focuses on customer satisfaction and customer experience.
Seeking a challenging role as a Business Administration professional, utilizing my strong analytical and organizational skills to contribute to the growth and success of the company
Looking for an opportunity in Business Administration where I can leverage my experience in project management, financial analysis, and strategic planning to drive business results
Aiming to secure a position in Business Administration where I can utilize my expertise in market research, data analysis, and team management to support the company’s vision and mission
Skills for business administration resumes
These are the skills that occurred most frequently in in business administration 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 prioritze 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 business administration resume skills
Most common hard skills for business administration resumes: critical thinking, communication, attention to detail, time management, and organizational skills.
Most common soft skills for business administration resumes: communication skills, customer-service skills, interpersonal skills, listening skills, and patience.
Other good business administration resume skills
- Record keeping
- Data entry
- Answering phones
- MS Excel
- MS Office skills
- QuickBooks
- Project management
- Billing
- Shipping
- Computer skills
- Office equipment maintenance
- Greeting clients
- Scheduling
- Payroll
- Administrative skills
- Technology skills
Business administration 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.
Business administration skills example 1
Record keeping | communication | answering phones | ms excel | time management | organizational skills | ms office skills
Business administration skills example 2
Data entry | communication skills | quickbooks | customer-service skills | project management | interpersonal skills | billing
Business administration skills example 3
Payroll | shipping | patience | listening skills | office equipment maintenance | customer-service skills | greeting clients
Work experience for business administration 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 business administration resume is the most relevant experience.
A couple examples for you:
Business administration work experience examples
WORK EXPERIENCE
Sr. Associate Business Administration
Candor Corp, 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 Business Administration
Wonka Industries, 2016-2022
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
- Monitor activity in DocuSign Software application
- Send and receive correspondence via phone, email, zoom, and or teams
- Take minutes for Department, Dean, and Associate Dean
WORK EXPERIENCE
Business Administration Intern
Gekko & Co, 2010-2012
Responsibilities
- Attempt to resolve and correct any interoffice discrepancies
- Assisted CEO, and Director as needed
- Analyzed and coordinated new case files
- Screened messages from phone calls
- Followed all policies, rules, and procedures that are applicable to the associate’s contract
Education for business administration 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, business administration 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 933 business administration resumes
- 9% business administration resumes listed an associate’s degree
- 59% business administration resumes listed a bachelor’s degree
- 27% business administration resumes included a masters degree
- 1% business administration resumes mentioned a doctoral degree
Business administration resume education examples
EDUCATION
Master of Arts
Mt. Diablo Adult Education, 2020
Awards & Honors
- AP Scholar
- Valedictorian
- Phi Beta Kappa
EDUCATION
Associate of Science
Loma Linda University, 2016
Certifications for business administration 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 business administration’s specifically, according to CareerOneStop.
Business administration certification examples
CERTIFICATIONS
Strategic Management Professional
Association for Strategic Planning, 2020
Microsoft Office Specialist: PowerPoint Associate 2019
Microsoft Corporation, 2016
CERTIFICATIONS
Strategic Management Professional, Microsoft Office Specialist: PowerPoint Associate 2019, KCS Foundation
Business administration 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 933 business administration resumes and job postings to uncover which action verbs are most commonly used by business administration’s and business administration employers.
The most common action verbs on business administration resumes are: program, process, assist, prepare, and manage.
The most common action verbs on business administration job postings are: lead, plan, review, handle, and field.
Other action verbs for business administration resumes:
- Perform
- Develop
- Design
- Test
- Direct
- Create
- Monitor
- Track
- Organize
- Resolve
Full business administration resume example
Lastly, we wanted to give you a couple full business administration 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.
Business administration resume example
Charles Gilmore
Business Administration
1362 Turkey Pen, Brooklyn, NY
Looking for an opportunity in Business Administration where I can leverage my experience in project management, financial analysis, and strategic planning to drive business results
WORK EXPERIENCE
Sr. Associate Business Administration
Candor Corp, 2020-2022
Responsibilities
- Maintained and adhered to ethical practices regarding giving out correct and legal information
- Inputting vendor orders into system and maintain throughout the day Verify all incoming and outgoing paperwork
- Schedule pick ups for various documents
- Respond to emails and request in timely manner
Associate Business Administration
Wonka Industries, 2016-2022
Responsibilities
- Specific sales and marketing experience comprised of providing customer service and product knowledge as well as gathering and coordinating information on shared database management systems
- Maintain a customer service approach, and communicate in a positive professional manner
- Support the day-to –day functions in a fast-past environment, including administrative support of team’s leadership
- Perform general administrative task including managing calendars and phones, correspondence, and prepared, order, and distribute materials
Business Administration Intern
Gekko & Co, 2010-2016
Responsibilities
- Work effectively and efficiently with each member of the team to assist as needed
- Organize and file paperwork accordingly
- Assist parents with any inquiries
- Assisted in the planning of store layouts and design displays
CERTIFICATIONS
Professional Administrative Certification of Excellence
American Society of Administrative Professionals, 2020
Operations and Performance Management Professional
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, 2016
SKILLS
Record keeping | ms office skills | customer service | interpersonal skills | communication skills | critical thinking | shipping
EDUCATION
Master of Arts
Mt. Diablo Adult Education, 2020
Associate of Science
Loma Linda University, 2016
What experts say about business administration resumes
Before we wrap it up, we want to leave you with some advice from other experts we admire.
“You need to get that resume to one page, it really helps admissions committees not just at Wharton but globally on the admissions side to really kind of understand who you are in a succinct way.” – Wharton MBA Application: How to Craft a Standout Resume Webinar
” In that resume of course you will have your work experience, it is helpful to have pieces of your education and as I mentioned your extracurricular activities.” – Wharton MBA Application: How to Craft a Standout Resume Webinar
“Avoid buzzwords or jargon of things that we wouldn’t really understand. I say all the time that we know a lot, about a lot but not everything about everything and so what can be really helpful is to give us very clear and accurate descriptions of what you’re doing on your current role.” – Wharton MBA Application: How to Craft a Standout Resume Webinar
