Administrative Assistant Resume Example & Writing Guide

Being an administrative assistant is complex and challenging, but also incredibly rewarding. Your actions influence almost every part of the company, and you get to work with a bunch of different people. But to get to that part and land a job like that, you’ll need an attention-grabbing administrative assistant resume.

A good resume will show recruiters that you’re a jack-of-all-trades that they’ve been looking for to solve all of their paperwork problems and boost their productivity.

Luckily, we’ve put together a complete guide to help you write a captivating administrative assistant resume that will get you that dream job, so let’s dive in.

What is the Right Format to Use for an Administrative Assistant Resume?

In the world of resume building, one format has risen above the rest and is used the most frequently. It’s the reverse-chronological resume format, which is the top pick of the majority of candidates for a number of good reasons, such as:

• It places your last job—which is often among the most relevant ones—first for recruiters to see.

• Recruiters get to see the development of your professional and academic career over time.

• Since this format is one of the most common ones, recruiters are used to it and know how to quickly get valuable information from such resumes.

• The format is ATS-friendly.

On top of this one, there are two more formats to consider, which are used more often than the rest, and these are:

1. Functional resume format, which focuses on skills and works great for students, recent graduates, or career switchers.

2. Combination (or hybrid) resume format, which allows accomplished professionals to get the best of both reverse-chronological and functional resume formats. It emphasizes skills but also reinforces them with impressive work achievements.

Resume Layout

Once you’ve decided on the format, you should move on to the layout. Basically, you want a clean and organized administrative assistant resume that conveys a lot of information in a concise manner. Due to this, you should try to fit everything on one page.

To do that, you can start by choosing a resume-friendly font like Verdana, Tahoma, or Cambria. Use a smaller font size (10–12 pt) for regular text and a larger size (14–16 pt) for headers.

Combine that with margins and white space between the sections, and you’ll get a professional resume that grabs attention.

What Sections Should an Administrative Assistant Resume Contain?

Now that a format and layout are out of the way, let’s see what content your administrative assistant resume should feature. There are must-have sections, which give recruiters everything they want to see, and optional sections, which serve to enhance your resume and further impress hiring managers.

You can just add information to your resume by following these lists, and you’ll already be ahead of most candidates. However, if you want to make the process even simpler, use our resume-building tool.

The tool allows you to start with a professional administrative assistant resume template and adjust style, layout, font, and colors in a rather simple way. Then, you can fill in the blanks with your information and have a finished resume in minutes.

Administrative Assistant Resume Contact Information

There’s not much when it comes to writing your contact information section, and that’s a good thing. Simply include your name, job title, professional email address, and phone number.

Optionally, you should consider adding a link to your LinkedIn profile since it’s a social network frequently used in a professional setting.

On the flip side, there’s no need to include your full home address since it’s an outdated practice that nowadays might lead to privacy issues. The same goes for any other sensitive information regarding your race, gender, religion, etc. A personal photo is also a no-go on a resume for similar reasons.

Let’s take a look at an example:

Administrative Assistant Resume Objective or Summary

Having an excellent resume only matters if a hiring manager takes a look at it. That’s why you want to put your best foot forward and start with a strong opening paragraph in the form of a resume objective or summary.

If you are new to the field, write an administrative assistant resume objective to show off your skills and career goals.If you're a seasoned professional, get the reader's attention by writing a resume summary that highlights your best work accomplishments.

Administrative Assistant Resume Objective

You should write a resume objective if you’re a student or a recent graduate. Alternatively, you can get the most out of it if you’ve changed professions and the work experience that you have isn’t relevant to the field that you’re applying to.

By emphasizing your key skills, you’ll display potential and show that you’re the best person for the job. It’s crucial to be specific when writing a resume objective and highlight those abilities that recruiters are looking for the most.

Let’s see that in an example:

Here’s a poorly written resume objective for comparison:

Being driven and eager to learn is valuable, but you should show that you already have something to offer your future employers.

Senior Administrative Assistant Resume Summary

You can draw attention to your most prominent professional achievements by writing a stellar administrative assistant resume summary. Write a captivating paragraph to sum up the rest of your resume, and recruiters will want to read more. Here’s an example:

On the other hand, if you write a vague resume summary with no specific details or exact accomplishments, you might end up with a bad one, like in the following example:

You shouldn’t just mention your skills and then rely on recruiters to take your word for it. Instead, you should back them up with relevant accomplishments.

Administrative Assistant Resume Work Experience

One of the best ways to convince hiring managers that you’re a good candidate is by showing your past work experience. That’s why this section is usually the centerpiece of an administrative assistant resume.

Entry Level Administrative Assistant Experience

Here’s an example showing how to write a good work experience section for an administrative assistant resume of an entry-level candidate:

Even though they don’t have years of professional experience in the field, the candidate leveraged their internship. You could do the same with freelance work, volunteering, college projects, and similar activities.

Experienced Administrative Assistant

As a veteran in the field, you want to include only the most extraordinary accomplishments. Don't include every achievement you've had in an attempt to impress recruiters with a long collection of achievements, as that might actually weaken the overall list.

Here’s an example of a concise and information-packed senior administrative assistant work experience section:

In just a couple of bullet points, the candidate showcased exceptional talent and expertise in the field.

Administrative Assistant Resume Education Section

Education adds trustworthiness to your entire resume. The importance of the education section increases the newer you are to the field. You can use it to substantiate your skills and workplace competence.

Here’s an example of a well-structured education section:

Not only did the candidate include required information like their degree, the institution they went to, its location, and dates, but they also added optional bits. Details like a high GPA, relevant coursework, extracurricular activities, and various notable achievements increase the value of this section.

Another important thing to consider when writing an education section is that you could add your degree even if you haven't yet obtained it. Here’s how:

• If you’re still studying, you should write “current” in the place of the graduation date.

• You can add “expected” next to a graduation date if it’s coming soon.

• Even as a college dropout, you could list your degree and mention how many credits you earned towards obtaining it.

Administrative Assistant Resume Skills

Along with your work experience and education section, the skills section makes up the core of your administrative assistant resume. However, you can do much more with your skills than simply adding them to a separate section.

Skills act as keywords for the ATS, so it helps to have them appear throughout your resume. Plus, they’ll have a bigger impact on recruiters when used in combination with relevant accomplishments in your summary or objective and in your work experience section.

For starters, it’s often best to research the job ad and find exactly which skills recruiters are looking for. Then, you should create two separate lists:

1. Hard skills, which are specific to the profession of an administrative assistant.

2. Soft skills, which are broad and interchangeable between professions, also known as interpersonal or social skills.

Lastly, you should add these lists separately to your skills section while mentioning the most important ones in other sections.

Administrative Assistant Resume Optional Sections

Savvy job seekers can use the optional sections to give recruiters plenty of useful information that doesn’t fit in any of the mandatory sections. 

You can also tailor your resume to the specific job requirements with the help of optional sections.

Certifications & Courses

We briefly touched upon how relevant coursework could help spruce up your education section. However, if you have attended courses outside your formal education, add them to this section to show your diligence and dedication to improvement.

You could include courses on specific computer programs or technologies, courses on time management, customer service, and more.

Similarly, certifications allow you to demonstrate highly specialized skills and knowledge. Some examples of administrative assistant certifications include:

Languages

While this section is usually optional, if a job ad makes it mandatory (e.g., if you’re applying for a position in an international company), you should consider adding it somewhere near the top of your resume. Simply list the languages you know, starting with the one you’re most proficient in.

It’s crucial to be honest and don’t over-exaggerate your abilities when writing this section since that’s something recruiters can easily check.

Should You Submit a Cover Letter With Your Administrative Assistant Resume?

Even if it's not asked for in the job posting, you should submit an administrative assistant cover letter with your resume. Here are some of the numerous benefits of doing so:

• You display diligence and willingness to go the extra mile.

• A cover letter gives you the opportunity to further highlight your achievements.

• It allows you to connect with the recruiter on a more personal level by addressing them directly.

Job-Winning Administrative Assistant Resume Examples

To help you put everything you’ve learned into practice, we’ve prepared three administrative assistant resume examples:

Closing Thoughts

Creating an administrative assistant resume is not an easy task, but this guide should help you master the process. So, congratulations—you can now add yet another valuable skill to your ever-expanding belt!

By following our guidelines, you might get that interview sooner than expected, so it might be time to brush up on your conversation skills. Your dream job might be closer than you think!