16+ Free Administrative Assistant Resume Examples & Templates (Word)

The role of the administrative assistant is often confused with that of a secretary. While responsibilities overlap at times, an administrative assistant is much more than an office helper. They do not just assist with bookkeeping, appointments, phone calls, and travel arrangements. They make the decisions. Their job is to ensure the senior executive or company manager has everything they need long before they know they need it.

Successful administrative assistants are forward-thinking. They don’t wait to be told. They gather information and act independently to provide high quality clerical and organizational support. In some cases, they even manage secretaries or small teams of administrative employees. To land this top position, you’ve got to showcase your credentials with an impeccably written administrative assistant resume.

This article explains how to write the perfect resume and what to include to get the job.

Understanding the Role

Administrative assistants are more common in large companies, but there are some exceptions. Sometimes, a high flying entrepreneur will hire one of these professionals to manage the ins and outs of their daily schedule. Unlike secretaries, they are expected to be leaders with proactive thoughts on what their manager’s weekly routines should look like, which inquiries they should respond to and when they should host or attend conferences, among other things.

This is not a background role. Candidates must be personable and confident with an exceptional eye for detail. They must be willing to work closely with one or two individuals, getting intimately acquainted with their needs, habits, and preferences.

A quick guide on writing a perfect administrative assistant resume.

Be Specific About Your Experience

Administrative skills tend to be highly transferable. If you’ve been a secretary at a retail company, there’s no reason to think it precludes you from being one at a legal office. Administrative assistant roles are a little different. They require a deep understanding of the types of work senior executives do daily. So, describe your skills with a clear reference to the industry or sector. Consider including:

• Relevant industries you’ve worked for (e.g., fashion, media production, photography, etc.)
• Size of the company you previously worked for (was it a ten-person office or a 400 person conglomerate?)
• Departments you’ve provided administrative support to (e.g., sales, HR, marketing, etc.).

Describe Your Achievements

Administrative assistants are all about the details. These details are what distinguish them from entry-level secretaries. Avoid using overly simple phrases like ‘I ordered lunch for our office.’ Be specific. Consider the work involved. How often did you order lunch, and for how many individuals? Did you adhere to and/or establish a weekly budget? Did you account for any dietary requirements?

Here’s a better version of the same comment:

“Coordinated daily lunch orders for 35-person office while accommodating various dietary requirements. Established a 3k monthly budget and periodically reviewed this alongside the company’s accounts manager.”

If you need help filling in the details and making a statement more compelling, ask these questions.

• How many people did your decision affect?
• Did you finish the task early/on time or under/within budget?
• Did this action benefit the company in terms of saving money, time or work?
• Did you perform the task/decision once or periodically?

Highlight Specific Technical Skills

The terrific thing about excelling as an administrative assistant is all those hours spent browsing the internet are valuable. Have you become a master at finding cheap last minute airfares? This is something an executive can benefit from. Do you have a great email relationship with your local stationery supplier? Wonderful, maybe you can land your firm a superb deal.

Whether you can whip up conference PowerPoint in half a day or get a press release published in an hour, make sure you shout about it on your resume. Consider including a dedicated technical skills section to help prospective employers understand the breadth of experience being offered.

If you’re unsure, look at job advertisements for administrative assistants. Consider the technical skills they’re asking for and how your talents apply. Again, make it clear you understand the supportive nature of the position – office and schedule management – but always be explicit about what you’ll bring to these administrative tasks (cost-cutting, time-saving, client satisfaction, etc.).

Here are some examples and templates to help you in writing your administrative assistant resume.

What are the top three skills for an administrative assistant?

Administrative assistants must be true chameleons when it comes to technology, as comfortable looking up flights on the go as they are creating spreadsheets in the office or screen sharing with clients at conferences. They must also be excellent communicators capable of talking to a wide variety of people every day. Finally, they need impeccable attention to detail. The best administrative assistants have fulfilled their employer’s needs before the employer realizes they exist.

What are some reasonable career goals for an administrative assistant?

At its very simplest, the role of an administrative assistant is to help a person or office run more efficiently than it can run without them. Generally, there are three ways to do this: (1) saving money, (2) saving time, and (3) saving effort. It won’t always be possible to achieve these goals all the time for every project.

However, they’re good objectives to work towards and provide you with demonstrable evidence of progress and improvement.

As far as career advancement, the role usually offers the chance to work closely with high ranking employees in senior management. If you can make yourself indispensable to an important figure, the sky is the limit. You may become their personal office manager or even advance to the position of company assistant manager.

Technical skills are important for administrative assistant roles, but they’re not the only requirement. The so-called ‘soft’ skills are perhaps even more vital. They can be tricky to describe sometimes. Just remember, for this particular role, abilities like good timekeeping and communication skills aren’t ancillary ‘buzzwords.’ They are essential for managing schedules, drafting correspondence, understanding budget requirements, and keeping executives happy. For an administrative assistant, the soft skills are everything. Here are some of the most important attributes:

• Communication skills (written and verbal)
• Excellent telephone etiquette
• Prioritization and schedule management
• Research and analysis
• Organization and planning
• Discretion and professional tact
• Emotional intelligence
• Teamwork and delegation
• Flexibility and levelheadedness
• Responsibility and accountability
• Meticulous attention to detail
• Punctuality and precision

Pages and Pages of Information

You’ve got to strike the right balance between providing enough detail and not annoying employers with an overly long resume. You will not be able to fit every anecdote and achievement one or even two pages. That’s perfectly fine. Make sure the examples you choose are the ones that say the most about your skills.

Refer to the key questions outlined in the previous section. Include the examples and experiences that best answer these questions. Your resume doesn’t need to be an epic life story. The employer knows one document can’t represent your entire skillset or all of your achievements. Its purpose is to land you an interview so you can tell them more in person.

Don’t Make It About You

This might seem counterintuitive for a document that describes your own talents, but it’s essential to be employer-focused. Administrative assistants are very often the background strength behind an executive. Without them, a CEO or manager might struggle to perform efficiently. This doesn’t mean they’ll always be fairly recognized for it.

Administrative assistants walk an interesting line between being front-facing at some points and nearly invisible at others. They may speak directly with an executive’s collaborators, customers, and clients. Yet, much of the organization and scheduling goes unnoticed when the job is performed skilfully.

Your administrative assistant resume, then, should align with this supportive role. When describing the position’s appeal, focus on what you’ll learn by assisting others rather than furthering your career. You can have those discussions later.