Looking to score a job as an Administrative Assistant?

An awesome resume is going to be key. This guide is your one-stop-shop for writing a job-winning Administrative Assistant resume using our proven strategies, skills, templates, and examples.

All of the content in this guide is based on data from coaching thousands of job seekers (just like you!) who went on to land offers at the world's best companies.

If you want to maximize your chances of landing that Administrative Assistant role, I recommend reading this piece from top to bottom. But if you're just looking for something specific, here's what's included in this guide:

• What To Know About Writing A Job-Winning Administrative Assistant Resume
• The Best Skills To Include On An Administrative Assistant Resume
• How To Write A Job-Winning Administrative Assistant Resume Summary
• How To Write Offer-Winning Administrative Assistant Resume Bullets
• 3 Administrative Assistant Resume Examples
• The 8 Best Administrative Assistant Resume Templates

Here's the step-by-step breakdown:

Administrative Assistant Resume Overview: What To Know To Write A Resume That Wins More Job Offers

What do companies look for when they're hiring an Administrative Assistant?

When hiring an administrative assistant, companies seek candidates who possess a range of skills and qualities. Firstly, organizational skills are essential, as administrative assistants need to manage multiple tasks and prioritize their workload effectively. Attention to detail is also important to ensure that all tasks are completed accurately and on time. Strong communication skills, both in writing and verbally, are necessary to interact with colleagues, clients, and customers. Proficiency in using computers and various software programs is a must for administrative assistants.

Administrative Assistants also need to be able to manage their time effectively, handle competing demands, and adapt to changing situations in a fast-paced work environment. Additionally, they should be friendly, approachable, and professional while maintaining confidentiality and discretion when handling sensitive information. In summary, administrative assistants must work independently, be self-motivated, and able to handle a variety of tasks efficiently and accurately.

Your resume should show the company that your personality and your experience encompasses all of these things.

Additionally, there are a few best practices you want to follow to write a job-winning Administrative Assistant resume:

1. Tailor your resume to the job description: Match your skills and experience to the requirements listed in the job ad.
2. Use keywords: Include industry-specific keywords and terms related to account management to make your resume more searchable.
3. Showcase your soft skills: Soft skills such as communication, problem-solving, and adaptability are essential for administrative assistants. Highlight these skills in your resume.
4. Use specific language: Use action verbs and specific language to describe your experience and achievements. For example, instead of saying “managed calendars,” say “coordinated and managed calendars for a team of executives.”
5. Highlight your technical skills: Administrative assistants need to have proficiency in various software programs and tools, such as Microsoft Office and scheduling software. Highlight your proficiency in these areas.
7. Use specific metrics to quantify your accomplishments: Whenever possible, include quantifiable achievements, such as “increased efficiency by 30% through the implementation of a new filing system.”
9. Keep it concise: Limit your resume to one or two pages and use bullet points to make it easy to read.
10. Proofread your resume: Check for spelling and grammar errors, as well as consistency in formatting (I recommend Hemingway App).

Let's dive deeper into each of these so you have the exact blueprint you need to see success.

The Best Administrative Assistant Skills To Include On Your Resume

Keywords are one of the most important factors in your resume. They show employers that your skills align with the role and they also help format your resume for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).

If you're not familiar with ATS systems, they are pieces of software used by employers to manage job applications. They scan resumes for keywords and qualifications and make it easier for the employers to filter and search for candidates whose qualifications match the role.

If you want to win more interviews and job offers, you need to have a keyword-optimized resume. There are two ways to find the right keywords:

1. Leverage The 20 Best Administrative Assistant Keywords

The first is to leverage our list of the best keywords and skills for an Administrative Assistant resume.

These keywords were selected from an analysis of real Administrative Assistant job descriptions sourced from actual job boards. Here they are:

• Communication
• Reporting
• Management
• Calendar
• Systems
• Organization
• Correspondence
• Filing
• Presentations
• Inventory
• Invoices
• Time Management
• Flexible
• Ability to prioritize
• Leadership
• Problem Solving
• Meet Deadlines
• Research
• Supplies
• Expenses

2. Use ResyMatch.io To Find The Best Keywords That Are Specific To Your Resume And Target Role

The second method is the one I recommend because it's personalized to your specific resume and target job.

This process lets you find the exact keywords that your resume is missing when compared to the individual role you're applying for.

Here's how it works:

1. Open a copy of your updated administrative assistant resume
2. Open a copy of your target administrative assistant job description
3. Head over to ResyMatch.io
4. Copy and paste your administrative assistant resume on the left and then do the same for the job description on the right
5. Hit scan and review the results

ResyMatch is going to scan your resume and compare it to the target job description. It's going to show you the exact keywords and skills you're missing as well as share other feedback you can use to improve your resume.

Here's a video walking through this whole process:

How To Write A Job-Winning Administrative Assistant Resume Summary

Employers spend an average of six seconds reading your resume.

If you want to win more interviews and offers, you need to make that time count. That starts with hitting the reader with the exact information they're looking for right at the top of your resume.

Unfortunately, traditional resume advice like Summaries and Objectives don't accomplish that goal. If you want to win in today's market, you need a modern approach. I like to use something I can a “Highlight Reel,” here's how it works.

Highlight Reels: A Proven Way To Start Your Resume And Win More Jobs

The Highlight Reel is exactly what it sounds like.

It's a section at the top of your resume that allows you to pick and choose the best and most relevant experience to feature right at the top of your resume.

It's essentially a highlight reel of your career as it relates to this specific role! I like to think about it as the SportsCenter Top 10 of your resume.

The Highlight Reel resume summary consists of 4 parts:

1. A relevant section title that ties your experience to the role
2. An introductory bullet that summarizes your experience and high level value
3. A few supporting “Case Study” bullets that illustrate specific results, projects, and relevant experience
4. A closing “Extracurricular” bullet to round out your candidacy

For example, if we were writing a Highlight Reel for an administrative assistant role, it might look like this:

You can see how the first bullet includes the administrative assistant job title, the years of experience this candidate has, and it wraps up with a value-driven pitch for how they've helped companies in the past.

The next two bullets are “Case Studies” of specific results they drove at their company. Finally, their last bullet focuses on a volunteering stretch project that led to some amazing results.

This candidate has provided all of the info any employer would want to see right at the very top of their resume! The best part is, they can customize this section for each and every role they apply for to maximize the relevance of their experience.

Here's one more example of an administrative assistant Highlight Reel:

While the content in this example is related to the legal industry, you can see how the bullet points related to an administrative assistant role, and it has all the elements of a great Highlight Reel (especially the emphasis on measurable outcomes and results!).

If you want more details on writing a killer Highlight Reel, check out my full guide on Highlight Reels here.

How To Write Offer-Winning Administrative Assistant Resume Bullets

Bullets make up the majority of the content in your resume. If you want to win, you need to know how to write bullets that are compelling and value-driven.

Unfortunately, way too many job seekers aren't good at this. They use fluffy, buzzword-fill language and they only talk about the actions that they took rather than the results and outcomes those actions created.

To help solve this, our team dove into bullets from the best resumes that have come across our desk. We used that data to create a formula for a great resume bullet. Here it is:

If you apply this framework to each of the bullets on your resume, you're going to make them more compelling and your value is going to be crystal clear to the reader. For example, take a look at these resume bullets:

❌ Responsible for managing office supplies for all staff. 

✅ Managed office supplies, reducing costs by 10% through effective budgeting and vendor negotiation.

The second bullet makes the candidate's value so much more clear, and it's a lot more fun to read! That's what we're going for here.

That said, it's one thing to look at the graphic above and try to apply the abstract concept of “35% hard skills” to your bullet. We wanted to make things easy, so we created a tool called ResyBullet.io that will actually give your resume bullet a score and show you how to improve it.

Using ResyBullet To Write Crazy Effective, Job-Winning Resume Bullets

ResyBullet takes our proprietary “resume bullet formula” and layers it into a tool that's super simple to use. Here's how it works:

1. Head over to ResyBullet.io
2. Copy a bullet from your administrative assistant resume and paste it into the tool, then hit “Analyze”
3. ResyBullet will score your administrative assistant resume bullet and show you exactly what you need to improve
4. You edit your bullet with the recommended changes and scan it again
5. Rinse and repeat until you get a score of 60+
6. Move on to the next bullet in your administrative assistant resume

Let's take a look at how this works for the two resume bullet examples I shared above:

First, we had, “Responsible for managing office supplies for all staff.” 

ResyBullet gave that a score of 10/100.  It is a little short, and it's missing relevant details, compelling language and measurable outcomes:

Now, let's take a look at our second bullet, “Managed office supplies, reducing costs by 10% through effective budgeting and vendor negotiation.”

ResyBullet gave that a 71 / 100. Much better! This bullet had more content focused on the specific criteria the hiring team is looking for. We can see that they reduced costs by 10%, and we see what methods they implemented to generate those results:

Now all you have to do is run each of your bullets through ResyBullet, make the suggested updates, and your resume is going to be jam packed with eye-popping, value-driven content!

And if you want to learn more about the underlying strategies behind writing great resume bullets, check out this guide.

3 Administrative Assistant Resume Examples For 2023

Now let's take a look at all of these best practices in action. Here are three resume examples for different situations from people with different backgrounds:

Administrative Assistant Resume Example #1: A Traditional Background

Administrative Assistant Resume Example #2: A Non-Traditional Background

For our second administrative assistant resume example, we have a candidate who has a non-traditional background. In this case, they are coming from a legal background and highlight their transferrable skills.  Here's an example of what their resume might look like when applying for administrative assistant roles:

Administrative Assistant Resume Example #3: Administrative Assistant with a Resume Gap

For our third administrative assistant resume example, we have a candidate who has 10+ years of experience, and is looking to re-enter the workforce after a 2+ year gap. Here's an example of what their resume might look like:

The 8 Best Administrative Assistant Resume Templates

At this point, you know all of the basics you'll need to write an administrative assistant resume that wins you more interviews and offers. The only thing left is to take all of that information and apply it to a template that's going to help you get results.

We made that easy with our ResyBuild tool. It has 8 proven templates that were created with the help of recruiters and hiring managers at the world's best companies. These templates also bake in thousands of data points we have from the job seekers in our audience who have used them to land job offers.

Just click any of the templates below to start building your resume using proven, recruiter-approved templates:

Key Takeaways To Wrap Up Your Job-Winning Administrative Assistant Resume

You made it! We packed a lot of information into this post so I wanted to distill the key points for you and lay out next steps so you know exactly where to from here.

Here are the 5 steps for writing a job-winning administrative assistant resume:

1. Start with a proven resume template from ResyBuild.io
2. Use ResyMatch.io to find the right keywords and optimize your resume for each administrative assistant role you apply to
3. Open your administrative assistant resume with a Highlight Reel to immediately grab your target employer's attention
4. Use ResyBullet.io to craft compelling, value-driven bullets that pop off the page
5. Compare the draft of your administrative assistant resume to the examples on this page to make sure you're on the right path
6. Use a tool like HemingwayApp to proofread your resume before you submit it

If you follow those steps, you're going to be well on your way to landing more administrative assistant interviews and job offers.