If you’re in search of an administrative assistant job, you’re in luck! Many employers are currently hiring, which has opened up many job opportunities. Still, you’ll want your resume to be ready to go. If you’re just getting started writing it, or need to clean your current resume up, follow these administrative assistant resume tips.
How to write an administrative assistant resume
First, you’ll need to decide the format of your resume based on how new you are to the field. If you’re just getting started, you’ll write what’s called a functional resume. This means you focus on your marketable skills since you haven’t yet built up your work experience. If you’ve been in the field for a little bit, you can write what called a chronological resume, which focuses on your past work experience. One thing to consider is to include a skills section in your resume even if you have work experience to list.
Open with an introduction
Start with your title. This could be simply “administrative assistant,” or might include any descriptive details, such as “health insurance administrative assistant” or anything else that will catch a recruiter’s eye.
The first section of your resume should be an overview of what you’re all about. Talk about your key skills, and include anything that aligns with a job you’re applying to. Look for keywords and industry terms, and include those as they apply to your experience. Your intro paragraph shouldn’t be any longer than a few sentences.
Include your functional skills
Familiar with Microsoft Office? Skilled at answering phones and handling customers with a smile? Organized? Great with filing? Make a list of important skills that apply to the job (hint: specifically to the job you’re applying to) and include these in a “functional skills” list. If you’re writing a chronological resume, you might decide to skip this, or keep it. It’s really up to you!
List your past work experience
Start with your most recent job, and work backwards. Only include the jobs that pertain to administrative assistant work, unless you gained important skills. For example, if you worked at an ice cream parlor in college, this probably wouldn’t apply, unless, for example, you developed key customer service skills working at the counter or answering phones. Under each title, write a bulleted list of how you helped the company rather than simply what your responsibilities were. Include numbers when you can to illustrate how hard you worked. This could include number of daily calls you answered, how many accounts you handled, etc.
Finish with education and credentials
This includes your highest level of education and where you earned it from and dates. List any professional certifications you’ve earned, the organization that presented them to you, and dates.
Are you ready?
When your resume is ready to go, what happens if you’re having a hard time finding the right job for you? No problem—just check out HireCall! We’ll work with you to find a job you love.
