A good administrative assistant resume should include contact information, work history, education, skills, and references. It should be well-organized, free of errors, and visually appealing. Relevant awards may also be included.
A resume is usually the starting point for most hiring decisions. Many companies require a resume before even agreeing to a face-to-face interview; as such, resumes serve as calling cards for a person’s experience and skills. For administrative assistants, a good resume is a chance to showcase not only relevant experience, but organizational skills as well. A basic administrative assistant resume should contain enough information to get an idea of the job history and qualifications without overwhelming the potential employer.
An administrative assistant resume should never be submitted without a name or detailed contact information. Include address, phone number and an email address at a minimum. Consider opening an email account with a work address separate from your personal accounts. Not only does this help protect personal information, it can also look considerably more professional. Employers are more likely to believe that [email protected] is more professional and prepared than [email protected].
Work history is an important part of an administrative assistant’s resume and should be highlighted. Include job title, place of work, dates of employment, and name of supervisor. If there’s room, a section that includes work tasks can also be enlightening, but keep it simple and remove it if the page feels crowded. A resume should rarely span one page; therefore, try to include relevant work history only if space is an issue.
In addition to work experience, an administrative assistant resume should contain a section for educational accomplishments. This section can give employers an idea of a candidate’s educational background and notable degrees. Include school attended, dates attended, and degree or certificate obtained. Typically, an administrative assistant resume only includes education information for high school, college, and graduate school.
The skills section of a resume details applicable knowledge and special training. For administrative assistants, important items such as mastery of computer operating systems, customer service training, conflict management skills, foreign language, typing speed, and level of familiarity with office equipment are important to note in this section of the resume . If a job advertisement lists the desired qualifications a candidate has, include those criteria in the skills section.
An administrative assistant candidate may want to include some references for potential employees to contact. These references must be from adults, preferably former employers or co-workers. It is not advisable to use friends or relatives with the same last name, as your objectivity or knowledge of work skills can be easily questioned. Do not include any references that might give a bad review.
If a candidate has received any special awards for actions relevant to the position, these may be included. For example, employee of the month recognition, graphics or computer skill awards, or any other special notification for outstanding work can be included. Make sure you only include relevant prizes and don’t worry if there’s nothing that can be used for this section. It’s rarely expected, but it can help make a good impression on employers.
The layout and design of a resume can speak volumes about organizational and computer skills. Many word processing programs offer free resume templates that are divided into sections and can be filled in with data. Be absolutely certain that there are no spelling or grammatical errors and that the copies are printed legibly. A good-looking resume might not win you a job, but it will certainly attract attention.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
