Administrative Assistant Resume Examples, Tips & Free Templates

Administrative Assistant Resume

The smooth functioning of any office is impossible without a proactive administrative or clerical assistant. These professionals take on file management, internal/external correspondence, scheduling of appointments, and staff support, helping other team members to perform better in their own jobs. Not only do most administrative professionals find their jobs satisfying, but also there is a steady demand for them across all industries. According to Glassdoor.com, the average base pay is $44,285/year.

Whether you are planning on starting a career after graduation or already have years of experience, your path to the desired job starts with a resume. In this guide, you will find administrative assistant resume examples for your inspiration, and free templates with our best resume writing tips for administrative support roles. Jump in to create the resume of your dreams

A strong sample resume for admin support role sells your relevant skills and qualifications to employers. The competition for executive administrative assistant and other office administration roles is high, so you need a persuasive resume to land interviews. Your resume should concisely sell your organizational skills, project management abilities, ensuring office efficiency, and other admin assistant skills to hiring managers.

If you have no time to learn the rules and need a powerful resume ASAP, we can help. The resume makers of Resumeperk.com offer a decade of resume writing experience and full adherence to modern resume writing standards. Our resume improvement services offer 24-hour delivery so you can apply for hot jobs immediately. Your resume creator will work one-on-one with you, taking all your suggestions into account and capitalizing on your accomplishments to create an impressive resume that will sell your skills for the top administrative jobs.

A strong administrative assistant resume must showcase your experience in administrative roles, your achievements and metrics, and relevant skills. Below are the examples of the entry-level and experienced administrative assistant resume to give you the idea of how to structure the resume, which additional sections to include, and what powerful resume verbs to use when describing your experiences.

Why does this resume work? This resume for administrative assistant positions is well-structured and takes one full page, which is the recommended length for 5 years of experience. It lists job-critical skills, such as providing administrative support in the office, managing budgets, preparing expense reports, and performing clerical tasks. The resume also features the key technical skills, such as Microsoft Office Suite, QuickBooks, and time management skills.

Senior administrative assistant resume example

Senior administrative assistant resume example Image source: https://resumeworded.com/assets/images/resume-guides/senior-administrative-assistant.png

Why does this resume work? The senior admin assistant resume sample above is tailored for a more senior position. It features the candidate's experience in improving administrative processes, scheduling meetings and employee events, and coordinating admin services across the office.

This candidate also includes achievements in saving $500 for each employee and receiving awards for excellent performance, as well as a degree in Business Administration. Overall, the resume has an easy-to-read layout and features all the essential details a hiring manager wants to see in a more senior-level admin assistant.

Executive administrative assistant resume sample

Image source: https://novoresume.com/career-blog/executive-assistant-resume

Why does this resume work? This resume for an executive administrative assistant position grabs attention instantly with its structured and colored design. It starts with a focused summary and a list of key skills for an administrative assistant role, such as project management, office management, and high-level administrative support. The resume showcases career progression and focuses on executive support, maximizing productivity, and strong organizational skills.

Want a bright professional template that will catch the hiring managers attention in seconds? Download our Google Docs free administrative assistant resume template. We offer a ATS-friendly templates for many administrative assistant positions, so whether you want to create a legal administrative assistant resume or medical administrative assistant resume quickly, get a free template and get ready for more interviews!

How do you write an entry-level or senior administrative assistant resume that stands out? Keep your document focused (one page is perfect!) organized, and focused on your technical proficiency and achievements in previous roles. Here's a detailed breakdown of what to include:

Use hybrid resume format

Hybrid (or combination) is the best administrative assistant resume format. It includes a career summary, a Skills section, and also lists your jobs and ongoing professional development in detail. Whether you're only starting a career or are a certified administrative professional, this format will work great for you.

As a senior administrative assistant with a steady career history, however, you may use a chronological format to save space. In this situation, skip the summary and list professional experience right under your contact details. This format also works well for hiring managers.

Include measurable achievements

How do you stand out among other administrative professionals? Achievements. The best strategy is to include at least two quantifyable achievements per each administrative assistant role plus one in your Summary to quickly attract attention.

Here are some examples of achievements and strengths to include:

Onboarded and trained 3 junior administrative assistants
Implemented a new digital filing system, reducing data entry time by 30%
Coordinated 150% internal meetings with 94% of meeting goals being met
Reduced office expenses by 15%, which is reflected in expense reports.

Keep it to one page

A good CV tailored for office assistant positions should be one page long. This length is enough to emphasize your organizational skills, achievements, and the capability to excel in the target role.

If you're a senior administrative assistant or executive administrative assistant with 15+ years of experience, you can make the resume shorter by cutting off your early career and outdated skills.

Here's what you can painlessly remove from your resume for executive-level office support to keep it strong:

Outdated technical skills (such as Windows XP)
Early career after the university
Emphasize career development and progression, (say, being promoted to Administrative Assistant II)
Jobs and side hustles in other industries than administrative support
Buzzwords (such as proactive, result-driven, and go-getter).

List your education intentionally.

Although you can get hired for the administrative assistant job without a degree, including your education or ongoing professional development is always a plus. As an experienced administrative assistant, add the Education section and list your Associate or Bachelor's degree there. If you never went to college, you may add the high school information.

List all relevant certifications or training that can set you apart:

Certified administrative professional (CAP)
Administrative assistant certification (CAA)
Microsoft office specialist
Certified bookkeeping professional.

Format for ATS

Today, nearly 99% of Fortune 500 companies and many smaller ones use ATS systems to screen resumes. To land an interview, you should pass those resume filters first. Here's how to keep your resume ATS-friendly:

Adapt your resume for a job description. Use keywords and phrases from the job posting so that your application looks extremely relevant to hiring managers. Say, if the job asks for Microsoft Office suite, Google Workspace, streamlined office operations, and project management software, use these phrases in your resume word for word.
Use plain formatting. Don't use complex formatting such as pictures, graphs, images, or tables, as it might confuse the ATS system. Keep formatting simple - use one column and list your job duties as a bulleted list.
Opt for a simple font. Avoid funny symbols and beautiful fonts. Use the same sans-serif font for all resume sections. Arial, Helvetica, or Calibri work best for resumes. You may use a bigger font for your name and section headlines (Experience, Education, and so on).
Use the right file type. Submit your resume as a PDF or Word file as they open correctly on any device. Use your name and the job title as a file name for the convenience of hiring managers, for example, "Katherine Lee - Executive administrative assistant resume".
Proofread before sending. ATS will not recognize misspelled words on your resume. And if your application makes it through screening, 59% of recruiters are ready to toss a resume with spelling mistakes. So, take the time to proofread the document carefully. After all, wriring communication skills are essential for the administrative assistant!

Just a quick reminder - if you're looking for a resume template optimized for ATS, you can find it here! Our team has developed recruiter-approved template for every job, including medical administrative assistant, sales administrative assistant, and more.

Unless you are transitioning to an administrative assistant job from a dramatically different path of career, your resume should start with a summary. A profile summary for an office assistant is a 3- or 4-sentence introduction that serves to present your crucial competencies and personality characteristics to the reader, persuading them that you're ideally suited for the job. A good summary is always customized for the job advertisement, so be sure to use the names of skills and qualifications the company requires.

Here are some administrative assistant resume summary examples.

Resume summary example for experienced administrative professionals

Proactive and detail-oriented Administrative Assistant with 5+ years of experience managing calendars and schedules, organizing international travel, and managing a database of clients and vendors. Tech-savvy with working knowledge of MS Office and Google Suite, and certified in Microsoft Computer Applications.

Administrative clerk summary example

Organized Administrative Clerk with a track record in handling multiple time-pressed projects simultaneously, organizing office for efficiency and providing top-notch support for busy executives. Adept at external communication, capable of preparing well-researched and accurate documents, and recognized for excellent customer service skills.

Resume objective for entry-level administrative assistant

Using a resume objective makes sense if you're looking for your first administrative assistant role after graduation. Here is the administrative assistant resume example of the objective statement:

Enthusiastic recent graduate seeking an Administrative Assistant position to leverage education, organizational skills, and problem-solving abilities for streamlining administrative processes. Has a Business Administration university degree, customer service skills, and typing speed 58 WPM.

Creating a separate Skills section in your senior administrative assistant resume serves two major goals. Firstly, it captures the attention of the reader, showing that you've got the exact proficiencies they're looking for. Secondly, it's good for ATS, as relevant skills will work for keywords and help you pass resume robots.

The best way to present your skills is to use 2-3 columns or to organize them by sections (i.e. Administrative, Customer Service, Software, etc.). Include only relevant skills and administrative duties in your professional administrative assistant resume. CV consultants recommend that you list between 8 and 15 skills.

Here are the skills which are nice to have in a resume for an administrative assistant role.

Hard skills

Hard or technical skills show your ability to perform administrative tasks and handle industry-specific software. Including them proves that you qualify for the position.

Microsoft Office Suite
QuickBooks
Event Planning
Certified Administrative Professional
Writing & Editing
Presentation development
Database management
Managing calendars
Data entry
Expense reports
Scheduling meetings
Overseeing office operations
Digital filing system knowledge
Office management
Project management software
Customer service

Soft skills

Soft or transferable skills describe your workplace attitude, personality, and the ability to communicate with others well. Good soft skills mean that you can work effectively in any team, resolve conflicts, and negotiate. Top skills for administrative assistants include:

Excellent communication skills
Organizational skills
Problem-solving
Flexibility
Time management skills
Adaptability
Streamlining administrative processes
Emotional intelligence
Attention to detail

These soft skills will enhance your resume for every admin assistant job, including sales administrative assistant, junior administrative assistant, HR administrative assistant and more.

Curious about what soft skills are in demand in any industry? Take a look at the detailed characteristics of ideal employees.

Above, you can find administrative assistant resume example for professionals with a steady career. But how do you adapt your resume if no relevant experience yet of if you're in the middle of career change? Here are the examples and tips you can use:

Administrative assistant resume with no experience.

Administrative assistant resume with no experience

Image source: https://d25zcttzf44i59.cloudfront.net/entry-level-administrative-assistant-official-resume-example.png

If you're looking for your first job as an administrative assistant, focus on your internships and student projects. In this example, a job-seeker lists their education in detail and extracurricular experience leading a student club. Plus, they list their experience in retail to showcase customer service and communication skills.

Make sure to list your internships or volunteering jobs as an administrative assistant, describing them as real jobs. Emphasize essential entry-level skills, including Microsoft Office Suite, preparing expense reports, accounting skills, and business administration skills.

Resume for administrative assistant with career change.

Resume for administrative assistant with career change

Image source: https://d25zcttzf44i59.cloudfront.net/career-change-to-administrative-assistant-resume-example.png

Professionals transitioning to the administrative assistant role should emphasize transferable skills and explain how their experience aligns with a job opportunity. Keep your resume concise, use keywords from the job posting, and skip completely irrelevant jobs.

In this example of a Project Coordinator switching to Admin Assistant job the candidate showcases their attention to detail, problem-solving, and organizational skills. Moreover, they include relevant hard skills including Microsoft Office Suite, Salesforce, handling administrative tasks, project management, and digital filing system.

Resume for internal promotion.

Image source: https://www.resumebuilder.com/resume-examples/administrative-assistant/

Resume for internal promotion

Are you looking for resume examples for internal promotion administrative assistant? Pay attention to the one above. This accounting admin assistant resume has a clear career history emphasizing the candidate's contribution and achievements in each role, plus a focused summary. You can look the same format and tips for a promotion to Administrative Assistant II or HR Administrative Assistant role.

When writing a resume for an internal promotion, add numbers to show proven track record in the current organization. Focus on skills that will benefit in your target role, not the role you already have. List any company-specific skills such as internal software and practices to demonstrate cultural fit.

Professional experience is the most extensive and important part of administrative assistant resumes. Based on it, recruiters predict your future performance and evaluate how your skills match the particular industry, employer and role. Therefore, you want to be very specific and concise when describing past experiences. Here are a few hints if you are not sure where to get started:

Write 5-6 bullet points per job.

Less won't give the hiring managers a big picture of what your job entails. More will take the valuable resume space and make the paper longer than necessary. Don't overload the job description with secondary and irrelevant duties.

Be specific.

Don't say ‘coordinated travels', ‘answered phones', and ‘updated database'. Instead, write ‘coordinated and scheduled a travel calendar that included 7 business trips bi-annually', ‘answered 25+ inbound calls per day, resolving or transferring customer enquires', and ‘Supported the transition from paper to an electronic database and finished the project 1 week ahead of deadline'. Be specific in listing your administrative assistant skills.

Keep it relevant.

Let's say you've mostly maintained inventory, office library, and composesd emails in your previous administrative assistant position. However, if your target opening requires heavy customer interaction, maintaining a client database, and assisting the executive, try and focus on these experiences in the first place, even if they weren't the top priority in your previous job.

Know the limits.

Even if your experience in office administration spans over decades, you needn't list each and every job you had. Limit the experience section to the most recent 15 years, or 5 jobs if you've changed jobs frequently. You just need to show that you are an experienced administrative assistant.

Add accomplishments and metrics.

In 2025, quantifying accomplishments is the only way to get your resume noticed. Whether you're listing your experience in handling administrative tasks or accomplishments, use numbers and percentages. For example, instead of "trained interns" write "onboarded and trained 5 new interns resulting in a 20% productivity increase". Instead of "answered phones" say "Handled 15+ customer calls per day with a 96% resolution rate".

List your achievements and recognition along with regular daily duties. ‘Received an award for excellent work ethic' or ‘Renegotiated office supplies contracts, saving the company $7,500 a year' count as great accomplishments. Check out the administrative assistant resume template to get more ideas on how to organize this section.

Use action verbs for administrative assistant resume.

Start the bullet points in your administrative assistant resume with powerful action verbs. Thus, your experiences and achievements will sound more convincing. Using the right tone of voice in a resume also contributes to your success, and weak phrases like "responsible for" or "tasked with" won't take you anywhere.

Here's what to use instead:

Streamlined
Orchestrated
Implemented
Distributed
Improved
Developed
Managed
Authored
Created
Achieved.

Hiring managers expect to see technical literacy, interpersonal skills, organization, and communication abilities on your resume. However, there are also things that they absolutely cannot stand. Before sending your resume, make sure it's free from the following issues:

• Grammar and punctuation mistakes.

As an admin assistant, you are expected to be accurate and attentive to detail, thus, typos and misused commas are not acceptable. Moreover, 59% of recruiters will reject a candidate because of resume mistakes.

• Inappropriate email address.

Are you still using that high-school email that sounds like ‘sweetstrawberry95@gmail.com'? It can become a stumbling point, too. Create a professional email consisting of your first and last name.

• A document that's too long.

If you have under 10 years of experience, keep your resume to one page. Two pages are acceptable if you have changed multiple roles and companies. Employers won't be wasting their time reading longer resumes.

• Too creative formatting.

Highlighting your name and section headings in red is fine. Using a black font on the spring green background is not. Remember that it's a professional document in the first place, and should look accordingly.

• Casual tone and slang.

Administrative assistants handle office communications and should have strong business writing skills. Avoid using slang, abbreviations, casual expressions, or anything that might portray you as an unprofessional communicator.

Not sure if your resume is strong enough to secure you interviews for administrative assistant positions? Get your resume reviewed for free on our website. An experienced resume writer will evaluate the content and formatting of your resume, providing you wiht actionable feedback to improve it. Send your resume to us on chat, and the writer will send personalized tips to you in 2 business days.

Have no time to wait? Order our custom resume writing service with the next-day delivery! An experienced writer will work one-on-one with you to present your qualifications and achievements professionally and adapt it for your target job posting.

With the above resume tips and templates, you'll build your resume for the administrative assistant position and increase your chances of landing interviews! To create a job-winning resume, remember to quantify your accomplishments, use a clean, readable structure, and list all the relevant skills to successfully pass through the ATS.

What are the most important achievements to include on an administrative assistant resume?

Focus on achievements that show how you improved office operations, saved time or resources, or supported team productivity. Examples include improving document management, scheduling meetings more efficiently, or supporting executive-level tasks.

How to format an administrative assistant resume for ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems)?

Use a clean layout with standard fonts, clear section headings like Professional Summary and Skills, and include keywords from the job description such as document management, scheduling, and communication skills.

What transferable skills are valuable for career changers applying to admin assistant roles?

Transferable skills include time management, communication, organizational abilities, and attention to detail. These skills apply across industries and show your readiness to perform admin duties even without direct experience.

How to describe duties vs. achievements on an administrative assistant resume?

While duties describe what you were responsible for, achievements explain what you accomplished. For example, instead of saying "managed schedules", say "streamlined executive scheduling, saving 10+ hours weekly."

Our experienced writers can create a powerful resume suitable for each position. However, you may also request a specific resume depending on the job you are applying for, thus it will be tailored individually for your profession:

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Administrative Assistant Resume Examples, Tips & Free Templates

Senior administrative assistant resume example