Administrative assistants use their organisational and people skills to keep offices running smoothly. Learn to show recruiters how invaluable you are with our administrative assistant CV example and four writing tips.
Ensure your CV layout is structured to best highlight your unique experience and life situation.
Text Format
PERSONAL STATEMENT
Highly organised Administrative Assistant with 7 years of experience in large corporate office settings. Well-versed in coordinating schedules, meetings, and communications with external vendors. Possess strong multi-tasking skills and ability to assist customers via phone and email within short timeframes. Seeking to advance into an executive assistant position by taking on more challenging responsibilities at [Company Name].
WORK EXPERIENCE
Pearl Lemon, Lancashire Administrative Assistant, July 2019 – Present
Oversee weekly meetings by booking conference rooms, confirming attendance, organising notes, and distributing appropriate documentation to each member ahead of time
Schedule appointments and manage the monthly calendars of 10 members of the B2B marketing team
Manage a budget of £150,000 to help arrange international trips for executives as well as business events for senior managers
Strengthened project-related communications between departments and clients, leading to an 18% increase in customer satisfaction
Improved online databases of client accounts and external vendors, and developed an automated filing system for both digital documents and hard copies
Oriel Partners, London Office Assistant, January 2017 – June 2019
Assisted 3 senior executives with their daily work schedules, conference meetings, and travel plans
Planned and executed annual office receptions by researching venues, selecting vendors, and updating guest lists as needed
Spearheaded the transition from paper receipts to online invoicing and updated payroll database with employee payment information
Love Success Ltd, London Receptionist, May 2015 – December 2016
Answered 45+ calls per day, helped guests with their enquiries, and routed courier services
Improved archive efficiency by 15% by implementing a new automated system for filing physical mail and faxed documents
Monitored inventory, including stock orders, material requisition, and incoming shipments
EDUCATION
University of London (2012-2015) BSc (Hons) Business Administration, upper second-class honours (2:1)
Relevant Modules: Interpreting Marketing and Consumption, Managing Performance, International Human Resource Management, The Individual at Work
Ipswich Sixth Form College, Ipswich
A-levels: Business and Administration (A), Maths (A), English Literature (A)
GCSEs: 10 A–B including Maths, English, and French
KEY SKILLS
MS Office
Oracle PeopleSoft
QuickBooks
Database management
Scheduling
Communication
Data filing
Invoicing and billing
HOBBIES & INTERESTS
Cycling
Playing piano
Reading
Cooking
How to write your administrative assistant CV
Before you begin writing, make sure you know how to write a CV in a way that best emphasises your strengths.
Administrative assistants support their teams by doing tasks like managing files, planning trips, and serving clients. Although barriers to becoming an administrative assistant are low and administrative assistant skills are highly transferable, you’ll still need a compelling CV to compete with other qualified candidates.
Follow our four tips to write an administrative assistant CV that lands you more interviews:
1. Research your target administrative assistant role
While many administrative assistant positions seem the same on the surface, each company — and what they’re looking for in a candidate — will differ when you look closer. As a result, researching the company and role will help you determine if you’ll enjoy working there and how you should customise your CV to land the job.
After reading the administrative assistant job advert carefully, do some research into:
the company’s business (e.g., mission statement, business strategy)
the specific industry knowledge you’ll need
who your primary supervisor will be
what team or department you’ll be part of
what other departments you’ll be working with
whether the role trends more towards secretary or assistant
how much you’ll be working with clients and customers
Incorporating the information you’ve learned into your administrative assistant CV shows employers that you’re excited to work for their company specifically.
2. Choose a professional layout for your administrative assistant CV
Your administrative assistant CV layout must be organised and easy-to-read to show recruiters how you’d handle reporting, diary management, bookkeeping, and other tasks requiring attention to detail.
As you set out to make your CV, remember to:
use a readable CV font that’s between 10.5 and 12 points
use a reverse-chronological format for your work experience (start with your most recent job and work backwards)
place your education section above your work experience if you’re a fresh graduate
3. Highlight your administrative assistant work experience with hard numbers and CV adjectives
Your CV’s work experience section is the place to show recruiters how you’d bring your past experience to do a great job in your new role. So describe your job-relevant achievements using hard numbers — rather than just listing previous job duties — to emphasise the value you deliver as an administrative assistant.
Examples of hard numbers you can use on your administrative assistant CV include the:
amounts of time or money you saved your company
number of people you trained or managed
number of calendars you managed
amount of petty cash you controlled
amounts of money you invoiced and billed
number of reports you generated weekly
number of clients or customers you helped
number of calls you answered or emails you replied to daily
The best administrative assistants can perform a variety of tasks, even if the tasks aren’t listed in the job description or haven’t been done by the company before. Show future employers you’re multi-talented by ensuring each work experience bullet highlights a different skill.
Additionally, because administrative assistants work heavily with other people, give recruiters an idea of your personality. Distribute — but don’t overuse — CV adjectives throughout your personal statement (the introduction at the top of your CV) and work experience sections.
Choose CV adjectives that address the requirements in the job advert. Examples of adjectives found in administrative assistant job descriptions include:
proactive
professional
organised
polite
positive
reliable
cooperative
flexible
quick-learner
accurate
detail-oriented
friendly
confident
dedicated
independent
knowledgable
4. Put top administrative assistant skills on your CV
Round out your administrative assistant CV by adding key skills that may not have come through in your other sections to your CV’s skills section. Administrative assistants need both hard skills (those learned through education) and soft skills (personality-based skills that affect how you work).
Essential hard skills for administrative assistants include:
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