How to Write an Administrative Assistant Resume (With Examples)

What Hiring Managers Look For

The person reading your resume is usually the office manager, an executive you'd support, or an HR coordinator covering several openings at once. They are scanning for three things.

Proof you can run the systems they already use. Name the email and calendar platform, the spreadsheet work you do (formulas, pivot tables, mail merge), and the database or records system. O*NET lists core tasks for this occupation including creating, maintaining and entering information into databases, and setting up and managing paper or electronic filing systems (U.S. Department of Labor) — so say which systems, which version, and how many records.

Volume and reliability. "Answered phones" tells a reader nothing. Calls per day, calendars supported, executives supported, reports turned around, invoices coded per month — numbers are how an administrative resume shows capacity.

Industry fit. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that about half of all workers in the occupation are employed in healthcare, education, and professional, scientific and technical services (2025). If you're applying in one of those, show the vocabulary: scheduling patients and verifying insurance, student records and academic calendars, billable-hour timekeeping and client intake. BLS also notes that legal and medical administrative assistants may need additional training in industry-specific terminology (2025), so terminology on the page works as evidence.

Accuracy signals matter too. CareerOneStop lists proofreading documents and records for accuracy among the occupation's core activities (U.S. Department of Labor) — give it a bullet with a number attached rather than naming accuracy as a personal trait.

Skills to Include

Split them. Technical skills belong in a labeled, scannable block; interpersonal ones have to be proved inside experience bullets or they read as filler.

Technical — name these in a skills or tools block

• Microsoft Word, including mail merge and templates — list the version you use
• Excel — name the functions: VLOOKUP, pivot tables, filters
• Outlook or equivalent calendar and email — pair with number of calendars managed
• PowerPoint — tie to decks produced, not listed alone
• Database entry and record maintenance — name the actual platform
• Electronic and paper filing systems — note the naming convention you built
• Expense, invoice or purchase-order processing — name the system and cadence
• Travel booking and itinerary building — list alongside trips per year
• Multi-line phone and voicemail routing — put call volume in a bullet
• Transcription, minutes or document formatting — specify meeting type

Interpersonal — show these in bullets, never as adjectives

• Gatekeeping and prioritizing competing requests — show in a scheduling bullet
• Confidential handling of personnel or client files — state the record type
• Front-desk and visitor communication — attach daily visitor numbers
• Cross-department coordination — name the departments and the deliverable

If the posting names software you've used, copy its exact wording into your skills block. Approximations get filtered out by keyword searches.

How to Structure Each Section

1. Header. Keep it to two lines — name, city and state, phone, professional email — and skip your street address. Under your name, use the exact job title from the posting; O*NET lists reported titles for this occupation including Administrative Assistant, Administrative Secretary, Administrative Specialist, Office Assistant and Staff Assistant (U.S. Department of Labor), and the hiring system is often searching for one of them.
2. Summary. Three lines maximum, no first-person pronouns. Say how many people you support, in what industry, and name one system: "Administrative assistant supporting six attorneys; manages Outlook calendars, 70+ calls daily, and client intake records."
3. Skills and tools block. Group under two or three labels (Software, Office Operations, Records) rather than one long comma string. Include every tool from the posting that you have actually used, with versions where you know them.
4. Certifications. Give it its own two-line section directly under skills if you hold anything. Write the credential and the issuing body in full — for example, Microsoft Office Specialist credentials, administered by Certiport, are product- and version-specific such as Excel 365/2019 (ONLC Training Centers), so state which exam you passed.
5. Experience. Reverse chronological, four to six bullets for the current role and two to three for older ones. Open every bullet with a verb and put a number in the first half — call volume, calendars, records, invoices, turnaround days.
6. Industry detail. Inside your experience bullets, use the terminology of the sector you're applying to. BLS notes legal and medical administrative assistants may need additional training in industry-specific terminology (2025); showing you already use it removes a training step for the employer.
7. Education. One line, no GPA unless you graduated in the last year. BLS lists typical entry-level education for the occupation as a high school diploma or equivalent (2025), so a diploma plus a strong tools block is enough on its own — don't pad it.

Before and After Bullets

Phone coverage

Before

Answered incoming calls and took messages for the office.

After

Fielded roughly 60 calls daily on a four-line system, routing callers to the correct department and logging messages in Outlook so no inquiry went unanswered past two hours.

Filing systems

Before

Kept office files organized and up to date.

After

Converted 12 drawers of paper personnel files into a labeled electronic folder structure with a shared naming convention, cutting average document retrieval from 10 minutes to under 1.

Calendar management

Before

Scheduled meetings and appointments for managers.

After

Managed Outlook calendars for five department directors, booking 30-40 meetings weekly and clearing double-bookings before 9 a.m. each day.

Database and records work

Before

Performed data entry into the company database.

After

Entered and audited 400+ client records a month in the department database, running a weekly duplicate check that reduced returned mail from 18 pieces to 3.

Document production

Before

Assisted with reports, agendas and meeting documents.

After

Produced 20 board packets a year in Word, proofreading agendas and minutes against source files and distributing each packet 48 hours ahead of the meeting.

Travel and expenses

Before

Booked travel and submitted expense reports for staff.

After

Booked 60 domestic trips annually and reconciled about 150 expense reports in the company expense system, closing each month's submissions within three business days.

Final Checklist

• Count the numbers: confirm at least six bullets contain a volume, frequency or turnaround figure.
• Confirm every experience bullet opens with a past-tense action verb rather than a phrase describing the scope of the job, and rewrite any that don't.
• Delete any adjective that claims accuracy, organization or cooperation as a personal quality, and replace it with a bullet containing a number.
• Open the posting and list three named software tools from it; confirm each appears in your skills block or a bullet.
• Check that the job title under your name matches the posting's title word for word.
• Confirm your first bullet in the current role names a number of people or calendars supported.
• Verify that any certification line states the issuing body — for example, the Certified Administrative Professional from the International Association of Administrative Professionals, or a Microsoft Office Specialist exam and version.
• Read your summary aloud and cut it to three lines or fewer with no first-person pronouns.
• Confirm the resume fits one page unless you have more than ten years of administrative experience.
• Check that the file name reads LastName-Administrative-Assistant-Resume and that you're sending a PDF unless the posting requests Word.

Final Checklist

• Count the numbers: confirm at least six bullets contain a volume, frequency or turnaround figure.
• Confirm every experience bullet opens with a past-tense action verb rather than a phrase describing the scope of the job, and rewrite any that don't.
• Delete any adjective that claims accuracy, organization or cooperation as a personal quality, and replace it with a bullet containing a number.
• Open the posting and list three named software tools from it; confirm each appears in your skills block or a bullet.
• Check that the job title under your name matches the posting's title word for word.
• Confirm your first bullet in the current role names a number of people or calendars supported.
• Verify that any certification line states the issuing body — for example, the Certified Administrative Professional from the International Association of Administrative Professionals, or a Microsoft Office Specialist exam and version.
• Read your summary aloud and cut it to three lines or fewer with no first-person pronouns.
• Confirm the resume fits one page unless you have more than ten years of administrative experience.
• Spot-check three dates and three numbers against your own records so you can defend each in an interview.