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Administrative Assistant CV

| By | Reviewed by the CV Genius CPRW Team

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.

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The first page of a teal-accented administrative assistant CV example with a two-column header followed by a personal statement and work experience section
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Administrative Assistant CV (Text Format)

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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 between10.5 and 12 points
  • avoid adding photos or graphics that may not pass applicant tracking systems (ATS)
  • 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 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:

  • Microsoft Office suite
  • data entry and management
  • industry-specific knowledge
  • file management
  • scanning, copying, and faxing
  • invoicing and billing
  • office supply stock management
  • research skills
  • calendar management and software
  • diary management
  • transcription
  • travel planning
  • foreign language skills
  • onboarding and offboarding
  • receiving visitors
  • order processing
  • bookkeeping
  • inventory management
  • Salesforce
  • computer skills
  • IT skills
  • Adobe Acrobat
  • Photoshop
  • HTML
  • social media management
  • taking meeting minutes

Soft skills that distinguish an average from a stellar administrative assistant include:

  • time management skills
  • communication (written and verbal) skills
  • multitasking skills
  • confidentiality
  • organisational skills
  • active listening skills
  • project management
  • email and telephone etiquette
  • problem-solving skills
  • customer service
  • ability to remain calm under pressure
  • ability to pivot quickly
  • ability to anticipate needs
  • interpersonal skills

Below is an example of how an administrative assistant CV’s skills section should look:

Example of a skills section with a teal header on an administrative assistant CV
List a mix of hard and soft skills in your CV’s skill section.

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