Write a Resume for a Secretarial Job
Administrative assistants, also referred to as secretaries, act as the first contact for executives and employees in a business environment. As well as answering calls, filing papers and confirming appointment times, many secretaries are responsible with managing an office, a calendar and highly confidential information. In today's job market, there is likely to be stiff competition for secretarial or assistant positions that offer good pay and benefits. One of the ways you can set yourself apart is by creating a resume and cover letter that highlight your qualifications. There are ways to tailor your resume to each job that allow you to show skills, cover employment gaps and show your value. Find out how to write a resume for a secretarial job.
Steps
- Evaluate the job description. Highlight all of the prior qualifications and underline all prospective duties. Circle any important buzz words or action verbs like "organize" or "facilitate" so that you can use them in your resume.
- Determine whether you have the skills to do the job. Although you should not be afraid of reaching high in your job search, if you have never held an assistant role, you may not be qualified for an executive assistant to a high-level executive yet. Your time may be better spent looking for a job that is better suited to your experience.
- Include your contact information. The first essential element of any assistant resume is to include all forms of contact, including name, email address, home phone number, cell phone number and address. If you have a website that is applicable, you should include that in the header or footer of your resume as well.
- For example, if you are looking to be an administrative assistant for a wedding planner, your own blog about wedding fashion may prove useful. Avoid including your website or social media links if they do not have relevance to the job at hand.
- Decide upon your format. The 2 main types of resume formats are chronological and functional. The type you choose will depend upon your past experience.
- If you have been steadily moving into jobs with higher pay, more responsibility and with more prestigious companies, you should choose a chronological resume. If you do not have any gaps in your employment and you can show under each job title how you were promoted, then this will give you an advantage over less qualified candidates.
- If you have just completed school, you are trying a new field or you have gaps in your employment history, choose a functional resume. Instead of listing your employment by the date and title, you will list the necessary qualifications, as written in the job description, and detail your experience under each heading.
- Begin your resume with an objective statement. Under your contact information and before employment information, you should have approximately 2 to 5 sentences in prose that clarify who you are and what you want in specific terms. Many people return to the objective after having finished their educational and employment sections so that they can make a hint at topics that will be discussed in their resume.
- For example, an example of a specific objective summary or statement would be, "Executive Assistant with 7 years of experience in managing professional schedules for operations departments. Seeking a position with XYZ company that utilizes data management, customer relations and advanced problem-solving skills. Proven background of improving time and cost efficiency of office environments."
- Many job candidates make the mistake of only writing what they are looking for, instead of who they are. For example, they may write "Looking for a position with XYZ company that involves data management, problem solving and scheduling."
- List skills to your functional or chronological format. Many people use bullet points beginning with action verbs to address the qualifications needed in the job description. If the description asks for someone who types at least 60 words per minute (WPM), include the fact that you type 90 WPM.
- Add accomplishments. Under each qualification or job heading, you must list all of your promotions, honors, pay raises and increased value for the company. If possible, quantify your accomplishments in percentages, years and added value in time or money.
- Include the buzz words in the job description. If the job says you must "facilitate business appointments," add that you "facilitate 10 to 20 business appointments per day in your current job." Include words that show you have a working knowledge of the industry.
- Replace verbs with action verbs. Each bullet point should start with an evocative and meaningful action verb that suggests the value you create in a company. The following are action verbs to consider for administrative jobs:
- Organize, arranged, composed, corresponded, developed, elicited, edited, adapted, performed, solved, planned, corrected, budgeted, researched, contributed, collaborated, guided, resolved, supported, generated, increased, strengthened, collected, reviewed, monitored, verified, standardized, filed, distributed, summarized, executed and tested.
- Create an education section. This short section should list any degrees you hold and the universities where you achieved them. You should also add any additional training courses, certifications or professional memberships.
- Limit your resume to 1 page. The resume should entice people to invite you to an interview, so focus on being succinct and clear. If your formatting does not fill the width of the page very well, experiment with reformatting with more information on 1 line.
- Margins should be at least 1 inch (2.5cm) on all sides. You should use a popular font, such as Times New Roman, in no less than 11 point.
- Research examples of other professional resumes on the Internet, if you do not like how your resume appears. You can look through templates of administrative assistant resumes that are formatted cleanly and communicate the data in a more pleasing way than a regular word processing document.
- Proof and edit your resume. Failing to find copy edit errors and other mistakes is likely to cost you a job opportunity. Most secretaries will be asked to create and proof documents, so yours should be as near to perfect as possible.
Things You'll Need
- Job description
- Highlighter
- Word processing program
- Skills
- Action verbs
- Objective summery
- Educational summary
- Accomplishments
- Contact information
- Proofing skills
