Resume Keywords for Administrative Assistant

By including the right resume keywords for administrative assistant resumes you can ensure that your job application gets noticed by potential employers.

Resume keywords are the words and phrases that are relevant to the specific administrative assistant job opportunity and include responsibilities, duties, qualifications, skills and experience. These are the keywords that have been chosen by recruiters and employers as the most important for the administrative assistant role.

Many employers use an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to scan and rank resumes. The ATS will search for the right resume keywords and eliminate those resumes that do not match. Recruiters or hiring managers may quickly scan for these keywords when sifting through the resumes they receive, discarding those that are missing the right resume keywords.

Including the right resume keywords for administrative assistant roles will help your resume gets past the ATS and outperform your competition.

How do I know which are the right resume keywords for an administrative assistant?

There are 2 simple steps to take to identify the best keywords to use in your administrative assistant resume.

1. Review the job posting

Carefully review the administrative assistant job description and highlight the most important duties and responsibilities. Look through the job candidate requirements and pick out the most critical skills, qualifications, experience and knowledge required to fulfill the role.

Make a list of these resume keywords for the administrative assistant job and try to include as many as possible in your resume.

If the job posting does not provide enough details, it is advisable to search for similar administrative assistant jobs to find the right keywords for your resume.

2. Consider the important skills and characteristics for the company and industry

Find out what skills and characteristics the company values by reviewing their website or the company's LinkedIn page. For example, if the company values employee development and learning you can highlight your cultural match by using "development" and "learning"  as resume keywords.

How do I include the administrative assistant keywords in my resume?

• Once you have identified and made a list of the right resume keywords for the administrative assistant job, you can organize them into different categories including qualifications, skills and experience. Use the keywords that match your qualifications, skills and experience under the right heading and in the appropriate section of your administrative assistant resume. 
• Use as many keywords that match your skills and experience as possible while ensuring that your resume reads smoothly and is not awkward or repetitive.
• For maximum impact, it is advisable to place the most important keywords at the beginning of your resume, for example in your administrative assistant objective statement.
• It is important to update your resume keywords for each resume you submit to ensure that they are relevant to the target job opportunity.

Top resume keywords for administrative assistant jobs

Administrative Assistant Resume Keywords - Soft Skills (interpersonal skills, character traits and behaviors)

Administrative Assistant Keywords for Resumes - Hard Skills (technical skills, skills learned through education and experience)

How do I highlight these resume keywords for administrative assistants?

It is not sufficient to just list the keywords in your administrative assistant resume. Highlight the resume keywords you have identified by using bullet points and good supporting examples. You can often include more than one keyword at a time. We provide some examples of this below to get you started.

office support

• provide daily office and administrative support for 3 directors

scheduling/calendaring

• schedule and maintain calendars, meetings and travel itineraries
  

correspondence/ reports/emails

• prepare and modify documents including correspondence, reports memos and emails

incoming mail

• open, sort and distribute incoming electronic and paper mail

minutes of meetings

• prepare and distribute minutes of meetings

office supplies

• maintain, order and distribute office supplies

answer phones

• answer phones, screen and relay incoming calls and messages

database/filing

• update and maintain databases and filing systems

reception/visitors

• greet visitors to reception and direct walk-ins to appropriate offices

confidentiality

• ensure confidentiality of data, reports and documents

MS Office

• in-depth working experience and knowledge of MS Office

problem-solving/initiative

• strong problem-solving skills and initiative utilized to improve administrative processes

planning/organizing

•  plan and organize company events and functions

communication

• communicate verbally and in writing with clients, employees and others to answer queries, explain information and address complaints

accuracy/attention to detail/ deadlines

• proven ability to work in a deadline-driven environment with accuracy and attention to detail

PowerPoint/presentations

• compile and produce PowerPoint presentations including the creation of charts, graphs and tables

Your administrative assistant resume

Administrative assistant cover letters

Include the right resume keywords for administrative assistants in your cover letter.

Administrative assistant resume objective examples

The most critical administrative assistant resume keywords are best placed at the start of your resume, preferably in your resume objective statement. 

Administrative job descriptions