
How to Write a Resume According to Science in 2023
How do you write a resume? With so many conflicting opinions out there, we’ve set out to find the ultimate answer to this question.
You’re a whiz at filing documents, organizing events, managing schedules, and communicating with clients. Show the office manager you’re the best choice with a perfect resume.
You’re applying to be an office assistant.
You know you’ve got the talent to do the job, the mettle to keep you going, and the skills to take on the variety of tasks you’ll perform.
And you know you’ll do it all well.
However—
The office manager or HR generalist isn’t aware of your administrative talent yet. So, you’ll have to show them you’re the best hire by writing a top-notch office assistant resume.
No sweat.
In this guide:
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Charles Cross
Office Assistant
charles.cross@gmail.com
(720) 999-9978
linkedin.com/in/charlescross
Personable and dependable office assistant with 2+ years experience at medium-sized companies handling a variety of administrative and clerical duties. Knowledgeable with scheduling software, Microsoft Office, organization, and invoicing. Lowered calendar overlaps by 15% and increased office productivity by 25% through implementation of new filing system. Looking to utilize secretarial skills and administrative know-how to become the office assistant at KMY Partners.
Work Experience
Office Assistant
July 2018–August 2019
GBPD Consulting Firm, Denver, CO
Key Qualifications & Responsibilities
Key Achievements
Front Office Assistant
June 2017–July 2018
Woodstar Hotels, Denver, CO
Key Qualifications & Responsibilities
Education
Majoring in Business Administration
Community College Of Denver, Denver, CO
Expected Graduation: 2022
Relevant Coursework: General Business Accounting Principles, Data & Information Systems, Human Resource Management, Finance & Managerial Accounting, Business Ethics & Procedures, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Office Organizational Methods.
High School Diploma
DSST: Stapleton High School, Denver, CO
Graduation: 2017
Key Skills
Certifications
Memberships
Languages
On to yours—
Here’s how to write an office assistant resume:
When writing an email to a client, you wouldn’t just say “we’re still waiting on your payment” and send it off.
You’d format it first, with a signature, opening greeting, and maybe a company logo.
An office assistant resume is similar—
The office assistant resume needs to be formatted right if it’s to be taken seriously.
Here are some guidelines for formatting office assistant resume templates:
Expert Hint: Choose the PDF format when saving your resume, because there’s a reason it’s called the “Portable Document Format.” PDFs render fine on any screen, whereas a Microsoft Word .docx may look funny on certain devices. Start from one of these MS Word resume templates and export it to PDF.
At the top of your resume, just below your contact deets, is your heading statement.
There are two kinds—the resume objective or summary.
They differ slightly based on your level of job experience, but a great objective and a great summary are both similar in one key way:
Each are compelling.
An optimized heading statement has to captivate the reader, in your case an HR manager or office manager. Otherwise, they’ll stop right there and move on to the next resume.
Have office assistance know-how and experience?
Choose the resume summary.
A summary statement introduces you to the company as a top candidate for the office assistant position. It showcases your previous experience, the administrative skills you’ve established, and your professional background.
Finally, it includes numbers to verify your abilities.
Here’s how to write an office assistant resume summary:
The bad resume example is monotonously generic. It uses the kind of jargon that makes office managers’ eyes bleed.
The good resume example, on the other hand, is perfectly tailored to this one particular job and company. Numbers are used to quantify just how skilled you are as an office assistant.
Every office assistant's resume should have a solid summary detailing why the hiring manager should consider them for the position. A good resume summary reads like a good product description and should answer my question, ‘Why should I call you for an interview?’ With that in mind, an office assistant's resume summary should sell me on the person using action verbs like ‘driven,’ ‘motivated,’ ‘skilled’ and so forth.
Now—
What if you have no office experience?
Choose the resume objective.
An objective statement still includes a proud accomplishment with numbers to quantify it. However, rather than your company office or medical office assistant resume experience, you talk up your career goals and past unrelated work in a way that’s relevant.
Here’s how to write an office assistant resume objective statement:
The good example here may be from a resume without experience, but we show that our unrelated previous job still taught us some valuable skills. Also, it’s got numbers and personalization to really draw the reader’s attention.
Expert Hint: Though the heading summary or objective is located at the beginning, write it at the end. This way, you’ll have a better idea of the most powerful and compelling details to include there.
As the entire office revolves around your desk, so too does a resume revolve around the work experience section.
So—
Here’s how to write an office assistant job description resume section:
Here are a couple of office assistant resume samples of job descriptions:
Office Assistant
July 2018–August 2019
GBPD Consulting Firm, Denver, CO
Key Qualifications & Responsibilities
Key Achievements
Office Administrator Assistant
July 2018–August 2019
GBPD Consulting Firm, Denver, CO
Key Qualifications & Responsibilities
Here, you see how much more detailed the good example is compared to the bad one. Also, it includes interview-winning achievements with numbers to show them you’re capable.
Also—
Many modern offices, as well as all the large ones, utilize an ATS to not sink under the waves of resumes people send them each day.
An ATS, or applicant tracking system, helps by parsing each resume for particular resume keywords the HR manager asks it to look for. It returns a score based on each candidate’s match percentage.
Not enough keywords = low score = low chances of an interview.
So—
To single out the most effective keywords for your resume, look at the job description once more. In the responsibilities area, you’ll find all the traits they want in an employee—those are the resume keywords to use.
Speaking of traits—
Follow up your awesome work history area with a choice of skills to put on a resume.
Secretaries, office assistants, receptionists, and administrative assistants will decline by 7% between 2020 and 2030.
Those displaced office workers will mean way more competition for you.
Luckily, though, if you have an impressive office skills list, you’ll leave that competition far behind.
Here are several sample office assistant resume skills to consider:
Look at the job ad’s responsibilities section to locate the skills this office needs in a new office assistant.
If you possess that ability, add it to your resume.
Candidates who can provide evidence on their resume of how they have gained their skills and how they have applied them in a multitude of settings can be just as successful as candidates who have worked jobs. Job experience is beneficial, but one should never discount the skill sets that they have gained from clubs/organizations, volunteerism, classroom projects, or study abroad experiences.
Expert Hint: Office assistants should show they have both hard skills (data entry, Microsoft Excel, etc.) and soft skills (communication skills, teamwork, etc.) on their resumes.
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Most office assistant jobs don’t require a college degree.
However, an office assistant resume does require a clean and informative education section.
So—
Here’s an example of how to list education on a resume for office assistants:
Majoring in Business Administration
Community College Of Denver, Denver, CO
Expected Graduation: 2022
Relevant Coursework: General Business Accounting Principles, Data & Information Systems, Human Resource Management, Finance & Managerial Accounting, Business Ethics & Procedures, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Office Organizational Methods.
High School Diploma
DSST: Stapleton High School, Denver, CO
Graduation: 2017
Here’s how to ace your office asst resume section:
Expert Hint: Just starting out in the big, bad world of employment? If your work history isn’t as impressive as your academic achievements, move things around so they read your education section before they get to your employment history.
Got something else you’d like to add to your resume to impress the office manager?
This is your chance.
However, only choose additional sections which are relevant to an office assistant resume. Remember, if it doesn’t add value, leave it off.
Here are a few great examples of extra sections and entries to add on an office assistant resume:
And if you’re writing a dental or medical office assistant resume, try these:
Certificates are a great way for office assistants to communicate that they have certain skills, so these should be listed on their resumes as well. List relevant certificates, including those earned online or in short courses. Sometimes job applicants don't think a certificate they have is a big deal, so they're surprised when they find out that their certificate helped them stand out among their competition.
Office Assistant Organizations & Associations
Again, here are some dental and medical office assistant resume sample organizations:
Foreign Language Proficiency
Expert Hint: Remember to attach a cover letter with every office assistant job application you send out. Most hiring managers won’t even consider a resume without it. Not including an office assistant cover letter drops your chances of an interview by 50% from the very start. Don't let that happen. Learn how to write a cover letter the right way.
Double your impact with a matching resume and cover letter combo. Use our cover letter generator and make your application documents pop out.
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Let’s close this out with a quick summary—
Here’s how to write a resume for office assistant jobs:
Have any questions on how to fill out your office assistant duties resume section? Need more office assistant resume examples of achievements or administrative skills? Let’s chat in the comments area, and thanks for reading!
How do you write a resume? With so many conflicting opinions out there, we’ve set out to find the ultimate answer to this question.
You can stop searching—this is the ultimate collection of best resume tips that can help you succeed in 2023. These resume writing tips will help to impress hiring managers.
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