Personal Assistant Resume—Examples and 25+ Writing Tips

Bad news.

Dozens of personal assistant resumes stand between you and that dream job.

You almost need your own PA to get hired.

It’s rough! But this is not your first rodeo.

Show the right parts of your past, and they’ll see your value.

In this guide: 

• A personal assistant resume sample better than most.
• How to write a resume for personal assistant jobs that shows your finest hours.
• How to make a *glowing* personal assistant job description for resumes.
• Why you can’t just list personal assistant skills (and what to do instead).

 Create a job-winning resume with little effort. Hack your way through ATS software with our 18 beautiful templates—give our builder a try!

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Personal Assistant Resume Sample You Can Copy and Use

Are you a different kind of assistant? See our guides:

• Administrative Assistant Resume Sample & Guide

• Executive Assistant Resume Sample & Guide

Here’s how to write a personal assistant resume that works:

1. Select the Right Personal Assistant Resume Format

You wouldn’t wear a tank top to a job interview.

So—

Don’t use shoddy resume formatting.

Start with the reverse-chronological resume format.

Then flesh it out with these tips:

Personal Assistant Resume Format

• Write a single-page resume with 1-inch margins.
• Use white space for esthetics.
• Choose a resume font like 10–12pt Helvetica or Arial.
• Add accepted resume sections like Heading, Summary, Job Experience, Education, and Skills.
• Save your resume in PDF format. PDFs don’t frizz out on different machines.

Expert Hint: The average personal assistant makes $15 per hour. The lucky ones make almost twice that. Make your own luck. Format your personal assistant resume correctly.

2. Create a Personal Assistant Resume Objective or Summary

How can I say this?

They won’t read your personal assistant resume carefully.

They’ll glance through it, looking for something to care about.

So give them something.

Up top, write a career objective or career summary.

That’s a quick brief of why your career should matter to them.

Include:

1. An adjective (energetic, dependable)
2. “personal assistant”
3. Years of experience (2+, 5+)
4. Who & how you’ll help (save time and stress for Randall Keems Inc.)
5. Best personal assistant moments (saved 25+ hours per week...)
6. The few skills they want most (accounting, research...)

But—write it last to save hours of head-scratching.

These personal assistant resume examples show how:

Personal Assistant Resume Summary—Example

Take another look.

Both samples say the same things.

But the second blows it on the details.

Now—

Even a personal assistant resume with no experience needs some kind of proof.

Entry-Level Personal Assistant Resume Objective

Again.

The second of those entry-level personal assistant resume examples sounds like the first. Except—

Without numbers and specifics, no one will believe it.

Expert Hint: Networking is job search gold, but how to do it? Join an association like IAPO. Other PAs you meet will refer new clients to you when they’re busy.

3. Strengthen Your Personal Assistant Job Description and Skills Section

This is the best part.

Most personal assistant resumes will mention skills.

Not you.

You’ll turn heads by proving them.

To write a personal assistant job description for resumes:

1. Don’t just list any old batch of resume skills. Find yours right in the job ad.
2. Use them as resume keywords to build your job descriptions.
3. Remember times you used them. Then show how that helped clients.

Handle it like the first of these personal assistant resume samples:

Say the job ad wants these personal assistant skills: accounting, online research, client outreach, travel arrangements.

Personal Assistant Job Description for Resume [Sample]

See?

The first of those personal assistant resume examples has accounting, research, outreach, and travel.

Then it shows how well you used those things.

Now what if you need an entry-level resume?

Pretend the job ad wants these personal assistant skills: triaging emails, research, handling repetitive tasks.

Entry-Level Personal Assistant Resume Job Description [Sample]

Wow.

One job can make two very different resumes.

Use these personal assistant resume skills to get you up to speed:

Personal Assistant Resume Skills

4. Use Your Education to Convince Them

Every resume needs an education section.

But remember—

Employers need something to care about.

Watch how this personal assistant resume sample gets it right:

Personal Assistant Resume Example—Education

Ah!

If the client cares about accounting, communication, and leadership, you win.

5. Add Bonus Material to Your Personal Assistant Resume

To employers, you’re just another piece of spam.

Until you show them you’re a human being.

Do that with one or two “bonus” sections, like:

• Association memberships (IAPO, ASAP)
• Typing speed test results (TypingTest.com)
• Certifications (G Suite, QuickBooks, Microsoft Office)
• Groups
• Freelance work
• Volunteering work
• Publications
• Conferences
• Languages
• Classes
• Additional activities
• Fitness

These personal assistant resume examples show how to list them:

Personal Assistant Resume—Extra Sections

The first of those personal assistant resume examples looks like the best employee.

Expert Hint: Write a cover letter. Cover letters prime the manager to spend more time with your resume for personal assistant jobs.

Key Points

Here’s how to write a personal assistant resume:

• Use the personal assistant resume template up top. It lets you prove the exact assisting skills they need.
• Find resume keywords in the personal assistant job description online.
• Write resume sections like experience and education. Pack them with examples you’ve used personal assistant skills.
• Add “bonus” material to show you care about personal assistant work.

Got questions on how to write great resumes for personal assistant jobs? Not sure how to show personal assistant on a resume? Leave a comment. We’ll be happy to reply!