
56 Resume Writing Tips and Tricks for 2023
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.
You’re reliable, punctual, and trustworthy as you stay on top of calendars, emails, and even business development tasks. You’re a good VA, write a worthy virtual assistant resume.
Think about it:
It takes a lot of trust to hire a virtual assistant—Video calls aside, the employer has to hire you basically sight unseen. Plus, there’s no keeping an eye on you while you’re working from home.
And yet—
So much depends on a VA’s work. No wonder the bar can be so high and competition so fierce. Make sure your virtual assistant resume stands out and gets through.
In this guide:
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Looking for other work-from-home opportunities? What about other assistant jobs? We have guides for all these and more:
Looking for a different job? Check best resume examples for all jobs.
Marion Smith
Virtual Assistant
Personal Info
Phone: 309-310-3817
E-mail: marion.d.smith@reslab.com
linkedin.com/in/marionsmith
Summary
Efficient virtual assistant with 5+ years’ experience working in both real estate and advertising. At Eastern Land Services, saved the company over $350,000 by catching 11 invoicing errors and processed real estate transactions across 17 states. Seeking opportunity to apply proven administration and organization skills at Academia ISF.
Experience
Virtual Real Estate Assistant
Eastern Land Services
May 2018–present
Virtual Assistant
Eddy North Carolina
February 2016–April 2018
Education
BS in Business Administration, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
2012–2016
Skills
Software
Languages
Virtual assistants are individuals who provide remote administrative or personal support. They typically communicate with their clients through emails or video conferencing tools. They are usually responsible for managing emails and calendars, social media accounts, and providing customer support.
Now here’s how to write a virtual assistant resume:
Written communication—
It’s a big part of being a VA and working remotely in general. A virtual assistant resume that’s oddly formatted and a pain to read is not making the right impression.
Make your resume format a pleasure to read:
When it comes to stability and portability, there’s no contest between PDF and *.docx for a resume.
All the same, check the job ad to see what’s required—the company might be using an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) that can’t handle PDF resumes. To make sure you've got an ATS-friendly resume, check that you're using an ATS resume template and submit your resume in the format requested in the job ad.
Expert Hint: If you’re writing a resume for your first job ever, change the outline of your resume and move the education section above the work experience section.
It’s one thing to say you need to “stand out”—
But what’s the right way to do that?
With a resume profile that grabs their attention from the get-go.
Got VA experience?
Start with a resume summary.
Use:
These virtual assistant resume examples show how:
Quite the difference.
The first one ticks all the boxes: It’s concrete, quantified, and fully focused on what the candidate can bring to the table.
Writing an entry-level virtual assistant resume with little or no experience?
Use a resume objective to move the spotlight to non-VA achievements:
The first example nails all the basics in spite of a lack of VA experience.
Expert Hint: Include keywords from the job ad in your summary of qualifications. Think of them as your resume keywords that will help you pass the ATS scan.
There’s no better way to show what you’re capable of—
Than describing what you’ve done in the past. So turn your resume work history into a catalog of past achievements.
How to write job descriptions for a VA resume:
These virtual assistant resume examples show how:
Virtual Real Estate Assistant
Eastern Land Services
March 2018–present
Virtual Real Estate Assistant
Eastern Land Services
2018–present
Kind of similar, yet way different.
The first example oozes the quiet confidence of someone who’s got things under control.
How does it do it?
By being concrete, putting numbers to things, and focusing on benefits brought to previous employers.
Writing a virtual assistant resume with no experience?
Include achievements from non-VA jobs or studies. Volunteering counts as work experience, too.
Expert Hint: Start your work experience bullet points with resume action verbs such as saved, implemented, exceeded. There’s no better way to show you had impact.
There’s one more thing you’ll need here—a selection of skills to put on a resume.
The trick to a winning skills section:
Be selective. Go for quality over quantity—The job ad will let you know which skills are important (it’s called targeting a resume). And since every job ad is different there is no concrete list of skills for a virtual assistant. But—
We can still provide a comprehensive list of the most commonly desired skills of virtual assistants. Use it for inspiration when writing your own virtual assistant skills section.
In some cases you may want to show your software proficiency in the virtual assistant skills section. What cases would they be? If you're making an entry-level resume and you don't have a wide array of programs you can operate in yet. Also, always keep in mind to not list more than 10 skills for virtual assistants. It will flood the page and artificially make your resume longer.
When listing computer skills on your resume, make sure to add your level of expertise, for example “MS Excel–Advanced.”
The ResumeLab builder is more than looks. Get specific content to boost your chances of getting the job. Add job descriptions, bullet points, and skills. Easy. Improve your resume in our resume builder now.
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You don’t always need a particular education to be a VA—
But that doesn’t mean you can afford to neglect your education section. List any degrees (including majors), school names, and years attended. Then:
Add bullets that point to key skills.
Check this virtual assistant resume example:
BS in Business Administration, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
2012–2016
Lacking in VA experience?
Include more bullet points that cover projects, courses, and accomplishments that speak to your VA skills.
Expert Hint: When listing certifications on your resume, make sure to add them in a separate section to give them more prominence.
Not enough people do this—
And that’s great news for you. Add one or two extra sections to your virtual assistant resume:
These two virtual assistant resume examples show yes vs no:
Software
Languages
Software
Languages
Opportunity taken vs opportunity fumbled.
Both examples stick to relevant information—this is good. But, it’s the first example that manages to be concrete enough to get ahead.
One more thing:
You’re going to need to write a cover letter. Including it is the norm—you’re not off the hook unless you’ve been asked not to.
Double your impact with a matching resume and cover letter combo. Use our cover letter generator and make your application documents pop out.
Want to try a different look? There's 21 more. A single click will give your document a total makeover. Pick a cover letter template here.
For a VA resume that gets video calls:
Got questions that this guide and the sample virtual assistant resume weren’t able to answer? Leave them down in the comments and we’ll get back to you.
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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