Finding a job as an administrative assistant can be a challenge, especially when you’re new to the job or competing against many experienced administrative support professionals. Knowing what to put on your resume can make all the difference when it comes to landing a great position.
At Liberty Staffing Services, we help people find all kinds of jobs, including administrative assistant positions. We know how to connect job seekers with open positions at great companies throughout Southern Ontario. If you’re ready to find an administrative assistant job quickly, contact us today!
In the meantime, let’s look at 7 skills that you need to include on your administrative assistant resume, including key competencies and soft skills.
1. Communication Skills
Employers are always looking for people with great communication skills, no matter the position. However, administrative assistant professionals need to be excellent communicators. In this position, you will be communicating with company leaders and managers, coworkers, outside vendors, and often the public.
Demonstrate that you have strong written communication skills by writing a well-crafted cover letter and resume. Your spoken communication skills will shine in your interview but don’t forget to document your communication skills on your administrative assistant resume too.
2. Organization and Time Management Skills
Admin assistants do important work to keep a company running on time and on track. You have to be organized if you want to help your manager and the company run smoothly.
Include something on your resume about the importance of timeliness and organization – and your ability to multitask, prioritize, and maintain order in your day-to-day job.
3. Relevant Technical Skills
The skills section of your resume should be targeted to the specific job you’re applying for. Include things that will make you a better fit for the job, including Microsoft Office, Google Suite, calendar software, experience with CRM platforms, etc.
Highlighting these skills shows the hiring manager that you have what it takes to maintain the office and confidently perform the skills required of an administrative assistant. One great thing about these skills is that you don’t necessarily have to have worked in an admin role before to have these skills. If your resume is light on experience, you can still impress a hiring manager by having great technical skills.
4. Teamwork
Admin assistants are constantly collaborating with different teams and departments. They work with IT, finance and accounting, sales and marketing, HR, company executives, facilities and operations, legal, and other administrative assistants.
In the job duties section of your administrative assistant resume, emphasize the wide range of departments you have worked with in previous positions. For example, you can explain that you scheduled facility maintenance, provided documents to the legal department, took calls and meeting notes for execs, and fielded questions from all departments at your previous company.
Even if you haven’t worked in an administrative support role before, you can still communicate how good you are at working with teams.
5. Multitasking Abilities
Admins have to multitask all the time! You’ll be juggling calls, managing interruptions, switching between multiple applications, handling concurrent projects, and coordinating meetings – all within short windows of time.
Document your ability to multitask on your resume and include examples of responsibilities you juggled with previous positions.
6. Customer Service Skills
Make sure that the potential employer knows you have excellent customer service skills. Administrative assistants aren’t traditional customer service workers, and yet they deal with customers and the public regularly. This may be in the form of answering calls and emails, speaking with in-office visitors, or helping to satisfy unhappy customers.
If you have worked in other customer service fields, that is a great thing to include in your job experience list. If you have worked in administrative support, add information to your resume about how your role required you to work with the public in a customer service capacity.
7. Attention to Detail
You have to be able to handle a lot of information in a role like this, including very detailed specifics. The more attentive you are, the better you can do this kind of work.
Share with the hiring manager that you are attentive to detail. Storytelling doesn’t usually fit on a resume, but have some stories handy of how you were able to solve problems in the workplace because of your attention to the small details. Even if the stories don’t fit on your resume, you can still have them in your back pocket to share during a job interview.
An Experienced Staffing Agency Will Know How to Make Your Administrative Assistant Resume Stand Out
These are just some of the important skills that you can include on your resume when you’re applying to be an administrative assistant. Additional skills, experiences, and certifications should also be included to give the hiring manager the complete picture.
Working with an experienced staffing agency like Liberty Staffing can help you strengthen your resume and stand out from the competition.
Our staffing professionals have years of experience matching qualified candidates with great local employers. We’ll polish your resume, help you with interview prep, and connect you with great opportunities through our deep connections within the Southern Ontario business community.
Contact Liberty Staffing Services Today
When you’re ready to find a great administrative assistant job in Southern Ontario, it’s time to reach out to Liberty Staffing! We can help you find temporary, permanent, full time, or part time work as an administrative professional.
Reach out to us today to learn more!
