INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office Administrator positions are at a -7% growth rate, which is negative. With that said, there are currently 3,363,900 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to decrease by -226,200 to 3,137,700 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Office Administrator jobs was $40,990 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $26,880, and the highest 10% more than $67,510.
Our conclusion? The Office Administrator job market is facing competition due to decreasing demand.
Top office administrator sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
How to write an Office Administrator resume experience section
Office administrator resume's job experience checklist:
- Use 4-6 bullet points per job title;
- Don’t go further than a decade behind when describing your job history, unless you’re applying for an executive position;
- Combine job responsibilities as well as achievements with numbers in results when you describe your past work;
- Start each sentence with a power verb and avoid overused buzzwords;
- Use either C-A-R or S-T-A-R methodology, when describing your experience.
The work experience samples below come from real Office Administrator resumes that got people hired at top companies. You can use them as an inspiration to build your own resume:
- Managed to increase sales by corresponding with clients and giving them special offers
- Handled reservations from sites - booking.com, expedia.com, hostelworld.com, hostelbookers.com
- Accommodated and provided excellent service to all guests. Received positive reviews
- Monitored the housekeeping staff
- Meeting and supporting guests and visitors;
- Screening phone calls, enquiries and requests, and handling them when appropriate;
- Sorting and distributing incoming correspondence, including faxes and e-mails;
- Organizing paperwork, documents and computer-based information;
- Maintaining internal cooperative database; Storing corporate documents, records and reports;
- Managing and maintaining budgets and expense notes, as well as invoicing;
- Performing general office duties such as ordering supplies, scanning documents;
- Translating documents;
- Making reports for work activities and achievements;
- Monitoring of the implementation of the requirements of The System of Quality ISO 9001:2008; making internal audits;
- Processing of information on customer satisfaction;
- Keep an eye on office equipment to be in good working condition;
- Coordinated and organized the administrative work;
- Communicated with clients and suppliers;
- Organized correspondence and documentation;
- Established accessible client databases and organizational procedures to ensure efficiency in daily tasks
- Gained experience working with various boards, municipal leaders and executives
- Supported HR activities
- Developed a Health and Safety inspection and completed monthly inspections ensuring immediate action was taken to address issues
- Coordinated client meetings for the president and team members
- Directed phone calls, responded to emails from clients and potential clients
- Coordinated projects on behalf of the president ensuring that tasks were assigned accordingly and completed according to strict timelines
- Analysed and defined requirements for an internal project.
- Designed and oversaw the build of a database and web front end to fulfil these requirements.
- Implemented a Change Management System.
- Generated reports for the Service Delivery Team.
- Managed 4 projects including one that was business critical.
- Chaired regular workshops.
- Maintained Risk & Issue Logs.
- Organised a Document Library.
- Coordinated Programmers and Testers.
- Assigned bugs to be fixed, and fixes to be tested.
- Organised 'Test Weeks'.
- Carried out testing.
- Organized and monitored new tenders for supply and equipment acquisition
- supervised Reception desk employees
- Managed vehicle fleet of 200 units including acquisitions and sales
- Planned most of the corporate events, meetings
- Managed expatriate resettlement
- Understood NHS practises and correlated NHS forms and data at the end of each day.
- Handled administrative duties, invoices, complaints and customer feedback and achieved good customer feedback on Twitter
- Liaised with contact lens eye suppliers for customer orders.
- Provide technical support for end users and other devices such as network and servers.
- Handle errand letters and other related activities.
- Set and organize appointments and meetings.
- Manage, maintain, and update office database.
- #4 Employee, #1 female employee
- Setup office policies and managed daily operations of startup
- Managed human resources and accounting functions
- Schedule and coordinate air travel, ground transfers, hotel liaison, accommodation bookings and registration for incoming tourists
- Provide accurate post‐event client account reconciliations
- Liaise with overseas and local destination management companies
- Organise and coordinate corporate events
- Assisted the administration of the office responsible for 30 individuals
- Updated and maintained the records of personnel
- Managed and audited highly confidential documents regarding the safety of the unit
- Prime contact for Client Sales and Service inquiries
- Resolved an inherited 3-month back log of invoices in 3 weeks
- Delivered Lean Report recommendations to Senior Management
- Office management included answering all telephone calls and emails, taking messages and dealing with enquiries.
- Record keeping experience with invoices and bank statements.
- Arranging for engineers, including plumbers and electricians to attend properties.
- Managed the front desk and lobby area, greeted visitors and responded to phone enquiries
- Handled incoming mail, organised and labeled outgoing mail
- Assisted with order entry and data entry
- Kept track of inventory and ordered supplies
- Trained three incoming office administrator employees across multiple company locations
- Managing inventory and handled all customer concerns with a professional manner
- Distributed jobs to self-contractors and inspected over 50 job sites after completion
- Promoted light installations to local businesses and industries, such as Kaiser Permanente in Chula Vista, resulting in sales increase of 60%
- Coordinated and provided support for all HR, and administrative activities for the office (e.g. WIN administration, new employee orientation, recruitment, employee exit) including developing, implementing, maintaining and managing processes and procedures
- Oversaw WIN administration, new employee orientation, recruitment processes, merit increases and prepared employee exit paperwork
- Coordinated meetings and events for the Deputy Minister’s (DM) briefings and appointments, organized arrangements for travel and accommodations
- Collected, reviewed and organized materials for DM meetings
- Led, tracked, sought approval and finalized DM correspondence
- Provide daily administrative and corporate office support
- Executive Asst support, coordinate meetings, and travel arrangements
- Operational and admin manager for all locations and partners
- Process check runs and monthly bank wires
- Financial Statement preparation, review, reporting, and analysis
- Manage Petty Cash accounts and Club Logs
PRO TIP
Include quantitative data throughout your Office Administrator resume to impress the hiring manager. Real facts and figures that show off your competency as an audit manager go a long way. Did you reduce the costs of audits? Manage a large team? Boosted efficiency? Show off the real numbers!
Action Verbs for Your Office Administrator Resume
Recommended Reads:
Office Administrator Resume Skills’ Tips & Tricks to Impress Recruiters
Resume skills section checklist:
- Ensure your hard skills section (including technologies) are exactly matching the job description.
- Don’t simply list your soft skills. Apply the “show, don’t tell” principle - let your job achievements speak for themselves.
- Find a way to showcase your skills beyond the skills section.
- Your resume’s skill section is important to ATS systems - so don’t skip it.
Top skills for your office administrator resume
Excel
Windows OS 10
Multi-Line Phones
Fax/Printer/Copier
Tableu
Micosoft Office Suite (2010-2016)
Outlook
ProSoft
SharePoint
MS Internal Admin tools
Communication
Planning and organisation
Prioritization
Efficiency
Responsibility
Problem-solving
Attention to detail
Customer service
Phone Etiquette
Discretion
PRO TIP
Avoid getting sidetracked by Applicant tracking software by including a tech skills' section matching the job description and your own qualifications.
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Office administrator resume header: Tips, red flags, and best practices
CHECKLIST For Your Office Administrator Resume Header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended Reads:
PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have non-discrimination policies about what kind of information can be included on your Office Administrator resume. This might include a photo (which is often included in a resume header and might be on personal web pages you link to). You can always email the company’s HR department to ask about their policies before you apply.
Office administrator resume summary best practices
Checklist: What to include in your Office Administrator resume summary:
- Years of experience;
- Highlight top 3 skills and proficiencies;
- One big professional accomplishment you’re most proud of, that you can tie with the aforementioned skills;
- Use short, direct sentences - but no more than three - to keep the HRs interested.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
Include a link to your portfolio in your resume header. Most companies will require that you include one in your resume, and even if they don’t, it’s an excellent opportunity to directly show them your proudest projects.
Recommended reads:
Listing your education, certifications and courses
Resume education section checklist:
- Ensure your hard skills section (including technologies) are exactly matching the job description.
- Don’t simply list your soft skills. Apply the “show, don’t tell” principle - let your job achievements speak for themselves.
- Find a way to showcase your skills beyond the skills section.
- Your resume’s skill section is important to ATS systems - so don’t skip it.
Top certifications for your office administrator resume
Practical Office 365 Administration
Learn in depth about Office 365 for Administrators and also find useful tips and resources to enhance your role as an Of
Ultimate Microsoft Office; Excel, Word, PowerPoint & Access
Learn basic to advanced Microsoft Office skills in this 9-course bundle for Office 365 or Office 2019
Automate the Boring Stuff with Python Programming
A practical programming course for office workers, academics, and administrators who want to improve their productivity.
Mastering Microsoft 365 (2022) (was Mastering Office 365)
How To Take Full Advantage of Office 365: Your Modern, Collaborative Business Tools
Microsoft Excel - Excel from Beginner to Advanced
Excel with this A-Z Microsoft Excel Course. Microsoft Excel 2010, 2013, 2016, Excel 2019 and Microsoft/Office 365
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a Office Administrator. But, some are more effective than others. That’s why you mustn’t include every certificate other applicants might have. Try instead to earn and list a few of the difficult ones.
How to write an office administrator resume
There are three basic resume formats you can choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional resume format;
- Hybrid (or Combination) resume format;
The most optimal format for your particular case will depend on your years of experience, as well as whether you’re switching industries or not.
Reverse chronological resumes are best suited for experienced individuals who are sticking to their industry. The experience section takes a central place, and its bullets contain your responsibilities and achievements, coupled with numbers and results.
Functional resumes are used by less experienced jobseekers or career changers. Note that it’s not a format that recruiters prefer, as most are used to the classic chronological alignment. Instead of a list of job titles, functional resumes focus on your skills, and through what experiences you gained them.
Hybrid resumes are great for both experienced and entry-level candidates, as well as career changers. They combine the best of both worlds - most often in a double column format, where one side of the content is focused on your experience, whereas the other - on your skills, strengths, and proudest moments.
Here are more resume tips regarding your layout and style:
- Clear and legible 12p resume font size;
- Use 10’’ resume margins - that’s default for a great resume design;
- Use a one-page template resume length if you’ve got less than 10 years of experience; otherwise, opt for a two-page resume;
- Save your resume as PDF before sending it to the recruiter.
To take it a step further, check out how your resume can stand out without leaning too much on the creative side.
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
If you feel that you don’t have high chances in a particular company, due to lack of relevant experience, then you can still consider using a creative layout. That might help you get noticed and invited for an interview, as most of the other applicants will have boring resume designs.
Other sections to include in your resume
Depending on the type of company (corporation or start-up; innovative or traditional), job seniority level and your location, you may want to include more sections to your Office Administrator resume:
Office administrator resume: How to make yours more creative & stand out
When you send your resume to a potential employer, chances are it's the fiftieth one they've seen that day. That's why you need to make your Office Administrator resume stand out for the right reasons. That means showing your personality, not just your professional experience. Employers are far more likely to remember a candidate who seems like a genuine person and not a robot. Do this by including your passions (which is also a great place to demonstrate skills on a resume), share your favorite books, or even what your usual day looks like.
What makes a great office administrator resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
