Office Assistant Resume Guide & Samples [2023]

Excited to make an office assistant resume?

Hiring companies attract — on average —more than 250 applicants per job posting. But as you may have guessed, most of them end up hiring only one office assistant for the position.

That’s a 0.4% chance of getting hired if the selection criteria were random.

But in real life:

Recruiters want a magician to keep the company moving forward in perfect order and with no delays. Therefore, their hiring process is more based on company objectives, data, and proper evaluation rather than simple intuition.

The good news is:

That can be you!

With all your experience and determination, you’re qualified to be the agent of order every company dreams about. You can actually be the chosen one among the 250 without playing the numbers game.

But to do that…

You must craft a powerful office assistant resume that spotlights your achievements to the fullest.

And that’s exactly what you’re going to do once you finish reading this guide.

What you’ll learn here

• How to build a solid office assistant resume you can hand with a smile
• HR-approved formats and resume templates to fit all key details in a single page
• Best office assistant resume sections to show what you’re capable of
• Expert-driven resume tips to prove your accomplishments and wow recruiters
• Must-have soft and technical skills that get you noticed

How to build an office assistant resume

Crafting a job-winning office assistant resume is no rocket science.

There are clear steps you must take to make a case for yourself and stand out from the rest. And there are also many mistakes you must avoid to keep recruiters interested and convinced of hiring you.

In the beginning:

All the candidates are the same and have equal chances of getting the job. But as soon as recruiters start opening resume files, some will get shortlisted while the rest goes to the trash.

If that tells us one thing, it should be this:

Your resume is the most vital part of your job search. A well-made CV that demonstrates your experience and skillset can get you hired at any company.

So, how do you make one?

Let’s start with the non-negotiables:

• Keep your resume length to one page by only including relevant information
• Create a captivating resume layout to grab attention and improve readability
• Make your resume skimmable with a margin on the sides and a lot of white space
• Use a well-organized resume format with clear section headers and details
• Select ATS-friendly fonts and modern color combinations to leave a strong impression
• Save your file in PDF format to maintain your resume design and layout on all devices

What about the resume format?

Choosing one doesn’t have to be too complicated.

There are many resume formats you can use, depending on your experience and job field. For office assistants, we recommend that you use the reverse-chronological format to fit your whole career into a small, yet effective section.

Of course:

Before you do all that, make sure to scrutinize the job description for any specific requirements or demands. That’s a critical step to personalizing your resume and making it captivating.

How to write a captivating office assistant resume header

By its name, you might’ve guessed that the header comes at the top of your resume.

This section features your contact information to make you easily accessible to hiring managers when they decide to hire you.

A perfect office assistant header must include:

• Full name
• Job position
• Location
• Phone number
• Email address
• LinkedIn profile

“How do I organize all of that into a small section?” You may wonder.

It’s simple.

Add your full name first to make a memorable impression and familiarize recruiters with who you are. You can make it stand out by using a larger font size or a different color.

Next:

Add your desired role to maximize relevance and reassure recruiters that they’re evaluating someone they’ll end up hiring.

Finally:

Put the rest of the contact information below with small icons to make your header more attractive.

Now that you’ve completed the first part of the process, let’s see a couple of examples.

2 Office Assistant Resume Header Examples

What can you do to improve this example?

Avoid the most common beginner mistakes:

• Job title — an irrelevant job title is a straightforward way to get yourself ignored
• Location — you don’t need to add your full home address
• Email — use a professional email format and stay away from your current work email
• LinkedIn profile — allow headhunters to learn more about you without having to contact you

Let’s make these adjustments and see the final result!

Not sure whether you should add a photo to your resume? Here’s a complete guide about photos on a resume that will answer your question.

How to Get Noticed with a Summary for Your Office Assistant Resume

The summary is your sales pitch.

It’s a short paragraph containing five to seven sentences that sum up your whole career. You use that to take recruiters from knowing nothing about you to seriously considering hiring you.

Despite it being a short section, lots of office assistants struggle to do well writing their resume summaries. So they end up missing out on many exciting jobs they’re qualified for.

But don’t worry! You’ll learn in this part how to write a winner resume summary.

A persuasive office assistant summary must highlight:

• Your ability to thrive in an office environment
• Relevant office assistance experiences and achievements
• Job-specific skills and ATS keywords
• Educational background, awards, and certificates

A quick tip to keep in mind for the rest of this guide:

Avoid using first-person pronouns such as “I” and “me” as that can get repetitive quickly. You must also not write in the third person because hiring managers know that your resume is talking about you.

Instead:

Speak in the first person but remove all pronouns from your sentences.

Let’s check out some examples to help you better understand the point:

2 Office Assistant Resume Summary Examples

This first example does a bad job summarizing the candidate’s worth because it’s vague and too imprecise.

For instance:

It doesn’t feature any interesting office skills aside from a few generic ones.

The accomplishments featured by the candidate are also hardly measurable and don’t make sense to most head hunters.

So what should you do about that?

1. Focus on relevant qualifications to get the recruiter excited
2. Make each sentence count by prioritizing the hiring company’s interest and showing them why you’re the best fit

Let’s make these changes and see the final example…

Office assistant experience section: How to highlight your impact with confidence

Experience is the section that demonstrates who you are in practice. It’s where you illustrate your value and highlight your tangible impact within the workplace.

This is also where the resume format comes into play.

The awesome thing about the reverse-chronological format is that it enables you to summarize your work history in less than a third of the page… And that’s no matter how many jobs and experiences you’ve had.

You’ll start from your latest job and go backward in time to highlight career progression.

For each position, you must include:

• Job title
• Company name (with a brief description if necessary)
• Duration of employment (month/year)
• 3-5 bullet points describing relevant achievements

Next:

Your work history might encompass long years of office assistant tasks — sometimes with unrelated jobs in between. So, you should only pick relevant experience with duties in a similar work environment.

More importantly:

Recruiters already know every single job duty you can and must do. Thus, it doesn't make sense to copy-paste job responsibilities from Google and expect to be appreciated.

You should especially avoid buzzwords and generic phrases like the plague.

Instead, make sure to hone in on measurable career wins with exact metrics and real examples. That’s one of the most efficient ways to prove your influence within a context and be persuasive.

Office assistant resume experience examples

Struggling to come up with durable achievements for office assistants?

Try to answer these questions:

• Did you handle company information and customer data while ensuring complete accuracy?
• How many customer calls or emails did you answer per day?
• What was your contribution to planning meetings, setting appointments, and helping with travel arrangements?
• Were you able to improve and facilitate internal communication between staff members in any noticeable way?
• How did your tech-savvy skills help the employer achieve their goals faster and more efficiently?

Which Skills Should You Feature on an Office Assitant Resume?

Hiring managers consider “Skills” among their top go-to sections for shortlisting candidates. Simply because this part of the resume offers a direct reflection of your practical expertise in the workplace.

Therefore:

Featuring weak, irrelevant skills is the quickest way to get your resume thrown in the trash.

There are two types of skills necessary to make your office assistant resume shine:

• Soft skills
• Core skills

Soft skills refer to any transferable talents you must have to be your best in the job environment. It includes personality traits and attributes — such as communication, detailed-oriented skills, flexibility, etc.

In contrast:

Technical skills encompass any job-specific skills you can’t leverage in other job positions. That includes daily practical knowledge such as the ability to use Microsoft Office Suite, manage calendars, etc.

Both types of skills can tilt the balance in your favor and get you noticed when used correctly. And by correctly, we mean following the three golden rules:

• Relevance — each ability you add here must be directly related to your role as an office assistant
• Originality — adding some unique skills is crucial for leaving an impression in a large pool of candidates
• Demand — talents you feature here must be sought-after and valuable to the hiring company

Education on an office assistant resume: how important is it?

For entry-level office assistant jobs, companies usually require at least a high-school diploma or a GED to hire you.

However…

Education is always a plus to your resume, even when not asked for.

Think of it this way:

By this point, the headhunter is still probably trying to shortlist a few final candidates for the interview. Thus, education is an excellent way to choose applicants with the highest potential for success.

Showcasing an educational background in any business-related field will put you ahead of 99% of your competition.

Do you need certificates to land a job as an office assistant?

Yes, you do!

You may land a job without listing any certificates. But doing so will speed up your job search and open up endless work opportunities.

Certificates are always a great addition to your resume because they show how devoted you are to your job and prove your expertise. In fact, most hiring managers believe certificates to be a critical factor in the hiring process.

So:

Even when not required, put yourself ahead by adding any job-related certificates you have.

Should you add a languages section to your office assistant resume?

As an office assistant, you’re going to be responsible for a lot of speaking, reading, and writing.

You’re an irreplaceable cog within the company’s system as you’ll be transporting messages between staff members from different departments

But on top of that, you’ll handle communication with company guests or clients over the phone and via email.

Thus:

It’s critical for you to be fluent in the language the company’s employees and clients use every day.

In the US:

Most companies communicate in English internally and with their customers. So if it’s the only language you speak, you don’t need a languages section.

If you do speak more than one language, however, this might be an excellent addition to your profile.

Three rules for adding languages section to your resume:

1. Add only relevant languages that might interest the headhunter
2. Rank languages based on proficiency
3. Never lie about the languages you speak and your proficiency level

Here’s how to feature languages on your resume:

Add interests, hobbies, and activities to make your office assistant resume memorable

Headhunters always want to know the answer to the following question:

What is it like to work with this applicant?

While expertise is a top priority for making a quality hire, it’s always crucial for a candidate to be able to contribute to a positive, energetic work environment.

Hiring managers want someone with a fun personality and real interests — which make them a pleasure to be around.

So:

Try to add any unique activities, hobbies, and interests in a small separate section to stick out from the crowd. Make sure these activities are related and in line with the company’s beliefs as well as its cultural environment.

Key takeaways

• Build your resume using a professional layout and HR-approved format to shine over other candidates
• Craft a brief, yet captivating summary to get hiring managers excited about your resume
• Add a highly-relevant experience section with measurable achievements to increase your job success rate
• Take your time to pick the best soft and technical skills for office assistants and make sure they’re relevant to any job you apply for
• Include additional sections such as languages, awards, passions, or hobbies to bring a touch of personality to your CV