INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Secretary 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 Secretary 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 Secretary job market is facing competition due to decreasing demand.
Top Secretary sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
How to write a Secretary resume experience section
Secretary 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 Secretary resumes that got people hired at top companies. You can use them as an inspiration to build your own resume:
- Rapidly progressed career within the organisation.
- Wide range of public inquiries face to face, via email and hotline.
- Managing a team of seven secretaries, doubling as a PA to the Dean, updating website content, organising local and international events, Board meetings and seminars.
- Developing various projects, managing a choir, processing a collection of research articles, liaising with printing companies, researchers and reviewers from local and international organisations.
- Complete requests by greeting customers, in person or on the telephone; answering or referring inquiries.
- Organization of work by reading and routing correspondence; collecting information; initiating telecommunications.
- Providence of historical reference by utilizing filing and retrieval systems
- Reporting on the overall political situation in the country and at regional level with a special view to ASEAN and relations with the EU and Member States;
- Coordinates the EU's work in the field of human rights in Malaysia according to the EU Human Rights Country Strategy and chairs the bi-monthly Human Rights Working Group meetings;
- Conducts analysis and reports in the fields of Justice, Home affairs, security, the rule of law, human rights as well as good governance in the host country and at regional level;
- Monitors ongoing projects funded under the EIDHR, Migration and Asylum and other relevant thematic budget programs;
- Expands EU-Malaysia cooperation in the area of migration, rule of law, good governance, fight against corruption and law reforms;
- Answering to qustomer's inquiries, demands and filing.
- Scheduling payment lists for the suppliers.
- Arraning visits outside the country, booking hotels, programming the business trips.
- Organizing meetings, conferences and visits of foregn suppliers.
- Taking care for the everyday practical matters of the company.
- organized participation of HCPs in 10+ international congresses
- organized 50+ local events, meetings, trainings
- led office relocation activities (incl. physical relocation, IT relocation, new premise furnishing and equipment) with 0 working days loss
- Serves as formal liaison for Campaign spokesperson and key executives
- Develops and implements media, communications, and public relations strategies for the Campaign
- Creates and distributes Campaign content including weekly newsletters, press statements, press releases, blog posts, and notable media clips
- The job included day to day secretarial duties.
- Assisting the Company Secretary and Director as and when required.
- Preparing all Export documentation for shipment of goods
- Co-ordination with Clearing Agents for follow up on shipments /delivery
- Organised Junior and Senior State championships (2013-2015).
- Interacted with more than 17 schools and 5 colleges to organise rowing initiation camps to increase awareness and participation.
- Organised summer camps for school children U-16 to promote rowing in the region.
- Managed team of 70 people directly & organized five reunions and mega alumni meet
- Implemented the centralized alumni portal
- Raised a funding of Rs. 1 Crore for infrastructural development
PRO TIP
Make sure to relate your experience to your job description, but never lie. That’s not tolerated and will show up in the face-to-face interview later on.
Action Verbs for your Secretary Resume
Recommended reads:
Secretary 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 Secretary resume
- iSAMS
- Serco Facility
- WCBS
- SAP
- Keynote
- JotForm
- Internet
- Windows
- Word
- Excel
- Communication
- Planning and organisation
- Prioritization
- Efficiency
- Responsibility
- Problem-solving
- Attention to detail
- Customer service
- Phone Etiquette
- Discretion
PRO TIP
When picking skills to feature in your resume, make sure they'll be relevant to the position you’re applying to. The point of listing skills is for you to stand out from the competition. Stay away from repetitive, meaningless skills that everyone uses in their resumes. Or else, they’ll backfire and make you look like an average candidate.
Recommended reads:
Secretary Resume Header: Tips, Red Flags, and Best Practices
CHECKLIST For Your Secretary 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 Secretary 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.
Secretary Resume Summary Best Practices
Checklist: What to include in your Secretary 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
When writing a resume summary or objective, avoid first-person narrative.
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 Secretary resume
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
If you hold a certain major and a minor, your majors should be mentioned first.
Secretary Resume: Additional Writing & Formatting Tips
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.
Secretary Resume Summary best practices
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 Secretary resume:
Secretary 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 Secretary 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 Secretary 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.
