Administrative Assistant Resume

Administrative Assistant Resume – what you should know

photo credit: Women_in_Uniform

When applying for a job as an administrative assistant an important part of the resume process is the functional, skill based one.  A successful admin assistant possesses a wide range of skills, from computer capabilities, organizational functions and the ability to juggle several tasks simultaneously to knowing how to operate a variety of office machines and being able to schedule and maintain an appointment calendar for the boss.

Listing past experience with quality references will be a good place to start the admin assistant resume. Follow this with a listing of the skill sets you want to showcase and the educational background you have that provided the groundwork for these skills.

Honesty is critical in a professional resume. Don’t say you have expert skills in a variety of software programs if you only have slight exposure from one course you took years ago. Inadequate skills will soon expose you as a fraud. And honesty, as well as the mental and technical skills you might possess, is an essential component of the successful admin assistant.

When in doubt about the acceptability of the skill levels you possess, be willing to demonstrate or even offer to work a few hours to prove your worth to encourage the potential employer to make a decision in your favor. The role of the administrative assistant is a crucial one in today’s highly skilled work environment. Don’t sell yourself short. Quality administrative assistants are the glue that holds many businesses together.

“Functional Resume” writing tips

There are several types of resumes that project skills, experience and educational background. Chronological resumes work best for people who have enjoyed a tight professional scope of employment. Curriculum Vitae are often used by job seekers in the legal and educational fields. Biographical resumes generally produce a complete chronology of accomplishments and are used for professional positions in government, as an example. The Functional Resume, however, is the answer to the problems encountered by college graduates with sparse job experience in the field of their college major, by people who have clusters of experiences in varied fields and are seeking work in a new area of career employment or for those with “gaps” in the chronological sequence of the jobs they’ve held in the past. A functional resume serves to point out particular duties that form a good venue for career changes. Functional resumes are also used by those leaving military positions or non-profit volunteers who managed groups of people, funding or events, but received no salary for their work. This type of resume is excellent for older employees who wish to avoid being considered “overqualified” for a job or people with a long absence from formal employment. Others with lengthy job histories may find a functional resume points out the most important employment achievements in a more brief format.

Creating a functional resume requires forethought and planning before final presentation. A resume reflects who the job applicant is and what qualifications are valid for the potential job. A functional resume projects skills and experience by condensing overall job qualifications. To produce a functional resume consider the type of job sought. Configure job experience as it applies to the prospective job. Always write a resume as if you are the first person to read it. This helps avoid typos, incorrect information or data that can be more easily detected with a quick review. Collect the types of employment in groups that are inter-related to each other with an eye on important factors like managerial or supervisory skills. Each grouping should formulate a picture in the reader’s mind of the type of capabilities and experiences that create a reason to hire you. When all the information has been placed in proper group order, read it one last time with the same eye as a recruiter. If there are any rough spots, now is the time to make the corrections. The content of the final version should flow smoothly.

Technical Resume Writing Tips

The best of the technical resume writing tips that can be given to a job seeker is to understand what function a technical resume performs, and how this function differs from the role typically assigned to a regular resume.

A technical resume is designed to highlight the skills of a person in a technical field. These technical fields include computer experts, analysts, and programmers, as well as a variety of other fields that require a technical expertise.
photo credit: Wonderlane
photo credit: Wonderlane

Since a technical resume’s focus should be on highlighting the skills of a technical expert, the look and feel of the resume is going to be different from the standard format. Second on the list of technical resume writing tips is to make sure the resume includes each of the following: a goal, skill section, professional experience section, and education section.

The goal section of the resume should come immediately after the name and address portion of the resume. For each job position you apply to, the goal should be to directed specifically towards that job. Eliminate any vague statements such as “to be gainfully employed in a position that allows me to effectively utilize my skills.” Instead, aim for a more direct statement, such as “to obtain the position of chief computer analyst for (insert name of company here.)” Vague statements make the job applicant look lazy and unprofessional. While you may be applying to multiple jobs, take the time to personalize each resume.

The skills section should highlight each one of your skills. These may include C++, Perl, HTML, and PHP proficiency. Any certifications should also go into this area. One of the technical resume writing tips for this section is to make sure that any keywords related to your area of expertise are highlighted. This makes your resume look more professional and it will help if your employer utilizes an automated system that checks for keywords.

The next section should be labeled “professional experience,” and should relate only to the job positions you have had which are related directly to the job you are applying for. A technical resume should never list that college job you had flipping burgers at the local fast food joint. It may have given you valuable experience, but it did not increase your technical worth in the eyes of that employer looking to hire you to monitor their computer systems.

The final section should be the education section. Be sure to include the relevant state and year of graduation. For those that are new at the job market, the education section can go before the professional experience section. Either way, the best of the technical resume writing tips for the education section is to highlight and include any relevant course work for the position you are applying for.

You may include a reference section, but make certain that all of your references have agreed to be a reference ahead of time. Stating that “references are available upon request” looks unprofessional and should be avoided.