Here are top skills to include on an administrative assistant resume.

Administrative assistant skills are necessary in a variety of jobs. Beyond Administrative Assistant positions, they are pertinent in Office Manager, Office Assistant, Executive Assistant, and Receptionist roles. If you're aiming to land a job in any of these positions, it's vital that your resume reflects the most common and in-demand administrative skills for success.

Read on to learn more about the top administrative assistant skills, with tips on incorporating them into your resume. 

Top Administrative Assistant skills

Writing your resume with a target job in mind requires having a clear understanding of the job's skills and proficiencies. This section covers some of the most in-demand Administrative Assistant skills to consider for your resume. 

Organization

For those in Administrative Assistant-type roles, there are many moving parts, from scheduling and travel arrangements to answering client questions and filing critical documents. This aspect of the role requires excellent organizational skills to ensure nothing falls through the cracks. 

Examples of applying organizational skills at work include:

  • Creating an easy-to-understand filing system

  • Using software to track daily to-do items

  • Maintaining calendars and travel arrangements

  • Coordinating team meetings

Problem-solving

Administrative Assistant-type professionals apply problem-solving skills daily. From helping a client get the information they need or a new hire access their new work accounts to assisting a manager in rearranging his schedule due to his forgetting about a personal appointment. It's about coming up with the answers and solutions you need quickly.

Additional examples of applying problem-solving skills at work include:

  • Developing a creative solution to a customer issue

  • Effectively communicating the details of problems with the team to work together on a solution

  • Brainstorming solutions to a problem with a coworker

Written communication

Though written communication falls under the bucket of communication – written and verbal – they're worth listing separately. One can be good at verbal communication and not as good at written communication, and vice versa. Though, both are vital in administrative roles.

Both written and verbal communication require you to interpret correspondence and effectively respond, requiring skills like active listening and critical thinking. Written communication, however, also requires technical skills, like being able to write in clear English with proper punctuation. From there, you also need to apply the hard skills of editing and proofreading before sharing your written work or communications. 

Examples of written communication at work include:

  • Proofing and editing an email response before sending it

  • Writing a CEO corporate communication to employees and sending it

  • Creating a presentation for monthly leadership meetings

Verbal communication

In administrative roles, you have to speak to all types of people, from coworkers and members of the leadership team to customers, clients, and other stakeholders. Therefore, verbal communication is an in-demand skill for anyone in this type of position. 

Examples of applying verbal communication skills in an admin role might look like:

  • Actively listening to a customer or client's concerns to help come to a resolution

  • Asking questions to clarify understanding of basic and complex topics

  • Communicating information to a range of people effectively

Attention to detail 

When you're juggling several items at once, like scheduling calendars, making travel arrangements, handling meeting and event planning, ordering supplies, and answering phones, you must be detail-oriented. After all, the last thing you want to have happen is a manager ending up at the wrong work destination due to an error in booking or a team of managers showing up for a meeting on the wrong day. 

Examples of applying attention to detail at work include:

  •  Effectively coordinating quarterly employee meetings

  • Coordinating travel arrangements for the leadership team to attend an out-of-state meeting

  • Capturing customer complaints in a spreadsheet

Teamwork

Administrative professionals don't work in a vacuum. Yes, many members of an organization rely on them for support. However, they also require other employees to collaborate and complete day-to-day tasks and projects. This means teamwork is necessary to move work forward. 

Here are some representations of teamwork at work:

  • Working together as a team vs. individually

  • Applying collaboration when coming up with solutions and innovations

  • Using empathy in an attempt to understand another's perspective

Additional Administrative Assistant skills & proficiencies

Here are additional Administrative Assistant skills to consider for your resume, broken down by hard and soft skills. 

Administrative Assistant hard skills

  • Reporting

  • Microsoft Office 

  • Supply management

  • Inventory control

  • Office administration procedures

  • Typing

  • Telephone skills

  • Data entry

  • Scheduling

  • Expense reporting

  • Travel arrangements

  • Data analysis

  • Technological proficiency 

Administrative Assistant soft skills

  • Analytical

  • Professionalism

  • Accuracy

  • Multitask

  • Discretion and judgment

  • Patience

  • Resourcefulness

  • Anticipates needs

  • Emotional intelligence

  • Flexibility

  • Creativity

  • Critical thinking

  • Time management

How to develop Administrative Assistant skills

There are several ways you can improve your administrative skills to enhance your resume.

  • Consider any gaps or areas for improvement. First, take inventory and make a list of the skills you currently have and ones you feel you can improve upon. If there's a certain type of administrative position you'd like to land, refer to the job description and identify any skills gaps to add to your list, as well. 

  • Seek out training. Referring to your list of skills gaps and areas to improve, seek training to cover them. There is a lot of low-cost and free online training to help you upskill and increase your value as a candidate.

  • Get certified. Certifications are not only a great way to show you have the knowledge and skills required for the certification, but they also show you're invested in your professional development. Popular certification options for the admin field include:

    • Certified Executive Assistant

    • Administrative Assistant Certification

    • Certified Administrative Professional (CAP)

    • Microsoft Office Specialist Certification (MOS)

    • Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)

  • Ask for additional work. Another way to improve your skills or fill in gaps is to request additional projects at work. For example, if you're seeking to learn more about how to use Excel, ask for a project that involves using that software. 

How to add Administrative Assistant skills to your resume

When incorporating soft skills into your resume, it's more common to highlight them through accomplishments vs. list them. For example, consider the following accomplishment:

Spearheaded $10M project to install new computer systems to increase efficiency by 25% regarding data input and output

This statement indicates the person has leadership, problem-solving, innovation, and creativity soft skills without directly listing them. 

It's ok to list pertinent soft skills in your competencies or skills list if you feel it adds value. However, it's generally best to show you have them through your achievements vs. simply saying you have them by listing them.

Hard skills, on the other hand, are typically written out specifically. For example:

Applied advanced Microsoft Excel skills to create pivot tables to increase data analysis by 15%

Microsoft Excel and pivot tables are both hard skills in this accomplishment.

Where to incorporate Administrative Assistant skills

Administrative Assistant skills should be incorporated throughout your resume, including in your: 

  • Resume summary

  • Work Experience section

  • Core Competencies or Skills section

Resume summary

Your resume summary is a succinct three to five sentence paragraph that sits at the top of your resume just below your contact information. It's a good place to speak to some pertinent soft skills or hard skills that you have related to the job description. 

Work Experience section

Your Work Experience section will make up the bulk of your resume. It's the best section on your resume to highlight skills linked to achievements. 

Core Competencies or Skills section

It's a good idea to include a Core Competencies section just below your resume summary. Here, you'll include 9-12 (15 max) core competencies you have related to the job.  

Land your next Administrative Assistant job!

A well-crafted resume skills section, highlighting your relevant skills for an administrative assistant position, will help your resume beat the applicant tracking system (ATS) and stand out to hiring managers. Use the top administrative assistant skills and proficiencies above to effectively write your resume to achieve these goals.

Are you confident that your resume represents your administrative skills in a way that will land interviews? Why not submit it for a free resume review to be sure? 

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