Secretary Resume: Creating an Effective Administrative Resume

In the workforce, the titles secretary, administrative assistant, office assistant, executive assistant, executive secretary, and clerical assistant are sometimes used interchangeably, and often by the employees themselves.  Although the functions demanded by the various titles indeed overlap, there are differences that one must specify and highlight when creating one’s office resume.

Although responsibilities can and often do encompass other duties, a secretary resume or a general office assistant resume should illustrate transcription of business correspondence and reports, entry of data into computerized systems, management of supervisor business calendars/itineraries, and preparation and reconciliation of manager expense accounts.  Additionally, an office professional may describe other company, industry, or departmental-specific tasks that directly impact one’s employer.

An administrative assistant may be charged with duties similar to those of a secretary, but she/he normally plays a more active and independent role in daily business operations, within the parameters of company policies and practices.  Therefore, the administrative assistant resume should reflect this.  For instance, the employee may be charged with the coordination of the company’s participation in trade shows, including all logistical responsibilities, the creation of graphic presentations, the population and updating of spreadsheets, communication with clients, and arrangement of business meetings, conferences, and/or seminars, both on-site and off-site.  The latter of these tasks involves interaction and possibly negotiation with vendors, as well as oversight of vendor performance.

As a clerical assistant’s function is more clearly defined, the clerical resume should indicate this.  More often than not, this function revolves around the process of record keeping and as such, requires the utmost of accuracy in keyboarding, proofreading, transmission/submission, and filing of electronic documents and hard copies.  The functions of a clerical assistant can include compilation, organization, and computer entry of a broad range of business operating data, follow-up with departments that must supply the information, and generation (print outs) of reports that assist management in the decision-making process.

With some job responsibilities coinciding, and given the fact that all the office resume job titles are non-managerial in nature, the question often arises among job seekers as to, “How do I distinguish myself on my resume?”  The answer, of course, is to showcase your specific achievements. While every employer wishes to know that you possess the requisite multi-tasking/time management, communication, and computer skills, he will also need to gain an understanding of your initiative in “thinking outside the box.”  Accomplishments in this area can include identification of a process or a vendor that, once utilized, created cost reductions, communication of business needs critical to the development of new or updated technology that improved department efficiency, or participation in a project that enabled your employer to meet and/or surpass goals.

One of our clients had been hired as an office assistant by a New Jersey-based physician:  a plastic surgeon who maintained a lucrative but not vast client base.  Aware of the growing trend among middle-class women accessing cosmetic surgery, the office assistant took the initiative to determine how she might best expand the doctor’s business.  Knowing the vehicles through which she herself gathered new information (i.e., television programming including local news broadcasts, the Oprah Winfrey show, and various consumer publications), she then crafted press releases, gained the doctor’s approval to submit them to the respective media vehicles, and proved herself vigilant in performing follow-up.  Driven by her persuasive negotiating skills, the office assistant then secured airtime for the good doctor on several major news and talk show programs, as well as articles in women’s magazines of national readership.  With this wonderful coverage, the doctor’s business expanded, enabling him to take on a partner and maximize his earning potential.  The assistant, in turn, received bonuses linked directly to her resourcefulness.

When the assistant sought other employment as she was moving out of State, she expounded not only upon her administrative/office duties, but also upon her accomplishments in gaining national recognition for her employer.  Thus, she was able to broaden her job search into the public relations field, where she secured gainful employment as an administrative assistant enjoying a significantly higher salary!

Utilized on secretary resumes, administrative resumes, office assistant resumes, or clerical resumes, similar strategies can ensure that office professionals portray themselves as a loyal, industrious, and well-skilled employees unafraid of reaching beyond their descriptions to improve organizational efficiency and/or profitability.