10 Best Administrative Assistant Skills to Put on a Resume

Table of Contents

Rating

Administrative assistants play an important role in every major company. They perform the technical and managerial work that keeps the organization functioning daily.

But to succeed in this fast-paced role, you need to demonstrate the right skills on your resume.

Use our AI-powered skills generator to find administrative assistant skills to add to your resume:

AI Resume Skills Generator

Make a high-impact skills section for your resume in seconds with our free software. Simply enter your job title and you’ll be matched with the most impactful skills for your industry.

Job title Step 1 / 2

Also, here are the 10 skills that appear the most often in job descriptions for admin assistant roles*:

Skill	% of job listings	Hard or soft skill?
Administrative skills	93%	Hard
Communication skills	71%	Soft
Basic computer skills	65%	Hard
Organizational skills	62%	Soft
Attention to detail	47%	Soft
People skills	47%	Soft
Teamwork skills	46%	Soft
Independent task management	45%	Soft
Take calls	43%	Hard
Financial management	39%	Hard

*According to Resume Genius’ analysis of administrative assistant job listings from multiple job search platforms.

Technical skills

Administrative assistants need to have various hard skills to perform their jobs well.

Here are the most highly sought after administrative assistant hard skills employers look for, along with examples of how to showcase them on your resume:

Administrative skills

Administrative skills encompass a range of tasks, such as document management, maintaining office systems, and coordinating travel.

Every employer hiring an administrative assistant will look for these skills on your resume.

Example of how to highlight administrative skills on your resume

Coordinated and organized office events, meetings, and travel arrangements, optimizing the use of resources across departments

Basic computer skills

Basic computer skills, such as proficiency in common software applications like Microsoft Office Suite, Google Workspace, and internal database systems, are key to streamlining work processes, contributing to accurate record-keeping, and facilitating communication within teams and with clients.

Example of how to highlight computer skills on your resume

Managed scheduling and email correspondence using Google Calendar and Gmail

Call taking

A big part of being an administrative assistant is managing inbound calls. Demonstrating experience managing a high volume of calls or addressing client inquiries will increase your chances of securing a job.

Example of how to highlight call taking skills on your resume

Handled an average of 25 inbound calls per day, providing timely responses to customer inquiries and routing calls to relevant departments for resolution

Financial management

Not all administrative assistants are directly involved in financial management, but many do handle some related tasks depending on the role and the industry.

Small companies especially may require you to assist with financial management by, for example, processing invoices and tracking expenses.

Example of how to highlight financial management skills on your resume

Coordinated the processing of invoices and expenses, maintaining accurate records and reconciling discrepancies

Soft skills

Because of the number of people you’ll work with, and your (sometimes hectic) daily schedule, soft skills are also vital to supporting your office’s staff and excelling as an administrative assistant.

Here are seven administrative soft skills that’ll look great on your resume:

Independent task management

Employers want to be able to trust you to correctly prioritize tasks, meet deadlines, and stay organized without constant oversight.

With strong independent task management skills you’ll make the office run smoothly and your colleagues can rely on you to complete tasks on time.

Example of how to highlight independent task management on your resume

Completed projects and met deadlines with minimal supervision through effective task prioritization and time management

Organizational skills

Organizational skills go hand-in-hand with being an administrative assistant. When you’re organized, tasks are more likely to be completed on time and important documents and information are easily accessible when needed.

Example of how to highlight organizational skills on your resume

Managed calendars and scheduling for a team of 10, ensuring seamless coordination of meetings and deadlines

Attention to detail

As an administrative assistant, a big part of your job is to prevent certain problems before they happen, and the best way to do this is by having strong attention to detail.

Double-checking documents, bills, receipts, calendars, event details, mailing, email addresses, and other important information will save you time and trouble later on.

Example of how to highlight attention to detail on your resume

Reviewed and proofread reports, contracts, and emails to ensure accuracy and compliance with company standards

Teamwork

Knowing how to be a good team player is essential for administrative assistants, because you’re often required to work with multiple departments to keep operations running smoothly.

Teamwork skills will help you get along with your coworkers and support the overall efficiency of the workplace.

Example of how to highlight teamwork skills on your resume

Coordinated with marketing and IT to implement a new customer relationship management system, improving workflow and reducing project turnaround time by 8%

Communication

As an administrative assistant, you’ll handle tons of work on a daily basis that requires excellent communication skills.

To correctly navigate your way through this job, you’ll need the ability to get your point across clearly, both verbally and in writing, while remaining polite and professional.

Example of how to highlight communication skills on your resume

Compiled weekly performance reports for the marketing team, highlighting key metrics and trends to guide strategy adjustments and improve overall campaign effectiveness

People skills

Administrative assistants often interface between high-level executives and the people served by an organization, such as clients, customers, or patients.

This means that you’ll interact with a wide range of people every day, requiring that you have great people skills.

Example of how to highlight people skills on your resume

Built strong relationships with clients and vendors, facilitating seamless communication between all parties

How to highlight administrative assistant skills on your resume

When writing an administrative assistant resume, it’s important to showcase your skills in two key areas: your skills section and the experience section.

Skills section

Your resume’s skills section should provide an overview of your most relevant skills.

To figure out which skills are relevant, carefully read the job description of your target job and note down all skills-related resume keywords you can find.

Ideally, focus on 5-10 hard skills that make you a good admin assistant. Here’s an example of what your skills section might look like:

Employers often scan resumes for these concrete qualifications, and including a bullet point list of skills makes them easy to find.

Soft skills are best showcased in the experience section of your resume where you can put them into context.

Experience section

Your experience section shouldn’t just be a long list of your responsibilities — you need to highlight accomplishments that demonstrate your administrative skills in action.

For example, instead of saying:

“Answered a large number of phone calls every day”

Try something more results-oriented, like:

Answered 50+ calls per day, reducing wait times by 10% through efficient call routing

Using numbers to quantify your impact like this makes your resume much more compelling, and it gives employers a better idea of how you can contribute to the team.

How to develop administrative assistant skills

Looking for ways to level up your administrative assistant skills? Here are five quick tips:

1. Take online courses – Improve skills like Microsoft Office, data entry, and business communication through platforms like Coursera or LinkedIn Learning.

2. Learn office technology – Get comfortable with office equipment, scheduling software, and database management systems commonly used in administrative roles.

3. Practice time and task management – Start using calendars, task managers, or to-do lists to organize your day.

4. Seek out hands-on experience – Take on administrative responsibilities in internships, volunteer roles, or part-time jobs to build practical experience.

5. Ask for feedback – Regularly ask for feedback from supervisors or colleagues on how to improve your skills or how you’re performing on tasks.

Ida Pettersson

Career Coach and Resume Expert

Committed to empowering job seekers of all experience levels to take the next step in their careers, Ida helps professionals navigate the job hunt from start to finish. After graduating from New College of Florida with a B.A. in Philosophy and Chinese Language and Culture, Ida moved to Hong Kong to begin her own career journey and finally settled in Taiwan. Her insights on resume writing, interview strategies, and career development have been featured on websites such as LawCareers.net, Digital Marketer, and SheCanCode.

View Ida's Profile