Administrative Assistant
Cover Letter Example

If you’re friendly, professional, and highly organized, you’re an excellent fit for administrative assistant positions.

But first, you need to craft an exceptional cover letter that aligns your administrative assistant skills with what hiring managers are seeking.

Follow these three tips to write an administrative assistant cover letter that’s sure to catch their attention:

1. Highlight administrative assistant skills

As an administrative assistant, your responsibilities include answering the telephone, scheduling appointments, and organizing paperwork. So the ideal cover letter should highlight administrative experience, computer literacy, and complementary soft skills like organizational skills and time management skills.

But because administrative assistant duties vary depending on the industry, your cover letter should emphasize job-specific technical skills that are required to excel. For example, if you’re applying to a medical office, familiarity with medical terminology and MEDITECH software is an asset.

Here’s a list of key administrative assistant technical skills:

• Phone etiquette
• Data entry
• Inventory management
• Billing and record-keeping
• Accounting software (Intuit QuickBooks and Sage 50 Accounting)
• Scheduling software
• Google Drive and Microsoft Office 
• Customer relationship (CRM) software (Salesforce)
• Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software (Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, and Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne)
• Project management software (Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Project, and Confluence)

In addition to your hard skills, here are some administrative assistant soft skills employers seek:

• People skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Communication skills
• Attention to detail
• Multitasking
• Prioritization
• Collaboration
• Problem-solving skills
• Customer service skills

2. Emphasize your prioritization skills

As part of the administrative staff, you and your expertise are valuable to employers to ensure efficient daily operations while leaving a positive impression on visitors.

So employers seek people with strong multitasking and prioritization skills to manage competing priorities — from greeting visitors to performing routine clerical work.

In your cover letter, emphasize your prioritization skills to show employers you can handle the demands of a busy office. For example, talk about your experience where you successfully completed day-to-day tasks during a period of expansion while spearheading the effort to “go digital” for planning and paperwork.

3. End with a convincing closing statement

Depending on the level of experience and expertise employers are seeking, the technical requirements for an administrative role can vary — from a degree in business administration or administrative certifications to no experience required.

But because most applicants likely meet the technical requirements, knowing how to end your cover letter memorably increases your chances of getting an interview.

Here’s how to craft a convincing closing statement for your administrative assistant cover letter:

• Restate your interest for the job. Talk about what excites you the most about the opportunity, so employers can recognize that you not only have the right skills but also the passion to excel.
• List your key selling points. As you highlight your strengths as an administrative assistant, focus on how your skills and experience as an administrative assistant will directly benefit the company.
• Include a call to action that encourages the hiring manager to get in touch so you can further discuss your qualifications
• Thank the hiring manager for taking the time to review your job application
• End your cover letter appropriately with a sign-off like “Sincerely,”