Executive Assistant
Resume Example

1. Highlight your skills whenever you can

One of the most highly sought after qualities of an executive assistant is being able to handle any situation. Being that capable requires a large skillset. Therefore, the more clearly you can demonstrate your skills, the better.

Notice how this applicant showcases her skills not only in her skills section, but also in her professional profile:

• Executive Assistant with 8+ years of experience providing administrative support to C-Suite executives
• Organization: Adept at scheduling meetings, preparing agendas, and following up on action items
• Problem-solving: Possess strong quantitative problem-solving and prioritization skills
• Achievement: Increased overall efficiency by 30% by overhauling the company’s filing system

In addition to the skills emphasized in her professional profile, this applicant features hard skills first, rather than soft skills. This puts more emphasis on her hard skills. Because soft skills tend to be transferable and don’t demonstrate that you are an expert in your field, this strategy is great for giving priority to industry-specific hard skills.

Hard skills:

• MS Office Suite / Excel
• English / Spanish
• Web / Tech Savvy

Soft skills:

• Organization and Prioritization
• Problem Solving
• Team Leadership

If you need some help brainstorming skills to highlight, check out our skills section writing guide.

2. Delve into your professional experience

When writing your executive assistant resume, clearly outline important duties and achievements you’ve completed at your previous workplaces. This gives your future employer a better idea of the range of tasks that you’re capable of. And, if you are sure to backup your claims with quantifiable stats, you’ll also display just how effective you are at your job.

See how our applicant peppers her resume with easy to visualize stats, further strengthening her resume:

• Perform a variety of accounting activities, such as preparing between 10 and 20 check requests, expense reports, purchase orders, and invoices each week
• Handled all domestic and international travel reservations, cutting the company’s travel expenses by 12%
• Organized 3+ monthly meetings and their logistical elements (scheduling, preparing the facility, organizing handouts and/or binders for attendees, etc.)

Even among these professional experiences, you can tell that the applicant has chosen to feature tasks that span a wide range of knowledge.

3. Demonstrate your competence with action verbs

Another way to assure your future employer that you are a qualified to be an executive assistant is to use strong action verbs when describing your professional experience. Not only will your resume command more authority, but solid action verbs make your experience more dynamic and less boring.

Notice what verbs our applicant uses to breathe life into her duties from her most recent job:

• Manage
• Prioritize
• Coordinate
• Track
• Follow up
• Identify
• Perform
• Ensure
• Maintain

Observe how the applicant never repeats verbs, and how the ones she selects are strong enough to conjure up an image of what she did when you read them.

If you are running out of compelling verbs to use, take a look at “The Longest Action Verb List in the Universe”.

If you have further questions about how to write your executive assistant resume, comment below or peruse “How to Write a Resume” for the answers you need.