Tips for Office & Administration Resumes

1. Administrative & Office Support Job Duties

Administrative and Office Support roles are found in virtually every industry on the planet and in small, medium, and corporate organizations. The military and federal government are of the largest employers of Office and Administration Staff.

Saturate your job description with relevant industry jargon, buzzwords, trending terminology, and use the job advertisement as your guide when choosing what job duties to add.

Handling email correspondence, coordinating calendars, printing documentation for meetings, ordering stationery, maintaining office equipment, and organizing events, are examples of duties to add to your resume.

2. Language, Tone of Voice, Formatting

The aim is to tell, not sell. Keep your resume authentic and avoid stereotyped personal traits such as hardworking, adaptable, dedicated, or overselling your skills with too many personal adjectives. When using specific buzzwords even when the acronyms are well-known, rather include the full descriptive term with the acronym in parentheses next to it. Keep the tone of voice simple but professional, providing an honest recollection of who you are as a person, what your professional qualities are, and your motivation for changing jobs.

Bullet points are great to keep job descriptions and skills organized, and fonts like Arial or Sans Serif are the easiest to read.

3. Creating a Career Summary

Customizing a career summary for each application is the best way to go. Your career synopsis should include a powerful self-describing word with your job title, two to three special core competencies of value, years of experience, industries you have worked in, and most recent academic credentials, courses completed, or diplomas obtained. Make your summary stand out, by using a larger font type, center the paragraph, and bold it in black or dark gray colors.

4. Education & Training Requirements

For Office and Administration roles, a High School diploma is typically the sole requirement, but some job openings may need additional post-school certifications. List them with the institution, qualification name, and completion dates.

Don’t forget to add the qualifications you are currently busy completing. Please don't hesitate to include the short courses, workshops, and in-house training you have received to increase resume credibility. If you are applying for management roles, and Associates's degree or Bachelor’s would be to your advantage.

5. Office and Administration Skills to Highlight

Email Platforms, Diary Management, CRM Software, Travel Arrangements, Taking Minutes, Order Office Equipment, Drafting Responses, Handling Responses, Distributing Messages, Proofread Documentation, Organizing Office Events, Managing Petty Cash, Accounting Management Software, Document Management Tools. Reporting, Problem Solving, Resourceful

6. Salary Range

The average salary for junior to mid-level roles is between $13 per hour and $30 per hour depending on years of experience. Managers can expect to earn on average $79 595 per year.