Project Assistant Resume & Guide

Looking for a Project Assistant job? With our complete Project Assistant Resume Guide full of samples with each section, and free resume examples, we have you covered to pass all hiring managers to your interview!

A Project Assistant provide administrative and technical support to ensure that a project is completed on time and within budget. Project Assistants report directly to a Project Manager and perform tasks such as estimating costs, distributing information to team members, implementing safety programs, tracking project activities, and supervising the staff.

Project Assistant Resume Examples

(Free sample downloads are at the bottom of this page)

Project Assistant Resume Writing Guide

Resume Sections:

  1. Contact information
  2. Profile Summary
  3. Employment History
  4. Accomplishments
  5. Education
  6. Skill Section
  7. Certification & Licensing
  8. Extras: Languages/Awards/Publications/Volunteering/hobbies
  9. > Professional information

 1. Contact information

  • First Name, Last Name
  • Email
  • Mobile number
  • LinkedIn
Project Assistant Profile photo 1

2. Career Profile & Summary

This may well be the most important section. It’s the first the recruiters read, and it’s the basic summary of your whole resume, so if recruiters don’t like what they skim in your summary/ objective, they won’t read the rest of your resume.

A few dos and don’ts to consider:

  • Do utilize the precise wording in the job advert
  • Don’t use too much jargon/ adjectives
  • Do spell names out in full, with their acronyms in brackets
  • Please don’t include the words me, I, and myself

The recruiter probably must scan hundreds of resumes, so make sure you catch their eye with a kick-ass summary/ objective using real PA achievements.

If you have more than 2-3 years’ experience, write a career summary. It’s a concise paragraph showing your best features, achievements, skills, and education immediately.

If you have little/ no experience, write an objective. Include your ambitions, transferable skills, and a few accomplishments as proof.

Pro Tip: write the summary/ objective last. That way, all the info you could use in the summary/ objective is already laid out for you in the form of your resume. Also, it’s easier to write that way.

Example Summaries:

Project Assistant Summary 1

Highly competent Project Assistant with five years’ experience in the industry. Enjoy problem-solving creatively, obtain exposure on numerous projects, and thrive in the collaborative environment on which company ABC prides itself.

Project Assistant Summary 2

Looking to take over Project Assistant position to guarantee smooth and conflict-free execution of the company's operations. Skills summary: strong verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills. Brilliant organizing, planning, and time management skills.

Project Assistant Summary 3

Expert project assistant with more than nine years of experience with diverse types of projects. Highly prepared with solid attention to detail and the capability to monitor and maintain schedules meticulously. Inspired, driven, and able to work individually or in groups. Willing to travel and work long hours.

Project Assistant Summary 4

Effectual Project Assistant with 2+ years experience. Highly prepared and experienced in interpersonal communication. Looking to make life easier at PAU Regional. At Malaski Inc., reduced construction costs by 42% through researching vendor pricing and proposing high-quality replacements. Celebrated 13x by the project managers for handing in reports in a timely and precise manner.

What to Highlight in a Project Assistant Resume

Your resume must include all relevant info that recruiters deem applicable, to decide if you have what they want for their role. Doing so, in 1-2 pages resume is another task on its own! So think facts and avoid waffling on about irrelevant info.

Since project assistants can work in many fields, you must indicate which field you have experience in, you can’t make the recruiters guess; otherwise, they will put your application in the “no” pile. Then elaborate on your normal daily responsibilities. Finally, you can use the PMBOK guide of project life cycle management: You might be involved in all the cycles or just 1 or 2. But, of course, this all depends on your job experience and qualification. 

  • Initiation: You are accountable for activities connected to project design, definition, and approval from main stakeholders within the company and external industry regulators.
  • Planning: Tasked with recognizing the project scope, designing objectives, and specifying action plans.
  • Executing: Facilitating projects and finishing deliverables timeously as per project stipulations are the key purposes at this stage of the project’s life cycle.
  • Monitoring and Controlling: Tasked with observing and directing obligations, acting as the auditor/ inspector in observing the processes, flagging problems like safety and compliance violations/ time delays, and initiating proactive/ reactive changes to guarantee the project deadlines.
  • Closing: Responsible for tying up loose ends and finalizing all activities to conclude the general project efforts formally.

Next to highlight would be your accomplishment statements. Remember, these aren’t just copied and pasted from the job description list. It would help if you listed things you’ve done that make you proud and a valuable team member, and then quantify your statements to prove them. For example:

“Accountable for managing three corporate finance accounts that totalled 60 million dollars for the rehabilitation projects of 3 surface coal mining sites of 5000 square meters each in Mali during the last 20 months.”

A few final tidbits:

Your resume must show how you excel at bringing it all together. Here’s how:

  • Utilize reverse chronological order. Recruiters prefer this format.
  • What goes on first? Resume heading with your name and job title.
  • You must use white space to make your fonts pop and keep your fonts professional and simple.  
  • Send in your resume as a PDF, unless the recruiter states otherwise.
  • Display your best features in the career summary/ objective. Recruiters will decide by reading this if you’re worth their time.
  • Avoid info that’s too personal. Stay away from controversial concepts like religion, politics, or sexual orientation.
  • Quantify your skills to prove your value and proficiency.
  • Irrelevant info, like jobs older than ten years, GPA, high school info, etc., should be left out.
  • Proofread like ten times! The readout was loud, if you must. Typos are unacceptable at this stage of the game. 

*Pro Tip: Your resume should not exceed 1-2 pages unless you did something monumental like directed the building of the Three Gorges Dam or the Space Shuttle building.

3. Employment History

This is the moment to prove yourself. Only list a few cool things you’ve done on the job that aligns with what the job ad wants, don’t list all your obligations. Molding your resume will bring more attention to your resume.

  1. Your job title goes first at the top.
  2. Then the name of the company you worked at and the dates you worked there.
  3. Write 4-6 bullet points with a decent mix of responsibilities and achievements.
  4. Quantify your achievements with numbers.
  5. Use solid action verbs to keep recruiters interested.

Pro Tip: Your latest PA job should be first up and have the most bullet points. You must show recruiters who you are now. The rest can be short and concise.

Project Assistant at Malaski, Inc.

(Jan 2017- March 2022)

Functioned on a team of 3 Project Assistants in a fast-paced construction firm. Controlled all project assistance for $2.6 million in development annually.

  • Wrote up reports, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint decks for 180+ meetings of cross-functional team members.
  • Utilized conflict resolution skills to sort out all arguments between clients, employees, and vendors, naturally within minutes of the issue coming to light.  
  • Frequently educated 130+ employees in the right understanding of all project plans.
  • Ran budget for four projects, each valued at over $190,000.

Project Assistant at Rippled Rock Resources

(Nov 2013- Dec 2016)

Controlled all Project Assistant obligations for 13 excavation and water-line installation construction projects annually, each valued at $82,000.

  • Cut rework and failure backlog by 30% via attentive inspection and retraining.
  • Supervise budgets up to $42 000, keep costs on par with the budget, and assist in completing projects ahead of schedule.
  • Discussed design implementation strategies, the goal being sustainability.
  • Guaranteed client objectives were accomplished with hands-on detailing with labor crews.
  • Supervised equipment and supplies for labor crews.

4. Project Assistant Job Descriptions

What you do daily depends on your level of experience.

Examples

A Project Assistant’s job may entail:
  • Performing clerical duties and administrative logistical support for multiple projects while collaborating with subcontractors, project management, and clients.
  • Maintain project records, including preparing invoices, memos, financial statements, and project reports.
  • Organizing subcontractors to offer customer service within budget limits.
  • Read incoming memos and reports to determine their level of importance for the project and distribute them accordingly.
  • Working with the Construction Manager and Project Manager to guarantee projects will be finished.
  • Organized and scheduled project meetings
  • Scheduling work for subcontractors and homeowners.
  • Processing accounts payable/ incoming and outgoing mail.
  • Preparing expense reports and work orders as required.
  • Creating and maintaining vendor/ homeowner files.
  • Collaborating with other admin staff on administrative functions and projects/ initiatives while surpassing company-based aims.
  • Completing executive-level administrative tasks for the project managers and Vice President.
  • Absorbing obligations of the office event planner, manager, accountant, and sales team manager.
  • Providing logistical support and general project support, such as activity tracking, task coordination, and material formatting
  • Setting up email marketing applications (MailChimp), CMS, and enterprise project management software within the company
  • Highly organized to ensure project meetings, orders, shipments, and deadlines are completed on or before their expected completion dates.
  • Worked with Project Manager and Construction Manager to ensure completion of projects
  • Drafting and presenting project proposals with the Business Development Team.
  • Directing and managing the sales team by implementing Salesforce software.
  • Supervising team members on the precise pre-selection of files.
  • Supported Project Manager and team through various administrative duties, including filing data entry report generation and answering phones.
  • An active member of the Project team awarded for the CEO for maximizing the company's level of productivity.
  • Effectively manage data entry of client's information on new developed database.
  • Efficiently managing data entry of clients’ info on a newly developed database.
  • Selecting and organizing all commercial/ personal insurance clientele on a database.
  • Successfully conducting training sessions for employees to guarantee the suitable use of the database.
  • Preparing and presenting marketing material, which includes advertising materials/ presentations for special events.
  • Assisting in the preparation and negotiation of AIA contract agreements.
  • Reviewing subcontractor pay requests for accuracy and preparing change applications for a construction manager/ owner review.
  • Managed and maintained project manager’s schedule, and provided an updated itinerary each day as well as alerted him to cancellations or other unexpected changes throughout the day.
  • Completed executive-level administrative support for the Vice President and project managers.
  • Assisting in the prep of specification manuals for every architectural project.
  • Processing and logging all contractor submittals.
  • Preparing and monitoring all ASIs, RFIs, and RFPs.
  • Overseeing all purchasing/ inventory control.
  • Assisting executive staff by organizing office services, like personnel, records control, budget preparation and control, and special event planning.
  • Scheduling and coordinating media and community education presentations.

4. Accomplishments

A Project Assistant resume is usually packed with jargon and industry terms that make it super easy for the accomplishments and achievements to get lost in the white noise when the recruiter skims your resume. That’s why we have a full-on section for it!

Quantification 101

This section must be full of punchy statements highlighting your potential value to recruiters. You must prove your accomplishments, though, and that’s where quantification comes in! So, for everything you include, make sure to back it up with accurate numbers/ values/ figures. This allows the recruiters an objective way to measure your proficiency and potential value to their company.  

Below are statements without quantification (don’t do this!):

  • Designed a smart routing system that balances the risk of misplacing packages and transportation expenses, saving the company money.
  • Ran advertising and relationships projects for several clients from the education, tourism, entertainment, and health sectors.
  • Created a business plan that attracted more business to the general client portfolio.
  • Wrote long reports and presented initial concepts of the projects.

Now read them with quantification:

  • Designed a smart routing system that balances the risk of misplacing packages and transportation expenses, saving 8.3% of the total budget.
  • Ran advertising and relationships projects for 12 clients from the education, tourism, entertainment, and health sectors.
  • Created a business plan that attracted 43% more business to the general client portfolio.
  • Wrote two 25-page reports and presented initial concepts of both projects.

Accomplishment Statement Hacks: It must be relevant. Think along the lines of savings in time/ money, include endorsements by superiors, added value to profit/ turnover increases, give details for measuring projects concerning size and budgets.

Education

5. Education Section & Examples

Surprise, surprise! This section, if done right, may get you hired! Of course, it would be best if you wrote it up correctly, in any case. Include what you can with what you did in your studies to enhance Project Assistant skills. If you used communication to complete projects or tech skills or even create reports, add it in. Feel free to include any clubs, positions, teams, projects, and anything else that proves your competence.

You can include your GPA if it was super high or if you’re fresh out of studies. Otherwise, save the space for bigger and better things.

*Pro Tip: If you have little/ no work experience, you can expand this section by splitting it into projects that look like small jobs.

List your Project Assistant education as follows:

Starting and end date of studies, the full name of qualification, the institution you went to, location of the institution, and state.

Some examples:

2020- Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) Project Management Institute (PMI), Texas University, Houston, TX.

2013- 2016 Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering, Newtown Square, PA.

2015- 2018 associate degree in Sales Engineering, University of Miami, Florida, FL.

6. The Resume Skills Matrix

Would you believe that applicants’ resume content matches only 60% of the job advert's technical skills and soft skills? This means that an outrageous number of resumes are never seen because of the automated tracking systems that scan them through them out. To avoid this, make sure to include every skill on the job advert that applies to you in your skills section, word for word.

Your technical/ hard skills are gained through academic training and work experience. While these are important, don’t forget about your interpersonal skills, which are just as crucial in this job.

Below is an example of a skills section using a skills matrix format:

Hard Skills

Vendor managementPowerPointMeeting preparation
Generating reportsRequirements gatheringScheduling
MS ExcelWorking with cross-
functional teams
Budgeting
Technical AssistanceMicrosoft Office SoftwareComputer software

Soft Skills

Interpersonal skillsWritingCritical thinking
Written and verbal
communication
Active listeningOrganization
CollaborationTime management Project management

Just a note, you don’t have enough space to include all your skills, only include the ones the job ad wants.

Pro Tip: You should only list your transferable skills from other job roles if you have no Project Assistance experience.

7. Qualifications & Certifications associated with Project Assistants

The Project Management Fundamentals CourseProject+CPMP – Certified Project Management Practitioner
PMBOKPRINCE2 PractitionerCPD – Certified Project Director
PMI-PgMP Certification TrainingAssociates Degree in STEM DisciplinesAPM – Associate in Project Management

Optional Extras for Project Assistant Resumes

Employers love to see your passion, so show it with an “extras” section. This not only helps to add a bit of beef to your resume, but it also allows the recruiters to get to know you, setting you apart from the competition.

You can add sections for:

  • Publications – Have you had anything published during your time at varsity like a class project, or maybe you have written a blog on the ins and outs of project management?
  • Volunteer work – Volunteering always looks good on a resume, whether it was related to your job field or not. Think about ad hoc projects you were part of, perhaps organizing the annual Christmas fair or helping out at the community feeding scheme initiative
  • Conferences – Have you attended any conventions, trade exhibitions, ted talks, or conferences related to your job field?
  • Hobbies – What are your hobbies and interests. These give recruiters and hiring managers some insight into who you are as a person
  • Awards/ honors – Who said what about you that is good 😊 Come on, brag a little
  • Sports – Are you into running, mountain biking, yoga? Employers appreciate candidates who prioritize a healthy living regime
  • Language skills – List any additional languages and your competency level with them
  • Professional associations – Include memberships of industry bodies and associations related to your field

If you can show all your “wins,” the higher your chances of being interviewed.  

*Pro Tip: This section is super useful for applicants with little work experience. They portray your skills without using a job title.

Professional Information on Project Assistants

Sectors: Banking, Finance. Consumer Goods, Food Manufacturing, Industrial, Chemical, Oil, Gas & Exploration, Solutions & Services, Engineering, Construction, Product Manufacturing, Power & Transmission, Infrastructure
Career Type:  Engineering, Planning, Design, Programming, Evaluating, Project Implementation & Execution, Development, Research, Testing
Person type:  Scheduler, Implementer, Facilitator, Organizer, Coordinator, Overseer, Planner, Administrator, Forecaster
Education levels: Post School toBachelor Degrees to Doctorate Degrees
Salary Indication: Between $35,797 to $45,542per annum (Salary.com)
Labor market: Estimated 7% decline between 2019 – 2029 (Zippia)
Organizations: Various

Project Assistant Resume Examples