Administrative assistant CV: example, skills and writing tips

Administrative assistant CV example

The example below shows how the advice in this guide fits together on one page. The person, the companies and all the figures are invented: use the structure, not the content, and replace every detail with your own.

Notice what makes this CV useful to a recruiter: every line says what was handled, for whom, with which tool and at what volume. The rest of this guide explains how to build each section in the same way.

Job title and professional summary

Choose a title that shows your positioning

A simple “Administrative Assistant” is perfectly acceptable if that is the job you want. When your experience is more specific, you can say more, as long as it is accurate:

Administrative Assistant – 5 years’ experience
Administrative and Sales Assistant
Administrative Assistant – client management and invoicing
Administrative Assistant – construction sector
Administrative Assistant – logistics and order follow-up

Do not change your title just to copy the one in the ad if the content does not match your experience.

Administrative assistant, office administrator, secretary: which title fits?

Administrative roles go by many names, and two jobs with the same title can be very different. Pick the title that describes what you actually do, and always check the job description.

Professional summary example: experienced administrative assistant

The professional summary (often called a personal profile or personal statement in the UK) is three to five lines saying how much experience you have, in what environment, what you handle and, if useful, which tools or sector you know.

Administrative assistant with 6 years’ experience in SMEs. Handles client files, invoicing, order follow-up, phone reception and diary coordination. Confident user of Microsoft 365 and Excel.

Professional summary example: junior administrative assistant

Business administration graduate ([diploma], [year]) with first experience in administrative support through a [6-month] placement. Practice in reception, document management, data entry and client file follow-up.

Avoid a summary that could apply to almost anyone, such as “Serious, motivated, dynamic and versatile, looking for a new challenge”. It takes space without telling a recruiter much.

Administrative assistant CV skills by area

“Administrative assistant” covers very different jobs depending on the company and sector: reception, file management, correspondence, data entry, documents, invoicing, client follow-up or scheduling. Do not list everything: select the operational skills you genuinely master and that match the role.

A skills line such as this gives little information:

Organisation · Dynamism · Versatility · Reliability

This one is far more useful:

Client file management · Invoicing · Diary management · Order follow-up · Excel · Microsoft 365

Qualities convince more when proven: instead of “organised”, write “Coordinated the diaries and meetings of four managers”; instead of “rigorous”, “Checked supporting documents before files were approved”.

Describing your experience and achievements

Your experience section should show what you actually did. For each line, follow this order where possible:

context → your own action → tools or method → scope → result

For example: “In a 45-person construction SME (context), I moved the paper archive (action) to a shared drive with a common naming system (method) for all client files (scope), so the team could find documents without asking (result).” The figures in this sentence are illustrative.

Too vague

Administrative management
Phone reception
Filing
Invoicing

More informative

Illustrative figures.

Managed and updated around 250 client files
Handled incoming calls and emails
Prepared and followed up quotes and invoices
Kept the payment-tracking spreadsheet up to date
Organised appointments for three sales staff
Filed and archived administrative documents

The second version gives more context and shows your level of responsibility. Add figures when they are accurate, useful and shareable: number of files, clients, invoices, people supported, sites, appointments or orders. You do not need to put a figure on every line.

Achievement examples to adapt

Replace [X] and [Y] with your own verified figures, or leave the line out if you cannot support it.

• Managed the administrative follow-up of around [X] client files.
• Prepared around [X] invoices a month and followed up late payments with [method].
• Supported [X] managers with diaries, meetings and travel.
• Set up a [tracking spreadsheet / shared filing system] used by [X] colleagues.
• Reduced the processing time for [type of request] from [X] to [Y] days.
• Handled around [X] calls and emails a day at reception.

Office software: show how you used it

For an administrative role, your tools can matter as much as some of your tasks. Avoid “Good IT skills” or “Microsoft Office” with no detail. Depending on your experience, you can list Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Google Docs and Sheets, a CRM or ERP, invoicing software or tools specific to your sector, with what you used them for:

Excel: tracking tables, filters, common formulas and pivot tables
Salesforce: updating client records and following up requests

This is more informative than:

Excel: good level
Salesforce: good level

Do not list a tool you have only seen demonstrated: you should be able to talk about it in an interview.

Education and qualifications

Several routes lead to administrative work: vocational diplomas or apprenticeships in business administration, secretarial qualifications, office software training, or a degree depending on the level of the role. On your CV, use the format qualification – specialism – institution – year:

[Diploma or qualification] – [specialism]
[Institution] — [year]

Do not present a qualification from one country as equivalent to another country’s: give an accurate description instead. For an experienced profile, education can take less space than recent roles.

Making your administrative CV easy to read for ATS

Many employers use an applicant tracking system (ATS) or other recruitment software to collect, search and organise applications. The aim is not to “beat” or trick a filter: it is to make sure your key information is extracted correctly and easy to find.

• your job title;
• clearly identifiable employers and dates;
• experience organised role by role;
• skills and software written as text;
• qualifications stated clearly.

Use the wording of the job ad when it truly matches your experience. If the ad asks for “order follow-up” and your CV says “handling client requests” while you did follow orders from receipt to invoicing, you can write “Followed up client orders from receipt to invoicing”. The rule is simple: adapt the wording, never invent the experience.

Tailoring your administrative CV to each job

Tailoring matters particularly for this job, because two administrative roles with the same title can be very different. You do not need to redo your CV for each application, but you can bring forward the most relevant tasks and tools.

Before you apply, it helps to see which elements of the job description your CV already covers and which are missing. CVReader compares your CV with a job description and highlights the points of correspondence.

Compare my CV with a job description

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Junior administrative assistant or career changer

With little administrative experience, the same principle applies: be precise about what you have actually done.

• Students and recent graduates: put education higher up and describe placements and work-study periods like real jobs, with tasks, tools and volumes.
• Career changers: bring forward transferable experience that is genuinely administrative, such as booking appointments, handling customer files, data entry or invoicing in a retail, hospitality or care setting.
• Training in progress: state the qualification, institution and expected completion date, without presenting it as obtained.

Former shop supervisor moving into administration, currently completing [administration qualification]. Three years of staff rota planning, supplier order follow-up and weekly sales reporting in Excel.

Trained or working in France?

If your administrative background is French, a few adjustments make your CV clearer to English-speaking recruiters.

French qualifications

The France Travail postings classified under this occupation show how varied the job titles and sectors are, from client relations and construction to logistics, public services and HR (France Travail job postings: ROME M1607 (in French)). If you hold a French qualification, keep its name and add a short explanation:

• BTS GPME – Gestion de la PME: two-year French vocational higher education diploma in small business management and administration.
• BTS SAM – Support à l’action managériale: two-year French vocational higher education diploma in administrative and management support.
• Titre professionnel Secrétaire assistant: French vocational qualification for secretaries and administrative assistants.

There is no automatic equivalence between these diplomas and qualifications in other countries, so do not present them as equivalent.

BTS GPME – Gestion de la PME (French two-year diploma in small business management and administration)
[Institution] — [year]

French job titles and terms

Translate the role, not the words. An “assistant administratif” is an administrative assistant; an “agent administratif” is often an administrative officer or clerk, especially in the public sector; an “assistant polyvalent” is best described by the tasks themselves. “Pack Office” becomes Microsoft Office, and “tableaux croisés dynamiques” pivot tables.

French company names may be unfamiliar abroad: add the sector and size, for example “construction SME, 45 staff”.

Mistakes to avoid and final checklist

Staying too general

“Administrative management” does not say what you manage. Name it: client files, invoicing, payment follow-up.

Listing qualities without evidence

“Dynamic, autonomous, serious, motivated, organised, versatile” says less than one experience described concretely.

Not naming the software you used

For an administrative role, your tools may be among the recruiter’s search criteria.

Using vague or internal job titles

If you worked as an administrative assistant, do not hide it behind an internal title nobody outside your former company understands.

Writing an endless list of tasks

Select the responsibilities that show your level and your fit with the role.

Adding skills only because they are in the ad

Your CV must remain accurate. Every skill you list can become an interview question.

Checklist before you apply

• My title states my positioning and, if useful, my experience or sector.
• My summary fits in three to five lines and contains facts, not adjectives.
• Each role shows context, my own tasks, tools, scope and, where possible, a result.
• Every figure is accurate, verifiable and not confidential.
• Each software package listed is one I have actually used, with its context.
• Foreign qualifications keep their original name, with a short explanation and no claimed equivalence.
• Employers and dates are easy to find, and skills are written as text.
• I have brought forward what matches the job’s main focus.

Administrative assistant CV: frequently asked questions

What skills should I put on an administrative assistant CV?

Put first the skills you have actually used: file management, reception, email handling, document preparation, invoicing, client or supplier follow-up, diary management, Excel and other office tools.

How do I write a good administrative assistant summary?

Give your years of experience, your work environment, your main responsibilities and, if useful, the software you master. Three to five lines are usually enough.

Which software should I list?

Only the tools you have actually used, such as Word, Excel, Outlook, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, a CRM, an ERP, invoicing software or sector-specific tools, with a few words on what you used them for.

Should I write “versatile” on my CV?

You can, but it is better to show it by naming several concrete responsibilities, for example invoicing, reception, administrative follow-up and scheduling.

Is an administrative assistant resume different from a CV?

“Resume” is the usual American term; “CV” is used in the UK and much of the world. For a job application, the advice in this guide applies to both.

Should an administrative assistant CV fit on one page?

One page can be enough for a beginner or a short career. Two pages are acceptable for an experienced profile if the extra information is relevant.