Highlight Your Administrative Accomplishments: Create an Effective Admin Resume

To create an effective admin resume it is essential that you highlight your past accomplishments. This will not only provide insight into your previous job responsibilities and ancillary duties, it will demonstrate the value that you will bring to your new organization.

You know the story. After painstakingly scouring multiple resources for an admin job, you finally find the job listing that is perfect for you. It's in a location that you want, in an industry that you enjoy, and with a company that has a great reputation. Above all else, they are looking for a candidate with your exact qualifications. Soon though, the apprehension sets in. How do you create the most effective resume in order to highlight your skills and land that perfect admin job?

To create an effective admin resume, one that will ensure that you are called for an interview, it is vital that you successfully demonstrate your skills and your past accomplishments. After all, when employers are looking at your resume they want to know how they will benefit by hiring you. Because you, as an admin professional, ensure that the entire organization runs smoothly, you have to put forth the same effort and attention that you apply in your line of work when you create your resume. After all, resumes provide a snapshot of an individual's work history, experience, and pertinent skills. In essence, they serve as a direct marketing tool: they tell the employer who you are, what you do, and how you will bring value to the organization.



In terms of admin jobs, employers especially look for candidates who demonstrate their reliability, as well as the level to which they can ensure the successful operation of business functions. Consequently, it is vital that these two areas are discussed in the resume. One way to do this is to use a resume style known as the hybrid format. This means that your duties and accomplishments are presented in both paragraph and bullet form. For instance, you may want to list your everyday tasks in paragraph form and then bullet your achievements in order to draw attention to them. For instance, great resume statements for a legal secretary would be:

• Implemented new software system that decreased retrieval time of client information by 75%.
• Supervised electronic file retention and compliance with statutory public records requests with annual release of 115,000 documents.
• Assisted attorneys with document production in complex antitrust litigation, which resulted in $50 million settlement.
• Conducted legal research and drafted a legal compliance manual for businesses, including current issues in employment law, privacy law, zoning, and premises liability.
  

Assuming that every candidate possesses the same skill-set, the one way to differentiate yourself and show why you are the best admin candidate for the job is by listing what you have achieved. This isn't always easy though. Sometimes it's hard to know where responsibilities end and accomplishments begin. Consider the following questions when you look back at every previous admin job:

• Were any new policies implemented by company executives that resulted in your need to train company personnel?
• Have you been praised by clients/customers for your professional demeanor, willingness to help, or excellent customer service?
• Were you the recipient of any awards?
• Were you able to complete multiple tasks in a timely fashion, while still adhering to stringent levels of quality?
• Were you responsible for implementing any new system that helped to enhance company functions or allow things to run more smoothly?
• Were you assigned any unique tasks that positively impacted an area of the organization?
• Did you ever organize company meetings or events?
• Have you utilized technology or new software systems to help you better perform your job duties?
  

Ultimately, when you mail, email, or fax your resume to a potential employer you want to ensure that the hiring manager will not only look at it, but that he or she will like you and call you in for an interview. Finding a great job listing is only the first step, creating an effective resume that highlights your skills and accomplishments, and creating one that will help you land the job, is a very important second step which cannot, and should not, be overlooked.