What skills should a Executive Assistant put on a resume?

O*NET rates Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Service Orientation, and Writing among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Executive Assistant list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Accounting software, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Contribute, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Executive Assistant work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Administrative Assistant, Administrative Secretary, Executive Assistant, and Executive Secretary. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Executive Assistant need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 34% reported their level of education as "Associate's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Executive Assistant role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Executive Assistant resume example

Built from the O*NET occupation Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistant, which is how this job is recorded officially.

A resume for a Executive Assistant needs to show the work itself: provide high-level administrative support by conducting research, preparing statistical reports, and handling information requests, as well as performing routine administrative functions such as preparing correspondence, receiving visitors, arranging conference calls, and scheduling meetings. Day to day that means work like this: manage and maintain executives' schedules; make travel arrangements for executives. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Administrative Assistant
Administrative Secretary
Executive Assistant
Executive Secretary
Administrative Aide
Administrative Associate
Administrative Coordinator
Administrative Specialist
Executive Administrative Assistant
Office Assistant
HR Executive Assistant
VP Assistant
VP Secretary
Administrative Liaison
Administrative Office Assistant
Administrative Office Specialist
Administrative Officer
Administrative Services Assistant

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Manage and maintain executives' schedules.
Make travel arrangements for executives.
Prepare invoices, reports, memos, letters, financial statements, and other documents, using word processing, spreadsheet, database, or presentation software.
Coordinate and direct office services, such as records, departmental finances, budget preparation, personnel issues, and housekeeping, to aid executives.
Answer phone calls and direct calls to appropriate parties or take messages.
Prepare responses to correspondence containing routine inquiries.
Open, sort, and distribute incoming correspondence, including faxes and email.
Greet visitors and determine whether they should be given access to specific individuals.
Prepare agendas and make arrangements, such as coordinating catering for luncheons, for committee, board, and other meetings.
Conduct research, compile data, and prepare papers for consideration and presentation by executives, committees, and boards of directors.
Perform general office duties, such as ordering supplies, maintaining records management database systems, and performing basic bookkeeping work.
File and retrieve corporate documents, records, and reports.

22 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Manage and maintain executives' schedules, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Make travel arrangements for executives, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Prepare invoices, reports, memos, letters, financial statements, and other documents, using word processing, spreadsheet, database, or presentation software, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Coordinate and direct office services, such as records, departmental finances, budget preparation, personnel issues, and housekeeping, to aid executives, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Accounting software
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Contribute
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Photoshop
Aestiva Purchase Order
Airtable
Apple Keynote
Apple macOS
Appointment scheduling software
Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge
Calendar and scheduling software
Cisco Webex

96 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

10-key calculators
Data input scanners
Desktop computers
Dictation equipment
Digital cameras
Electric typewriters
Handheld calculators
Handheld computers
Laptop computers
Laser facsimile machines
Liquid crystal display LCD video projectors
Multi-line telephone systems

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

calendar management
travel coordination
meeting scheduling
correspondence
Google Workspace
train personnel
Microsoft Excel

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Active Listening
02Reading Comprehension
03Speaking
04Service Orientation
05Writing
06Coordination
07Critical Thinking
08Social Perceptiveness
09Time Management
10Active Learning

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Administrative
English Language
Customer and Personal Service
Computers and Electronics
Administration and Management

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

34%Associate's Degree
24%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
21%Some College Courses

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Medium Preparation Needed”. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Common questions

What does a Executive Assistant do?: Provide high-level administrative support by conducting research, preparing statistical reports, and handling information requests, as well as performing routine administrative functions such as preparing correspondence, receiving visitors, arranging conference calls, and scheduling meetings. Day to day that includes work like manage and maintain executives' schedules and Make travel arrangements for executives.
What skills should a Executive Assistant put on a resume?: O*NET rates Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Service Orientation, and Writing among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Executive Assistant list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Accounting software, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Contribute, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Executive Assistant work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Administrative Assistant, Administrative Secretary, Executive Assistant, and Executive Secretary. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Executive Assistant need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 34% reported their level of education as "Associate's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Executive Assistant role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.