What does a Secretaries and Administrative Assistant do?

Perform routine administrative functions such as drafting correspondence, scheduling appointments, organizing and maintaining paper and electronic files, or providing information to callers. Day to day that includes work like answer telephones and give information to callers, take messages, or transfer calls to appropriate individuals and Greet visitors or callers and handle their inquiries or direct them to the appropriate persons according to their needs.

What skills should a Secretaries and Administrative Assistant put on a resume?

O*NET rates Active Listening, Speaking, Reading Comprehension, Writing, and Service Orientation 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 Secretaries and Administrative Assistant list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes 3M Post-it App, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe Dreamweaver, and Adobe Illustrator. 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 Secretaries and Administrative Assistant work?

O*NET records 39 titles for this occupation, including Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive, Administrative Assistant, Admin Assistant, and Administrative Secretary. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Secretaries and Administrative Assistant need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 50% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Secretaries and Administrative 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.

Secretaries and Administrative Assistant resume example

A resume for a Secretaries and Administrative Assistant needs to show the work itself: perform routine administrative functions such as drafting correspondence, scheduling appointments, organizing and maintaining paper and electronic files, or providing information to callers. Day to day that means work like this: answer telephones and give information to callers, take messages, or transfer calls to appropriate individuals; greet visitors or callers and handle their inquiries or direct them to the appropriate persons according to their needs. 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.

Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
Administrative Assistant
Admin Assistant
Administrative Secretary
Admin Secretary
Office Assistant
Secretary
Administrative Clerk
Administrative Specialist
Admin Specialist
Administrative Support Assistant
ASA
Administrative Technician
Department Secretary
Staff Assistant
Administrative Associate
Administrative Coordinator
Administrative Liaison

O*NET records 39 titles for this occupation in total.

What people in this job call themselves

Titles reported by people actually doing this work, which is often not the title on the job posting.

Administrative Assistant (Admin Assistant)
Administrative Secretary (Admin Secretary)
Administrative Specialist (Admin Specialist)
Administrative Support Assistant (ASA)

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.

Answer telephones and give information to callers, take messages, or transfer calls to appropriate individuals.
Greet visitors or callers and handle their inquiries or direct them to the appropriate persons according to their needs.
Create, maintain, and enter information into databases.
Use computers for various applications, such as database management or word processing.
Operate office equipment, such as fax machines, copiers, or phone systems and arrange for repairs when equipment malfunctions.
Set up and manage paper or electronic filing systems, recording information, updating paperwork, or maintaining documents, such as attendance records, correspondence, or other material.
Operate electronic mail systems and coordinate the flow of information, internally or with other organizations.
Schedule and confirm appointments for clients, customers, or supervisors.
Maintain scheduling and event calendars.
Compose, type, and distribute meeting notes, routine correspondence, or reports, such as presentations or expense, statistical, or monthly reports.
Complete forms in accordance with company procedures.
Locate and attach appropriate files to incoming correspondence requiring replies.

31 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.

Answer telephones and give information to callers, take messages, or transfer calls to appropriate individuals, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Greet visitors or callers and handle their inquiries or direct them to the appropriate persons according to their needs, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Create, maintain, and enter information into databases, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Use computers for various applications, such as database management or word processing, 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.

3M Post-it App
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Creative Cloud software
Adobe Dreamweaver
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Photoshop
ADP Workforce Now
Airtable
Apache Cassandra
Apache Hadoop
Apache Hive
Apache HTTP Server
Apache Pig

132 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.

Data input scanners
Desktop computers
Dictation equipment
Digital cameras
Handheld calculators
Handheld computers
Laptop computers
Laser facsimile machines
Mobile phones
Multi-line telephone systems
Pagers
Personal computers

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.

schedule appointments

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
02Speaking
03Reading Comprehension
04Writing
05Service Orientation
06Time Management
07Coordination
08Monitoring
09Critical Thinking
10Judgment and Decision Making

Knowledge areas

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

Administrative
English Language
Computers and Electronics
Customer and Personal Service
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.

50%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
22%Associate's Degree
11%Bachelor's Degree

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Some Preparation Needed”. These occupations usually require a high school diploma.

Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.

Common questions

What does a Secretaries and Administrative Assistant do?: Perform routine administrative functions such as drafting correspondence, scheduling appointments, organizing and maintaining paper and electronic files, or providing information to callers. Day to day that includes work like answer telephones and give information to callers, take messages, or transfer calls to appropriate individuals and Greet visitors or callers and handle their inquiries or direct them to the appropriate persons according to their needs.
What skills should a Secretaries and Administrative Assistant put on a resume?: O*NET rates Active Listening, Speaking, Reading Comprehension, Writing, and Service Orientation 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 Secretaries and Administrative Assistant list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes 3M Post-it App, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe Dreamweaver, and Adobe Illustrator. 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 Secretaries and Administrative Assistant work?: O*NET records 39 titles for this occupation, including Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive, Administrative Assistant, Admin Assistant, and Administrative Secretary. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Secretaries and Administrative Assistant need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 50% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Secretaries and Administrative 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.