Executive Assistant Resume Examples

Let's start by looking at an executive assistant’s job duties and responsibilities.

What is the importance of a professional executive assistant resume during a job search?

An executive assistant requires a well-formatted professional resume to showcase qualifications, experience, and education and land the job.

A resume for an executive assistant will help the candidate be among the 4-6 applicants (from the average 250) per a corporate job who proceed for an interview.

Step 1. Difference Between a Resume and a CV for an Executive Assistant. 

• A resume is a 1-2 pages summary of a professional’s life (skills, work experience, education) tailored to a particular job.
•  A "Curriculum Vitae" is Latin for "course of life" It’s more detailed on academic, experience, skills, and hobbies. It's not aimed at a specific job. Some countries use CVs and resumes the same way, while others use them differently.

Step 2. Choose the Right Resume Format for the Executive Assistant Resume. 

Formats for a modern executive assistant resume include:

• Chronological Resume Suitable for an Executive Assistant:
  This lists everything in reverse chronological order, from the latest qualifications to the oldest.
• Executive Assistant with no Experience Functional Resume:
  It begins with the most job-relevant skills and achievements. Useful for job seekers who are changing jobs, have a short work history, or a fresh graduate. Also serves if you have gap or gaps in your resume.
• Combination/Hybrid Resume for an Executive Assistant:
  List the important skills first, followed by work experience in reverse chronological order.
• Targeted Format for an Executive Assistant Job Resume:
  This is for a specific role and/or company. It takes time, but you get the executive assistant job if you stick to the ‘tailor’ format for the role.

Step 3. Refer to Executive Assistant Resume Templates & Examples. 

A resume template allows you to fill in your details in the main sections of a resume. You then run it online to produce and download your executive assistant resume.

Recruiters accept templates so long as your executive assistant resume is well organized without unnecessary images, colors, or fancy fonts.

There are many well-crafted executive assistant resume examples online. Simply type ‘resume example for an executive assistant’ on a search engine (e.g. Google, Yahoo, and etc.) and many executive assistant resume examples will appear.

Step 4. Tailor Your Resume to the Executive Assistant Job Description. 

Look at the duties and responsibilities for the executive assistant job, match them with your best qualifications, and use them in your target professional executive assistant job resume. Provide facts, figures, and evidence on your executive assistant resume to impress the potential employer.

Step 5. Craft a Cover Letter for your Executive Assistant Resume. 

A cover letter is a short document attached to a resume or CV highlighting your unique skills, experiences, and abilities for the position of the executive assistant you want. It comes before a resume.

Step 6. Proofread Your Executive Assistant Resume. 

Read your executive assistant resume word by word to eliminate typos, spelling, and grammatical mistakes.

1. Personal Information 

Personal information on an executive assistant resume includes:

• Full name
• Email
• Phone number
• Professional job title 

Others(optional): LinkedIn URL, Address, Social Media Accounts, Website, etc.

2. Resume Headline 

A relevant profile title or CV headline sums up the whole resume for the executive assistant dream job. The title should lie just below your name above your contacts.

An executive assistant resume headline uses keywords and shows your main achievements plus relevant experience.

3. Resume/Profile Summary 

This has a few lines placed just below the contact information highlighting achievements and skills related to the executive assistant position that you want.

A resume summary for executive assistants helps in the use of job keywords pointing out your attributes to a recruiter.

4. Resume Objective 

A career/professional goal takes 2-3 sentences, and it's used by those fresh from school, those with career gaps, and those changing careers.

A resume objective for a junior executive assistant shows one has a career goal, clear skills, experience, and achievements.

5. Skills 

Skills are abilities you have as an executive assistant through learning, interactions, education, and personality traits. 

6. Work Experience 

On an executive assistant resume, include the name of the institution, job title, location, and dates for the period worked for each position. Start with paid ones followed by unpaid roles.

7. Education 

The education section on an executive assistant resume lists the institution (town, and country) which one attended or is attending in reverse order starting with the highest level (e.g., masters-bachelors).

Skip high school if you have a degree or diploma. Include credible and industry-related e-learning and online courses plus certified training on the executive assistant job.

The section on a resume for an executive assistant is to allow recruiters to evaluate your academic achievements, your desire, passion, and dedication to learn more.

Professional, educational, and technical training as an executive assistant gives recruiters confidence in your abilities for the job.

8. Additional Information 

This lists publications & papers, awards & commendations, hobbies, licenses, certifications, sports, relevant to the senior level executive assistant job you are pursuing

Additional information on an executive assistant resume may give insight into hidden skills, personality, leadership, etc.

For example, a ‘sports team player’ award shows a junior executive assistant can be a trusted team member on the role. 

👍 Customize the resume for each executive assistant job. 

Use qualifications matching the professional executive assistant job role after a close look at the job and company to give the best qualifications from your executive assistant resume.

👍 Use action verbs and keywords for the resume bullets. 

• Write short statements with action words (developed, trained, screened, etc.) to highlight your skills and achievements.
• Adopt keywords from the executive assistant job description on the advert and do relevant research.

👍 Quantify your accomplishments on the executive assistant resume.

• Use a problem-action-result approach to show value.
• Don't just list the duties and responsibilities of an executive assistant.
• Use percentages, amounts, time, and range for tangible results.

👍 Elaborate more on companies and roles as an executive assistant.

Make the information, be it names of your previous employers or job duties, specific and clear.

👍 Follow a general executive assistant resume format.  

Using simple 10-12 size fonts (Times New Roman, Calibri, Cambria, etc.), automatic black on a white background normal text is the standard ATS-friendly executive assistant's resume. Use bold 14 size fonts for headings.

1. Contact Details 

Write down your full name, email address, and phone number.

2. Introduction/Greetings 

A good impression is created by using personal greetings and addressing recruiters by their names. You can search the company website or LinkedIn to get the name.

3. Motivation

Answer the following questions in this part.

• Why do you desire to work in that company?
• What service/product do you value from them?

4. Qualifications

This is where you market your qualities, skills, qualifications, and achievements briefly.

5. Closing Remarks 

• Show gratitude to the reader of your letter with a ‘thank you’ line.
• Draw the recruiter’s attention to any included links or attachments to your executive assistant resume.
• Sign your name in full at the end, proofread, and insert links or attachments to your executive assistant cover letter.

Congratulations! You are done with an executive assistant cover letter.