Being an administrative employee is serious business, a lot of different responsibilities are put on your shoulders and you must be able to handle them all. When you put in for administrative careers your resume will need to look very professional and display the same professionalism that will be required of you on the job. But one of the biggest mistakes people make when they are putting in for administrative careers is that they do not cite their personal accomplishments. What do I mean by personal accomplishments? I mean anything and everything you accomplished at your last job that stands out and created value for the company. Anything that was an idea of yours that was put into practice and changed the way things were done at your last job. It can also be personal achievements you have at your last job such as never missing a day of work or showing great leadership skills.
Frequently the work experience section of a person's resume will read like a job description. It's understandable when you are applying for a career in the administrative field. But what you must do is describe what you were responsible for doing, and then describe what you actually did. Prospective employers who are looking for administrative people need to see that you had an effect. These types of employers do not want to see the same list of arbitrary skills that every applicant will include on their administrative resume. If you list what you actually accomplished rather than what you did on a regular bases this will make your resume look much more appealing.
Your administrator resume should cite the things you have actually done in order to make you appear more valuable. This will put you ahead of a lot of the competition, and believe me there is a lot of it. Administrative jobs require you to deal with a lot of responsibilities that require great ability to deal with pressure. If you are able to come out on the other end of this successfully it will be a good sign. If you have an accomplishment in your past that shows the ability to do this you should become a prime candidate for an administrative position.
You should also include any positive changes made at a previous company you worked at. This may seem difficult to do at first, but is really quite simple. You do not have to have attained any type of special rewards or certificates. The only thing you need to include is what ideas were you able to put in play that increased productivity. Even if these things were not acknowledge by the higher-ups at your last position. Displaying the ability to be creative and make suggestions for positive change that will increase production is a good thing to put on your resume. Do what you can to include this type of information, and do not focus on individual tasks that were performed each day.
- Gail Esparan