According to the Bureau of LAnd the candidate onlyabour Statistics, the executive assistant job growth is declining with a -20.4% employment growth between 2019 and 2029. The government estimates a loss of 121,100 jobs at that time.
It means the competition is higher than ever. A strong resume for an executive assistant is the need of the hour to stand apart from the competition and get a job as an executive assistant.
According to a study, every corporate job gets approx 250 resumes, and from that, only 3-4 people get shortlisted for an interview. It means recruiters just get 7.4 seconds to review a candidate’s resume. And the candidate only has this much time to impress the candidate with their executive assistant resume. To increase your odds of your resume getting looked at, consider working with an executive assistant recruiter.
This article will reveal five tips to create an impressive executive assistant resume that will help you get shortlisted for the executive assistant job.
Format the resume appropriately
To hook the recruiter at first glance, format the executive assistant resume with utmost care. Improve the readability of the resume by using an ample amount of whitespace on the resume.
Given below are some of the formatting rules for an executive assistant resume
- Use clean and minimal resume fonts in the resume. It increases the readability and helps the resume get past ATS systems. Some of the resume fonts are:
- Arial
- Calibri
- Verdana
- Times New Roman
- Tahoma
- Lucida
- Make the resume font size between 10-12 points.
- Keep the resume within a single page.
- Use 1” margins on all sides of the resume. If the resume does not fit within a single page, then reduce the margin to ¾” or ½” Not less than that.
- Remove unnecessary information from the resume.
- Keep the resume line-spacing between 1 – 1.5 points.
Include industry related keywords
According to CIO.com, 40% of employers deploy some kind of ATS system for sorting candidates. These ATS systems sort candidates based on relevant keywords mentioned in the job description.
Not just the presence of relevant keywords, the keyword placement also plays a vital role in sorting the resumes.
Identifying the keywords is a fairly simple process.
- Read the job description carefully.
- Identify the key skill required for the administrative assistant position.
- Match your experience and skills with the job description skills and responsibilities.
Here is a list of common executive assistant keyword skills for resume:
- File-Sharing Systems
- Logistics Management
- Database Management
- Customer Service
- Calendar Management
- Project Management
- Event Planning
- Accounting
- Meeting Scheduling
- Report Generation
- Office Management
Quantify the achievements in resume
A study conducted by Stanford University stated that statistics with anecdotes have a higher retention rate of 65-70%.
For the same reason, candidates need to quantify their accomplishments as executive assistants in the resume’s professional experience section.
Given below is an example of how to quantify the professional experience of an executive assistant:
Calendar Management & Meeting Scheduling
- Managed daily calendar for the Managing Director and scheduled 10+ meetings & appointments on a daily basis
- Overhauled the inbound communication, including 50+ emails, messages, and phone calls with a positive review
Write a stellar resume summary
The executive assistant resume summary is the first thing a recruiter notices in a resume. It is a 3-4 lines paragraph which gives an overview of the candidate’s skills and core competence to the employer.
Here is an example of an executive assistant resume summary:
“3+ years experienced and detailed oriented executive assistant professional proficient in travel arrangements, event planning for top-level executives. Highly skilled at attending calls and scheduling meetings and interviews liaise with the daily schedule. Proficient in ensuring smooth workflow by maintaining constant communication with the top-level executive.”
Include a Proper Education Section
Do not neglect the education section of the executive assistant resume. Here are the tips for creating the education section for executive assistant resume:
- Include the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in the education section in detail.
- If the candidate has 3+ years of experience, place the education section below the professional experience section. Unless placing the education before the professional experience.
- Mention the GPA if the candidate has achieved a score above 3.0.
- Disclude the high school academic details unless the candidate has relevant achievements in high school.
Key Takeaways
An executive assistant job is a critical responsibility that requires a high level of attention to detail. Hence the recruiters carefully scrutinize the candidate’s resumes and shortlist the best for an interview.
Here are the key takeaways from the blog:
- Customize the resume and tailor it to the specific job requirement
- Include a summary section on top of the resume to pique the recruiter’s interests
- Ensure to keep the resume within a single page for maximizing the chance of shortlisting
- Include job-specific keywords in the resume and optimize it to ensure the resume gets past the ATS system.
