A resume can only tell you so much about how a person will perform on the job, but this it’s the first impression you will make on a potential employer and a great opportunity to stand out among the competition. This is especially true if you are looking for work as a personal or executive assistant because these jobs are in high demand.
To secure a job that’s a great fit with an employer you love working for, here are some tips for creating the best personal or executive assistant resume.
Adapt Your Resume To Each Position
Of course, it’s much easier to use one generic resume for all potential jobs, but employers want to know why you are interested in their job specifically (not just taking the easy way out by sending the exact same document to dozens of places). Tailor your content to the job that you are applying for by learning about what the job will actually look like. Focus your wording and experience on how you can fulfill a specific employer’s needs.
Here are some examples of skills that you may want to include and elaborate upon in your executive/personal assistant resume:
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- Calendar management
- Correspondence
- Accounting
- Event planning
- Running errands
- Maintaining databases
- Screening phone calls
- Organizing files
- Managing staff
- Preparing presentations
- Social media management
- Travel arrangements
Be Unique
Executive and Personal Assistants work very closely with the person they support, and this person is going to want to connect with you on your personal interests. Give them an idea about what interests you personally or include interesting work assignments you’ve had in the past. This gives the employer a great indication of what to expect from you personally, and immediately breaks the ice in a potential conversation or interview with you. Don’t be afraid to stand out!
Use Bullet Points
There’s a good chance the person you’re applying to support is a very busy individual, and thus doesn’t have time to read large blocks of text and make it through long paragraphs detailing your experience. Use bullet points that quickly get information across.
Use Dynamic Action Verbs
Each bullet point should begin with an action verb. Make sure to watch your tense throughout your resume – you should be describing your experience in past tense. Here’s a great list of verbs to get you started. If you managed or lead a project, make sure you are using language that emphasizes this.
Incorporate keywords that employers looking for assistants want to see, like calendaring, budgeting, editing, booking travel, and confidentiality. It helps to have your resume organized into clearly defined sections and keep your experience/educations in a chronological format so that it is easy to follow.
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