Administrative Assistant resume example that passes the ATS (2026)

Updated November 5, 2026

Admin screens check software skills by name (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace) and then look for scope: how many people you supported, how complex their calendars were, and what ran smoothly because of you.

Sample Administrative Assistant resume

A fictional candidate at fictional companies, written in a simple one-column layout that applicant tracking systems read cleanly. Copy the structure; replace every detail with your own.

Laura Bennett (fictional)

Administrative Assistant · Calendar, travel and office coordination

Summary

Administrative assistant with 6 years supporting executives and busy teams. Keeps complex calendars, travel and office operations running so the people around her can focus on their work.

Experience

Administrative Assistant to the COO, Granite Ridge Logistics (fictional)

2021 to present

Manage calendars for the COO and 2 vice presidents, scheduling about 40 meetings a week across 3 time zones.
Book and change travel for 15 trips a quarter in Concur, staying within policy on every trip.
Prepare monthly leadership meeting decks in PowerPoint from 6 department updates.

Office Coordinator, Maplewood Dental Group (fictional)

2018 to 2021

Ran front desk and office operations for a team of 25 across 2 locations.
Moved supply ordering to a shared Excel tracker, cutting monthly supply spend by 12%.
Coordinated 3 office moves and renovations with vendors and no lost patient days.

Skills

Calendar management, Travel booking, Microsoft 365, Excel, Concur, Event planning

Education

Associate degree in Business Administration, Valley Community College (fictional)

How hiring managers screen a Administrative Assistant

Administrative postings often get many applicants, so recruiters lean on simple filters: years of experience, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and sometimes a typing speed or a skills test. If the posting names Outlook, Excel and Teams, use those exact words on your resume.

The person you would support, or their chief of staff, reads for scope. How many executives or teams did you support? Did you manage complex calendars across time zones, book travel, prepare board materials, handle expenses? Numbers help here: meetings per week, people supported, events run.

They also look for judgment and discretion. Handling confidential information, being the first point of contact for visitors or clients, and fixing problems before your manager hears about them are all worth a bullet.

ATS keywords for a Administrative Assistant resume

Common in Administrative Assistant postings. Mirror the exact wording of the job you apply to, and only use a keyword when a real bullet backs it up.

Hard skills

calendar management
travel coordination
meeting planning
expense reports
office management
data entry
document preparation
event coordination
customer service
confidentiality

Tools and software

Microsoft 365
Outlook
Excel
Word
PowerPoint
Teams
Google Workspace
Zoom
Concur
Slack

Job titles recruiters search for

Administrative Assistant
Executive Assistant
Office Coordinator
Office Manager
Administrative Coordinator

How to adapt this sample to a real posting

Read the posting and mark its must-haves. For a Administrative Assistant, these are usually a few hard skills (such as calendar management and travel coordination) and one or two tools (such as Microsoft 365 or Outlook).
Use the job title from the posting in your headline if it honestly describes your work. Recruiters often search by titles like Administrative Assistant or Executive Assistant.
Write a two-line summary naming your area, your years of experience and one result. Keep it specific to this kind of role.
For each must-have you really have, make sure one bullet shows where you used it and what changed. Leave out anything you could not discuss in an interview.
Save it as a one-column Word file or text-based PDF, then check your keyword match against the posting before you apply.

More example bullets to adapt

The formula: an action, what you did, and a number. Replace every detail with your own results.

Planned a 150-person company offsite, including venue, catering and travel, under budget by $8,000.
Processed expense reports for 20 employees monthly with a turnaround of 3 business days.
Created a shared onboarding checklist that cut new hire setup time from 3 days to 1.
Answered and routed about 60 calls and emails a day as the first point of contact for clients.

Mistakes that get it filtered out

A list of duties with no scope: how many people, meetings or events.
Writing “computer skills” instead of naming Outlook, Excel or Google Workspace.
Leaving out confidential or executive-level work you handled.

Interview questions to prepare

How do you prioritize when two executives need you at the same time?
Tell me about a scheduling or travel problem you fixed at the last minute.
How do you handle confidential information?
What systems do you use to stay organized?

Prepare each one as a STAR story: how the STAR method works.

Frequently asked questions

What skills should an administrative assistant resume include?

Calendar management, travel coordination, meeting planning and the software in the posting, usually Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. Back each one up with a bullet showing how much of it you did.

Should I include my typing speed?

Only if the posting asks for it or it is notably fast, and only if you have tested it recently. Otherwise your software skills and scope say more.

How do I write an admin resume with no experience?

Use school, volunteer or customer-facing jobs and pull out the admin parts: scheduling, handling money, answering phones, keeping records. Name the software you used.

What is the difference between an administrative and an executive assistant resume?

An executive assistant resume centers on one or two senior people: their calendars, travel, board and meeting prep. An administrative assistant resume can cover a whole team or office.

How long should an administrative assistant resume be?

One page is right for most applicants. Keep the most recent and most relevant roles detailed and shorten older ones to a line or two.

Tailor your Administrative Assistant resume to a real job.

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