Secretarial Resumes

Necessary in order to effectively market candidates to prospective employers, a secretarial resume is integral for any clerical or administrative job search.  Those interested in advancing their secretarial careers often limit themselves by focusing on past job titles rather than their responsibilities and duties at each position.  A number of employers assign secretaries highly specialized duties without corresponding titles and raises, therefore candidates should list all areas in which experience has been obtained.  A candidate’s skills are often the best way to sell themselves to employers, so combination or functional resumes are generally the best choice for resume formatting.  Functional resumes are not the most common documents because they are slightly more difficult to compose and read compared to combination resumes, which focus on skills rather than work history, and list information in reverse chronological order. 

Usually the largest section in a combination resume includes a candidate’s skills and accomplishments, so it is important for candidates to determine which skills are the most pertinent to the position they are applying for, and focus on developing these statements.  Within these statements, candidates should include specific numbers, percentages, amounts, and relevant software knowledge.  Including specialized information will allow the hiring authority insight on previous duties and future capabilities.  Describing basic duties to their highest level will effectively heighten overall professionalism and intrigue readers. 

It is often helpful to research a number of secretarial, executive assistant, administrative assistant, and office manager advertisements to discover which specific skills are most attractive to employers.  Candidates should locate keywords, and incorporate as many as possible into their secretarial resume.  Employers spend approximately 10 seconds to one minute reviewing each resume; therefore using keywords will directly state a candidate’s capabilities.   If candidates market themselves well, they may use their resume as a way to obtain interviews for higher level positions.  Candidates who limit their job search to just basic secretarial jobs may limit their chances for advancement as well. 

Combination resumes should include candidate identification, educational background, and employment history, with a skills section following, which is usually the most effective section.  Education and employment history sections simply list where candidates studied or were employed in reverse chronological order (most recent listed first).  Candidates should carefully research all aspects of these pages before beginning composition to ensure only effective secretarial resumes are produced.

For more information on composing a resume for a secretarial position, please visit the following sites:

• 1-2-3 Resumes
• Best Impression
• JIST Publishing
• MyResumeOnline.org
• Perfect Cover Letters

Let iHireSecretarial help get your resume out into the administration field.  We offer resume fax and email blasting for secretarial candidates to companies in your area for a small fee, or have your cover letter sent out for no charge.