Personal Assistant Resume Writing, Skills and Objectives

Personal assistant resume

Since the late 20th century, employment has taken an indispensable role in human lives. Every being on this earth yearns to have a good income or at least bring food to the table, for feeding his family. If you are person who is searching for the Personal Assistant resume this article will help you to know the information about this.

Personal Assistant Resume

At the same time, earning can be as easy as a piece of cake, if skills are used in the right manner. Now, every office thriving in the states of the USA requires a Personal Assistant(PA). An important element; the strength of a CEO, or the right hand if to be precise.
Now, if you’re aspiring to be one, here I have got some go-to Personal Assistant resume writing tips. It will surely help you in standing out amongst the crowd. Also, a cherry on the cake is for being one; you don’t need a high qualified degree. A high school diploma will work as well. You can either create your website as a personal brand or a piece of nice one-page information will do. Here’s a perfect site where you can buy the template and create your portfolio otherwise you can also do it on Wix.

The job of a Personal Assistant carries out a lot of work right from managing day-to-day work, scheduling emails, and a lot. A Personal Assistant resume should highlight your office managerial skills, should show that you’re detail-oriented and a good communicator.

  • Personal assistants should be well versed with high-level admin support along with conducting research, 
  • preparing statistical reports, 
  • scheduling meetings, and other admin tasks. 
  • A Personal Assistant should be skilled in email and calendar management as well. 

Many communication, technical, and organizational skills are expected to be honed by someone who wants to apply for a personal assistant position. Personal assistants are also expected to train the clerical staff. Honing the skills plays a crucial role in bagging a good position. It can give you the added benefit of quoting a price from your end.

Organizational skills 

This job position offers professional advancements to a great level. Assistants are expected to multitask. They are given multiple tasks out of which they have to prioritize so that they meet deadlines. Apart from that, assistants have to keep track of the calendar’s activities along with planning meetings and conferences. Assistants are gatekeepers to act as a hawk, stay alert with all of the activities going on in the office, to be prepared for any mishaps. 

Personal assistants are expected to keep up with expectations, increase their strategic thinking ability by strengthening their analytical skills. 

Having a strong foundation in analytics can help us become critical thinkers and help us in handling any kind of unforeseen social scenario or in making decisions. For that assistant must keep practicing with hypothetical actions. They should question reports, surveys for outlining a significant conclusion to any matter. 

Time management

Master your time. Getting organized and taking control of our time will save us from the last-minute anxiety for any unplanned meetings/conferences. We will be able to deal with it confidently, preventing anxiety from messing with our decisions. Once we are disciplined, interruptions will seem like a minor annoyance.

Plan

Planning is the key to achieving success. Always plan your tasks. This way, you’re automatically prepared for the uncertainty as well. Developing a thoughtful plan will help us in better organizing each day. So, proactiveness is highly important. 

Don’t just react; prepare for every situation. This can save you from the time consumed in guesswork and can help in giving you insights on how to do the work effectively.

Interruptions

Avoid unnecessary interruptions. Shove your phone in the bag and get your eyes and mind on the desk as distractions steal a valuable amount of your time. Avoid unnecessary meetings, minimize personal conversations.

Good negotiation skills

One should measure a situation from both ends in a way that both parties can benefit. 

Networking

Assistants go a step further in their professional development when they collaborate with their counterparts. It helps in enhancing the goodwill of the company along with accomplishing goals for the company in the most effective way. PAs help with indulging in non-profit work becomes the guardian while suggesting any philanthropic work to create a positive brand image of the company.

There are many ways to strengthen the network within the community. Leveraging social media handles for a company, creating content in a blog are some of them. Personal assistants liaise with stakeholders, so disseminating and absorbing communication and information is a necessity.

Interpersonal skills

Easily interacting with a range of people and having complete knowledge of the manager’s personal life helps the PA to support in a range of situations. 

Other skills include multitasking admin support, diary scheduler and memorizer, answering phone calls, dealing with scheduling, meetings, they must master to deal with competing priorities. 

Attentive to detail

Right from arranging accommodation, booking plane tickets while making travel arrangements, PAs should be able to plan everything in minute detail. PAs are the main pillars of business support. Prioritize well, get to know your business, and manage inside and out; that way, it will help immensely in planning your daily activities catering to the convenience of the manager. Flexibility and adaptability, proactive, readiness in taking any task, diplomacy are needed skills to thrive in a stressful environment.

Presence of mind 

It becomes impossible at times, overwhelming to thrive in chaos. You feel directionless, anxious; emotional burnout starts to roll in. At times like this, it is so very important to not cave in and just hold yourself up and get going. At the same time, all this can come up with discipline practiced on a day-to-day basis. Make the most of your prime time. 

Technical skills

PAs should be well versed with burgeoning tech tools. As that assures productivity and you’re a step ahead sliding in the list of the shortlisted applicants for your position. These tools are mostly calendar apps, doc. Management tools, scheduling, etc. The motive is to save time and stay organized. Calendly, Expensify, Lola.com are some of the tools. Skilled PAs rely on toolkits that enable them to master the art of multitasking.

Some of the tools that are personal assistants must gain knowledge in this fast-paced world. There are ample free tools in the market available today. Learn what best suits your alley, what is required by the company you want to work for. Get skilled in it and get going. 

United States’ Bureau of Labour Statistics(BLS) reports that the average median income in 2020 for secretaries and admin assistants is 40,990. The BLS also projects that there will be a 7% decline in job growth for secretaries from 2020-2030. One reason could be the technological advancements streamlining every administrative task. However, the report also says about 324,300 openings for assistants are projected every year. Zippia lists out some of the best states for Personal Assistants, out of which Ohio comes first with 554 job openings with an average annual salary of $43,277, followed by New Jersey with 269 job openings, annual salary being $52,437, followed by Pennsylvania, North Dakota, and Connecticut.

Now, you can start with a small introduction about yourself with a nice professional close-up photo. Having optimized social media profiles and filtering them helps to reach out to potential clients. Optimizing the social media handles shows your experience or knowledge of the social media world and can help in generating leads, be it inbound/outbound.

Writing Guide

The website shows an apt template for a personal assistant resume. 

Surely there are hundreds of resumes to look out for before you create the top-notch resume for a personal assistant position. Statistically, it will take about 6 seconds to get the employer’s attention.

Recruiters will just skim through your resume and look for the most important information about your career. Traditionally resume started from educational achievements, and then the experience was the last thing to be noticed. Now the structure and style of resume writing have changed considerably. The reverse chronological resume format is frequently used nowadays. Also, go for distinct legible fonts. (Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, or Open Sans, Times New Roman are some of them.) Make sure your resume has enough white space and big headings to be visibly clear before the recruiter. This is familiar for the recruiters to know what they are looking for. 

Recruiters rely on the top third part of your Personal Assistant resume, as shown by research. So after the contact information, 

We have to make the most of it, right under your contact info. Put out your resume objective, a brief and succinct summary explaining why you’re the best fit for the job personal assistant.

Resume Summary

an outline of your career, highlighting your best achievements. If you’re a professional and have got relevant experience, you can go for this—a short version of PA bio.

Resume objective

It discusses what you’ve learned so far and shows how you’d fit in: if you’re entry-level PA with little experience, go for the resume objective.

Always go for what you’ve to offer rather than what you want out of this job.

 Objective

A resume objective shows your career goals, demonstrates your problem-solving skills, also how you can benefit from the employer. It is concise and crisp, placed at the top of your resume, below your contact information.

Career objective is what highlights the employer’s attention. You can also list out the qualifications relevant to the job description/ position. You can highlight your value, strengths, capture the attention, cater to the needs of the employer, tailor each objective, mention the qualification that is needed, focus on what you can offer.

Here are some of the objective resume examples

I’m looking for a career with XYZ as a personal assistant that will allow me to put my broad IT terminology knowledge and bachelor’s degree to good use.

An individual with outstanding problem-solving and judgment skills is interested in the role of Personal Assistant, intending to put my significant administrative support expertise to good use. With experience in data management, presentations, and report writing. A Personal assistant with extensive experience providing administrative support to managers, hoping to be hired as a Personal Assistant at XYZ company. They are bringing great multitasking abilities, organizational skills, the capacity to handle several inquiries and calls in a professional and calm manner, and advanced computing skills to the table. With four years of experience, a personal assistant who is well organized and skilled at performing administrative and executive support tasks quickly and effectively. 

Multitasking self-starter with good prioritization skills and strong follow-through skills. I am highly interested in the position of Personal Assistant, where using my secretarial and copywriting skills along with an added four years of administrative experience, I would be an asset to the team. 

An active individual seeking a position as a Personal Assistant at ABC Corp., where she will be able to put her enhanced secretarial skills, great interpersonal skills, and three years of executive assistant experience to good use.

It is an individual who is extremely careful and organized, with outstanding time management abilities and professionalism in presentation. Filing, producing expense reports, organizing travel arrangements, and scheduling are among the administrative support jobs that I excel at. Desire to work as a Personal Assistant in an environment where excellent executive support services are valued.

A talented candidate with sound judgment, strong written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to interact positively and professionally with a variety of personalities is looking for a Personal Assistant position. Proficient in administrative and data entry abilities, along with gaining expertise in MS Office having three years of experience as a Personal Assistant. Excellent writer with a track record of scheduling and prioritizing appointments, managing ad-hoc assignments, and making travel arrangements. I’m interested in the Personal Assistant position at XYZ, and I have strong project management and MS Office abilities.

Interested in the Personal Assistant position at ABC Corp.,. An experienced candidate seeking to enhance the expertise of the IT systems and use my administrative skills in suggesting exemplar administerial support tasks. Having experience of three years in helping executives and workers, I am a distinctly organized Personal Assistant. I’d love to work with ABC Corp.,, where I could use my talents and experience to help with management functions.

 Holds an interest in the job profile of a Personal Assistant at XYZ company. Providing exceptional service in the area of administrative functions. Working in a high-influx environment is a passion of mine, to provide continual assistance and facilitation to executive and managerial units.

Personal Assistant looking for a job at ABC Developers who is dependable and results-oriented. 6+ years of practical expertise in diary management, correspondence management, and inter-company negotiations. Particularly good at handling the company’s main accounts.

Personal Assistant with more than 8 years of expertise prioritizing duties and assignments according to executive preferences. Currently looking for a position at ABC where I can use my experience providing executive support to help the firm accomplish its goals.

Looking for a position at ABC Corp.Co. A highly qualified Personal Assistant with 8+ years of experience in providing complex administrative, clerical support to administrators. Dedicated to aiding management employees in achieving their objectives by offering exceptional support in all areas.

If you’re one with no experience, then you can include: 

Strong desire to work at ABC as a Personal Assistant, where my clerical, communication, and customer service abilities will be put to good use in assisting the managers and executives.

Customer service-oriented and a conscientious individual seeking job as a personal assistant. Bringing expertise in executive office help, account management, and budget monitoring.

Work experience in reverse-chronological order

While job descriptions in a Personal Assistant resume can all be maintaining the calendar management, management expert. If your resume has to stand out it should contain the following: 

  • Start with your current or most recent job. 
  • Follow it with previous positions you held in your earlier jobs.
  • Under each position, describe your duties more so your achievements.
  • Always quantify the achievements. If you helped a team in pinpointing the error, exactly describe the error, the project that you worked upon, to whom the project catered.

Add a key achievement section where you highlight the best part. 

List relevant responsibilities, not every task. Always use action verbs; they work better, supported, managed, handled, instead of ‘was responsible for handling, managing tasks.’

For a pre-school Personal Assistant, it would be : 

  • Managed to turn in around 50% enrollments than the previous years. 
  • Leveraged the social media followers and managed to increase the follower count by 80%. 

Key achievement

Published a book on child development within four months. 

Education

If you have little work experience or are a fresher, it is advisable to put the education section before the experience section, where you can highlight your coursework, favorite fields of study, academic achievements, extracurricular activities

Skills

While putting up the skill, don’t just put any skills. Relevance is key. Highlight those which are expected of you in a particular job description. Find out which skills you possess out of the ones mentioned and lay it out on the resume. Show the level of proficiency you have acquired in the skills with evidence. 

For example:

Personal assistants of different kinds 

A medical secretary would write:  

  • Social media management: updated social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) with enriching content regularly; increased Instagram followers base from 8.000 to 12.000 in 6 months.
  • Held 100+ social media campaigns which generated 50% leads
  • Medical emergencies: conducted in-depth research of local and national hospitals, cooperated with 50+ hospitals for arranging donors, and collaborated with 100+ investors for arranging funds.

Highlight your soft and hard skills. Soft skills are most sought after by recruiters as a study by Harvard found that the modern economy will increasingly reward those candidates who have strong social skills. Employers are generally looking to pay emotionally intelligent individuals with technical skills.

Miscalleneuous Sections 

You can glam up your resume by taking masterclasses or showing awards, recognitions, participation in conferences, philanthropy work, blogging, influencing. These extra quirky sections can make a major difference in bagging the ideal job. Even if you don’t have any, you can still benefit from a volunteer experience, hobbies, interests, and academic achievements. 

Cover letters increase the likelihood of getting the job. In a cover letter, you may mention how your skill set will fit the company and how the company can benefit from hiring you. Show recommendations from previous clients, how your skills catered to your previous company in achieving the target. Having skills showing quantifiable results is a bonus. Recruiters actually won’t open the resumes if no cover letter is attached. 

  • Cover letters are like those banner ads for sales that entice the customers to hop on the sale day. 
  • Cover letters tell a story; stories are dear to human beings more than the raw facts. 
  • Cover letters will also give you an edge over other candidates. 
Highlighting skills on a resume cover letter

To highlight skills on a cover letter, we need to consider how skills match up to the job description. Write a short introduction followed by the required skills mentioned in the job position. You can also crosscheck the background of the company and come up with your solutions if you come across loopholes, hence mentioning your skillset at the same time. 

Do follow up with an email/phone call after you have mailed your application. 

Remember to personalize every resume to match the job descriptions. 

  • Don’t forget to add a personal assistant resume objective at the top. 
  • In the experience section, concentrate on highlighting the achievements rather than listing out your duties. 
  • If you have skills, prove it with valid data. 
  • Have optimized social media handles

That’s another section that showcases your side and gives a whole picture of your personality to the recruiter.

Kudos! If you’ve reached this stage. Here, when an interviewer asks you regarding your experience along with your professional strengths, just grab the opportunity. Try to answer backing it with a specific skill and how the skill helped you perform excellently, fulfill the objectives in your previous organization. 

Personal Assistant Resume Writing, Skills and Objectives

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