What Hiring Managers Really Want to See on an Assistant’s Resume

Writing a resume as an assistant can feel like trying to make vanilla ice cream sound exciting. You’ve done the same core things at every job: calendar management, travel, email, expenses, events. If you’ve been in the field long enough, your resume starts to sound like a copy-paste of itself.

But the truth is, the administrative fundamentals are the baseline of your job, not the selling point. Everyone who applies for an admin job can manage a calendar. What sets you apart is how you did it, what you improved, and how it impacted the executive or organization you supported.

You’re not writing for other assistants. You’re writing for the people you’ll support, and they want to see outcomes, not tasks.  They want to see how you made someone’s life easier, the team stronger, or the company better. 

So let’s talk about how to write a resume that doesn’t just describe what you did, but shows the difference you made.

Show, Don’t List

If you’ve supported multiple executives across your career, many of your tasks will overlap. That’s normal. But avoid repeating the same list of duties over and over under each role. It’s about what you did differently in each job, not about how many calendars you’ve managed

Maybe one role required handling travel across five time zones. Another might have involved running quarterly board meetings or organizing complex offsites. Focus on what made that role unique and how you added value beyond the basics.

Add bullets that highlight those unique contributions:

• Managed board logistics, ensuring seamless quarterly meetings and on-time delivery of all board materials.

• Launched and wrote the company newsletter, enhancing engagement and promoting transparency company-wide.

• Partnered with the CEO’s speaking team to coordinate appearances and social media presence.

If you need to include the fundamentals, consolidate them at the end of your most recent role in a single bullet:

• Administrative Fundamentals: Email, Calendar, Travel, Event Planning, and Expenses.

That one line covers the essentials. Now the rest of your resume can focus on what sets you apart.

Focus on Results, Not Responsibilities

Think about this difference:

“Coordinated and managed a high volume of meetings”

vs.

“Maintained a complex global calendar to ensure the executive never missed a meeting and arrived prepared for every call.”

One tells me what you did. The other shows me why it mattered.

Executives reading your resume don’t automatically know the weight of what you do. You have to connect the dots. Show them the result of your work, not just the action.

Did your systems make someone more productive? Did your travel planning save money or time? Did you streamline a process that reduced headaches across the organization? That’s what gets noticed.

Start your bullet points with strong action verbs like implemented, improved, cultivated, modernized, upgraded, and optimized, then end with the impact. Think in terms of before and after. What was happening when you arrived, and what was better because of you?

Quantify Your Achievements

Whenever you can, include measurable data to demonstrate your accomplishments.  Executives are used to seeing numbers during a review or salary negotiation, for better or for worse.  Numbers make your work real. 

For example:

• Executed expense reports for 40+ employees with 100% accuracy and zero missed reimbursements.

• Negotiated vendor contracts that saved the company $25K annually.

• Streamlined meeting cadence, reducing scheduling conflicts by 30%.

Those numbers help hiring managers visualize your value. Even if your role wasn’t revenue-generating, you still influenced efficiency, accuracy, and morale, all of which have measurable outcomes.

And if you don’t have hard numbers? Use context. “Supported a 50-person team” or “Handled daily communication across three time zones” shows scale and complexity.

Keep It Clean and Easy to Read

Your resume should be easy to skim. Avoid walls of text or long paragraphs. Use clear sections, consistent formatting, and bullet points that start with action verbs.

Skip fancy fonts, colors, or graphics unless you’re applying for a creative position. A clean, professional layout is timeless and signals that you understand clarity and precision—two traits every great assistant needs.

News alert: if you’re over the age of 35, it’s quite possible that you’ve had multiple jobs at multiple companies.  That doesn’t fit on one page.  AND THAT’S FINE!

And please, triple-check spelling and grammar. There is really no reason for spelling errors these days, but yet, every fifth resume I see has one or nine. None of those candidates get the interview. Attention to detail starts here.

The Bottom Line

Your resume is your story of impact. It’s proof that you make things happen.  

The fundamentals like email, calendar, travel, events, and expenses get your foot in the door. But the way you elevate those basics, streamline chaos, and make your executive’s world run better is what gets you hired.

And remember, your resume is just the handshake. It opens the door. Your interviews, energy, and professionalism keep you in the room.

Need help revamping your resume?

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