Resume for Administrative Assistant?

Question

I have my Diploma (Associate's Degree without the general education classes) in Administrative Support. I am currently attending school for a Business Degree. My resume basically consists of cashier work, but I want to get out of that area. I have knowledge and experience from school work in MS Office (except for Access which I've used maybe twice) and can type around 55-60 wpm. The problem is, I have come across a lot of these positions that only require a high school diploma, but 2 or 3 years of experience. My first question is, how do I create a resume that will get attention since my current one isn't working?
My next question is, how does this whole get experience when you don't have experience thing work?
Any useful suggestions would be wonderful.

Answer 1

There is a fairly standard form for detailing information about ourselves, and employers expect us to submit it in a recognizable way. The following sections discuss the possible content and manner of presentation for our resume.

1. Heading. Resumes are usually headed with our name, address and telephone number. This information may either be centered at the top of the page or placed in the top left-hand corner.

2. Career Goal. Our career goal, which follows our personal identification, is one entry that every employer is interested in. We must be specific as we can, listing our immediate goal and not some vague future dream.

3. Job Position Being Applied For. We must specify the position we are applying for. Examples: systems analyst, account executive, securities analyst, etc. This position must be related to our career goal.

4. Education and Training. This major section should state the most important qualifications we can offer for the job we are applying for. If it is work experience, that section should come next. If it is our educational background that is more important, place it first.

In either case, we must tailor our qualifications to fit the job requirements. This does not mean, however, that we are to falsify the information we provide. It simply means that we are to pick out those qualifications that have the most direct relationship to the job for which we are applying. For example, suppose we are applying for the position of market researcher. The person who reads our resume will not be interested in finding out that we had taken courses in baking, orchid raising or canteen operation. They will not also be interested in learning that we have worked as a teller in a bank. But this person will be interested in reading about our experience in research, or if our educational background is in mathematics, statistics, etc, and if we had taken a speed-reading course.

The most common way to describe our education is to list any university, college, or vocational school we have attended with the dates of attendance and any diplomas or certificates we have obtained. We always place our most recent educational experience at the top of the list and work back from there.

If we want to stress our education, we may want to include our major field of study and the names of significant courses, which we have completed. We may also want to list any honors or awards we have received.

A prospective employer is looking for evidence of leadership potential, social poise, and interest in a broad enough range of activities to make us an interesting person. Therefore, we could list our extra-curricular activities in which we had taken part and list down the positions we held in campus or school organizations.

5. Work Experience. There are two acceptable ways of presenting our work background. The most common is to list our jobs in chronological order, with the present or the most recent one heading the list. With such an arrangement, the prospective employer can readily detect our progress or promotions. If we use this format, we should show the following:

a. Position held
b. Name and location of company
c. Date the position was held
d. Achievement in the position
e. Reason for leaving

In addition, we can strengthen our presentation by including the following:

a. Duties (emphasize responsibilities)
b. Name of immediate superior (if the person is still there and might be a good reference)
c. Job title (e.g. systems analyst, field sales manager, etc.)

If on the other hand, our experience is scattered, or we have done a lot of
Volunteer activities, or if our employment history is spotty; a functional resume can turn unrelated activities into a coherent business background. When we use this format, our experience is listed under descriptive categories. In this way, a wide variety of activities--paid or volunteer-- interspersed with inactive periods, can be presented to our advantage.

6. Personal Details. Personal data include gender, age, date and place of birth, race, religion (optional), marital status (including number of children), health, height, weight, interests and hobbies.

7. References. Applicants for a job are usually requested to give the names of at least three persons who can be asked or called to speak about us. The most appropriate persons include present or former employers, teachers, and other professionals. Also acceptable is a character reference whose name or occupation is respected.

If we include references in our resume, we must give each individual's name, title, organization (if any), address and telephone number. If we choose to provide the prospective employer with references at the time of the interview, we make the following notation on our resume: REFERENCES: Will be supplied upon request. In either case, we must ask permission from the person before including his/her name as reference.

THE COMPLETED RESUME

Finally, our completed resume must be concise, well organized, and easy to read. The length should be one page or two pages, at most. After all, we are summarizing our most important qualifications for a particular job, not telling the story of our life.

Appearance, too, is a very important factor to the over-all presentation of our resume. We must be careful not to overcrowd or spread out the information on a page. We should also have our resume carefully typed or printed single-space on 8 1/2" x 11" good quality white bond paper. One, which is handwritten, or full of poorly made corrections will probably not be read at all.

Honesty is a very important factor in a resume. Phony degrees or schools will be discovered. We should not also exaggerate our accomplishments.

Our resume should show progress, advancement and ambition. A good resume must get us at least an interview.

For an in-depth study on resume writing and to give you an idea how it looks please go to these links and type in the search words "How to write a resume." MS Word also has a resume template which you can follow.

http://www.google.com

http://www.yahoo.com

http://www.monster.com/geo/siteselection.asp

www.usajobs.opm.gov

Peace and blessings!

Answer 2

Apply even for the jobs that require experience. I was like you, mostly cashier experience (but no degree or college diploma....just my high school diploma). And like you, I wanted to get out of that and get into a job with some potential, if you will. So I applied for a receptionist position with a homebuilding company. I had no office experience whatsoever, but they hired me anyway. I've only been here for 8 months and just got promoted to admin. assistant. I'll now be providing support for 6 people, and got a good raise too. Remember - I started with NO experience, and it hasn't even been a year yet.

As for the resume, keep it simple! Employers don't want to read through a bunch of fluff. Stick to the facts, present yourself well, and don't lie about stuff! Highlight your expertise and don't add unnecessary information. I actually made mine using a template for Microsoft Word. The design and layout was there, all I had to do was fill in my information.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Answer 3

I temped. Its the best way for you to get yourself out in the work force. I went from cleaning desk to working behind one. When you can see what you wnat to do and at the same time gain experience. The best part of your resume sometimes is your cover letter. Your cover letter introduces the employer to you and your goals. Mine cover letter has all my experience on it, but for you I would put that I am currently in school and work as a cashier and want to gain some office experience. (But dress it up just a little) Call some temp agencies send your resume tell them you want to do Administrative work and let them place you. The best thing with Temp agencies you can come and go as you please. Register with a few, not just one. See whats out there.

Answer 4

About twenty years ago, landing an office job was easy, now of course its much more difficult and competition can SEEM fierce. The main thing that they want to see is that you have some experience in the field. A Bachelors in Business Management vs an Associate with reference letters and years of experience in the field will have the Associate win everytime unless they are determined to get the the Bachelor degree.

Easiest way is to volunteer as an AA somewhere. Hard, thankless work, but so will your job seem as well. Either way, work experience is the key.

Answer 5

I'm in school now trying to switch to a different field with no experience. In my school we have a career services department that helps us with looking for job and building a resume that attracts potential employers. They have deep roots in the businesses around the school also to help get your foot in the door. So check out your school resources first.

Answer 6

Si vamos atrás en el tiempo un poco en lo anteriormente y ahora nos damos cuenta de que este método https://tr.im/xno8L para la esterilidad sí que consigue actuar y si lo probamos nos convencemos. Una amiga mía es medico y tenía una paciente que no podía tener hijos, estaba una muy buena persona y le daba mucha pena mirarla como aguanta así que le ha regalado este libro, podría actuar. Después de un mes, la señora ha vuelto a la consulta y no sabía el modo en cual podía llegaba agradecerle porque el libro que le ha entregado, este libro, fue un fenómeno, se quedó embarazada sinceramente.

Answer 7

'comprehensive knowledge of hipaa regulations' 'demonstrates discretion and respects the privacy of patients according to hipaa regulations'

Answer 8

Here are templates from Microsoft, hope these help.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/results.aspx?qu=admistrative+assistant&av=TPL000