If you’re keen to land that top job as a Personal Assistant, your resume needs to shine brighter than the rest.
That’s why we’ve put together this nifty guide, complete with tips to make your skills and experience stand out.
Have a squiz at our Personal Assistant resume example below to get your own application into tip-top shape!
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Personal Assistant Resume Example
The example Personal Assistant resume above demonstrates the ideal format and content your resume should have.
Its professional and clean layout is designed for optimal readability by busy hiring managers.
Follow our comprehensive guide to write your own effective Personal Assistant resume.
Personal Assistant resume structure & format
Resume structure
If you want to bag job interviews, you need to give recruiters the info they want.
These are the key sections you need to include in your resume structure:
- Contact details: Your name and how to get in touch with you.
- Resume summary: A brief summary of your skills and experience – designed to grab recruiters’ attention.
- Core skills: A bullet pointed list of your most relevant Personal Assistant skills.
- Work experience: Your recent job history in reverse chronological order.
- Education: A list of your education and qualifications.
- Additional info (optional): Any other information that could sway a hiring decision in your favour (like hobbies and interests).
How to format your Personal Assistant resume
The layout of your resume is crucial in making it appealing and accessible to hiring managers.
Keep these key points in mind when arranging your resume format.
- Resume length: Keep your resume short and sweet, ideally around 1 to 2 pages, as recruiters have loads to get through daily and not much time to read each one.
- Font & colour scheme: Choose a clear and easy-to-read font, steering clear of overly decorative ones that could hinder readability. Stick with a classic black-text-on-white-background for the body of the resume, but don’t shy away from adding a hint of colour elsewhere to make your resume stand out.
- Page layout: Divide the page into clearly visible sections using bold headings or borders, so that readers can quickly pinpoint the information they want.
- Break text up: Make use of bullet points and short paragraphs to breakup text, simplifying the info for busy recruiters to digest.
- Photos: Photos aren’t necessary in Australia, but if you want, you can include a small headshot at the top.
Quick tip: Achieving a professional look for your resume can be difficult and time-consuming. If you want to create an attractive resume quickly, try our Resume Builder and use one of our eye-catching professional resume templates.
Contact Details
Employers need to know who you are, and how to contact you – so whilst your contact details section is fairly simple, it’s important to get it right.
Add these 4 essential details to the top of your resume, trying not to take up too much space:
- Your name and a professional title: (e.g. Finance Assistant or Account Manager) tailor the title to match your target jobs.
- Email address: Ensure that it look professional (e.g. Jade-gowers@gmail.com) and don’t use an old one with your school nickname in like jazzyjade69@gmail.com
- Phone number: Ideally your mobile so that you can be easily reached. Don’t forget to triple check the number is correct!
- Location: Add the general location of where you are looking to work (e.g. Melbourne, Adelaide)
You can also add some of the following details optionally.
- Webpage links: you can link out to a relevant social profile such as LinkedIn or even a portfolio. Make sure anything you link to is high-quality and kept up-to-date.
- Photograph: Photographs aren’t normally required but employers in creative industries sometimes like to see them. If you decide to add, make sure that you look professional and don’t take up too much space on the page with it.
You do not need to add personal details such as your date of birth, full address, or gender. These details aren’t needed to make a hiring decision and will waste space on your resume.
Personal Assistant Resume Summary
Your resume summary is a short introductory paragraph at the top of the page, designed to give recruiters a high-level overview of your suitability.
If you want to hook recruiters attention and encourage them to read more of your resume, do the following:
- Keep it short: Aim for a concise summary of 3 to 5 sentences, ensuring it can be quickly scanned. You can elaborate on details later, in the work experience section.
- Tailor to target jobs: Fill your summary with as many keywords from the job adverts you are targeting as possible. This will ensure recruiters instantly see your suitability.
- Avoid using cliches: Resist the temptation to describe yourself as a “self-starter” or a “results-driven professional” – these clichés offer little insight into your actual capabilities.
Personal Assistant resume summary example
What to include in your Personal Assistant resume summary
- Summary of your experience: Provide a summary of your work history, including the types of roles you’ve held, the companies you’ve worked for, and the extent of your experience.
- Relevant skills: Tell employers you have the right skills for Personal Assistant roles by detailing your most relevant skills for the job.
- Qualifications: Remember to mention any qualifications applicable to Personal Assistant jobs, showcasing your suitability for the role.
- Benefits of hiring you: Highlight the benefits you can bring to the employer, whether it’s in terms of cost reduction, efficiency improvements, or revenue generation for the company.
Quick tip: Choose from hundreds of pre-written summaries across all industries, and add one to your resume with one-click in our Resume Builder. All written by recruitment experts and easily tailored to suit your unique skillset and style.
Core skills section
To catch the eye of recruiters, include a core skills section on your resume.
This should be a bullet-pointed list showcasing your most sought-after skills specific to Personal Assistant roles.
Limit each skill to four words to ensure they stand out clearly to busy hiring managers.
Skills for your Personal Assistant resume
Diary Management – Scheduling appointments, organising meetings, and ensuring the personal agenda is efficiently maintained without conflicts.
Travel Arrangements – Coordinating domestic and international travel plans, including flights, accommodations, and itineraries, while anticipating any visa requirements.
Document Preparation – Drafting correspondence, reports, presentations, and other documents, ensuring they adhere to company standards and are prepared in a timely manner.
Technology Proficiency – Operating a range of office software, including Microsoft Office Suite, email platforms, and calendar applications, to support daily tasks and communication.
Meeting Coordination – Organising and facilitating meetings, including setting agendas, taking minutes, and arranging catering or technical equipment as needed.
Research Abilities – Conducting research on various topics to support decision-making and project development, ensuring accurate and relevant information is provided.
Expense Management – Processing expense claims, tracking personal finances, and managing petty cash to ensure accurate and responsible handling of funds.
Database Management – Maintaining and updating contact lists, client databases, and other records to ensure information is current and organised.
Project Coordination – Overseeing small projects or elements of larger projects, ensuring tasks are completed on time and within scope.
Confidentiality Maintenance – Handling sensitive information with discretion and integrity, respecting privacy and ensuring confidentiality is upheld at all times.
Quick tip: Our Resume Builder contains thousands of in-demand skills for every profession that can be added to your resume in seconds – saving you time and greatly improving your chances of landing job interviews and getting hired.
Work experience section
Your work experience section is your chance to show employers what value you can bring to them.
List your previous jobs in reverse chronological order, focusing on your last 3-5 years of experience.
Structuring your jobs
To help recruiters understand your past roles, organise each position in the following manner.
Outline
Start with a 1 to 2 line outline of the job, including what the employer does, where you sit within the organisation, and the overall goal of the job.
Key responsibilities
List 5-8 bullet points detailing your main responsibilities within the job, highlighting important skills, knowledge and tools that you use.
Keep each point brief and show who you interact with, and how you contribute to the organisation.
Key achievements
Conclude each job description by detailing 1-3 major achievements that significantly benefited the employer, such as cost reductions or early project completions.
Aim to quantify these achievements with specific data to demonstrate their impact.
Example job for Personal Assistant resume
Outline
Provide vital support to the Vice-Chancellor, managing complex schedules, coordinating high-profile events, and serving as a liaison between departments.
Key Responsibilities
- Oversee the Vice-Chancellor’s calendar, ensuring efficient time management and meeting prioritisation.
- Coordinate university events, including faculty meetings, student orientations, and official university ceremonies.
- Prepare documentation, presentations, and correspondence for the Vice-Chancellor’s office.
- Facilitate communication between the Vice-Chancellor and the university’s various departments.
Quick tip: Create impressive job descriptions easily in our Resume Builder by adding pre-written job phrases for every industry and career stage.
Education section
Include your education near the bottom of your resume.
List your academic qualifications in bullet points, focusing on those most applicable to Personal Assistant positions.
If you possess considerable experience, you can keep this brief, however if you have less experience you should provide detailed insights into how your education has prepared you for the position.
This section can include:
- University degrees
- Industry specific qualifications for Personal Assistant jobs
- Vocational education and training (VET) diplomas
- Senior Secondary Certificate of Education (SSCE)
Additional information (optional)
Consider placing an additional info section at the bottom of your resume for extracurricular details that might make you more attractive to employers.
This section can showcase hobbies, awards, publications, or a catalogue of technical skills.
Ensure anything you list here is relevant to your job or notably remarkable.
Refrain from mentioning generic hobbies such as watching TV or hanging out with friends, as they do not enhance your professional profile.
Constructing a compelling Personal Assistant resume requires effort, but by following the steps provided, you can assemble a resume that prompts replies from recruiters and generates multiple interviews.
Be sure to revise your resume carefully upon completion and tailor it for each application to confirm your alignment with the job requirements.
Good luck with your job search!