CV keywords

Administrative assistant CV keywords: what to include and where

Administrative assistant postings ask for a wide mix of small tasks. The filter looks for the specific ones: scheduling, travel, invoices, the software suite. A CV that says "general office duties" matches almost nothing.

Keywords for a Administrative assistant CV

Use a word only if it is true for you. If the posting uses a different spelling, use the posting's.

What is specific to this role

This is the role where office software is most often a hard requirement. If the posting says "Microsoft Office", "Google Workspace" or "Outlook", use that exact name, and add the part you use most (for example Excel pivot tables or Outlook calendars) in a bullet.

Five example bullets

Replace everything in [brackets] with your real facts. If you do not have the number, leave it out instead of guessing.

• Managed the calendar of [number] managers in Outlook, and booked travel and meeting rooms for [number] people a month.
• Prepared and sent [number] supplier invoices a month and matched them to purchase orders in [system].
• Took minutes in team meetings and sent them within [time], with a list of actions and owners.
• Set up a shared filing system in [Google Drive or SharePoint], so documents for [process] could be found in seconds.
• Handled confidential documents and personal data following [company or legal] rules.

Where to put them

• Summary: name who you support (a manager, a team, an executive) and the software you use daily.
• Skills: write each program separately (Word, Excel, Outlook) instead of "Office package" alone.
• Experience: start with the task and finish with the benefit, such as "so the team had the agenda one day earlier".
• Languages and typing: if the posting asks for a language level or a typing speed, add them only if you have a test or a real number.

Only the true ones

A keyword you cannot back up will not survive the interview, and the changes CVora proposes only use facts from your own CV. Take the words from this list that describe your work, and leave the rest.

Keywords for other roles

• Data analyst
• Customer service
• Project manager
• Software developer