How to build an effective office staff resume?
As a member of the office staff, you perform a large array of administrative tasks without which any organization would fall apart before you can say knife. Besides filing documents, preparing agendas or carrying out bookkeeping, you are busy creating a welcoming office environment.
That is right — companies need you like water. The question now arises, “How to land the job you want?” Well, a surefire way to get hired unsurprisingly starts with an impeccable resume.
Follow these tips on how to build an effective office staff CV, and you will soon be part of a thriving organization.
1. What is the most suitable format for your office staff resume?
The one that catches the eye of a hiring manager and makes them interested in your resume content.
To properly plan your CV, use the following cannot-go-wrong tips, and you will soon be formatting your manager’s agendas.
- Apply a solid resume layout. You may want to opt for a two-column layout, placing the sections such as personal details, skills and extra sections in the left column. This way, your professional profile, work experience and education can feature on the right side. This will maintain your CV organized, and your page count low.
- Remember to use white space. Create enough room between your CV sections, and improve your resume readability and appeal.
- Avoid stylish fonts. Make it simple. Selecting a proper font can come with a headache. Suffer no more. Stylish fonts may easily deflect a hiring manager’s attention from the content. Instead, choose a classic, neatly-looking font, such as Calibri or Cambria.
- Organize your work experience and education sections. Use a reverse-chronological order when describing your roles. Start with the most recent one, introducing your responsibilities and achievements in bulleted lists. This will make your text clear and easy to navigate.
Choose your preferred template and make your resume shine.
2. How to create a compelling professional summary for your office staff CV?
Writing a captivating professional summary keeps you one step ahead of the other job applicants.
To make your office staff professional profile above average, you may as well need to focus on your exceptional skills, achievements and work practices.
Remember to stay relevant, and tailor your professional statement to each job posting. Work your magic and convince the hiring manager that if given any clerical task, you would execute it to the highest standards.
Office staff professional summary example:
"Enthusiastic and dependable professional with 4+ years of experience in executing diverse administrative tasks. Developed office functions manual and mentored new members of the office staff, increasing work productivity by 32%. Skillfully programmed agendas for 5 executive managers. Effectively resolved customer issues, leading to a 12% increase in service rating."
3. What are the best skills to put on your office staff resume?
You have outstanding interpersonal, organizational and time management skills. You are dependable, flexible and always ready to excel in any task.
All this is great, but guess what. So is Sally.
The following tips will guide you on how to build a better-than-Sally’s Office Staff skill set:
- Draft a list of your professional soft and hard skills.
- Go back to the job posting in question and target the requirements that match the skills in your draft.
- Mention these competencies at the top of the list.
- Include the rest of your skills, making sure they are relevant to the job.
- Add proficiency levels whenever appropriate.
Best soft skills to put on your office staff resume
- Outstanding Spoken and Written Communication
- Effective Organization
- Problem Solving
- Customer Service
- Attention to Detail
- Professionalism
- Multitasking
- Prioritization
- Flexibility
- Ability to Work Well Under Pressure
- Dedication
Best office staff hard skills for your CV:
- MS Office Suite (Superior Proficiency)
- QuickBooks (Advanced Proficiency)
- Schedule Management (Superior Proficiency)
- Data Entry
- Record Keeping and Maintenance
- Inventory and Supply Management
- Office Administration
- Multi Line Phone Systems
- Shipping
- Billing
4. How to describe your office staff work experience?
Make the hiring manager regret having wasted their time on reading Sally’s resume. Portray your most relevant work experience, responsibilities and achievements in a professional and clear manner.
Use the keywords from the job posting, and link them with your unique accomplishments. Ace in the hole? – Quantify them!
Office staff work experience example
Marknight
Office Assistant
2017 – 2021
- Demonstrated aptitude to deliver significant support for all the members of the office staff, including executing projects in favor of productive business operations.
- Administered deposits, account registry and payroll on a monthly basis.
- Developed office functions manual and mentored new members of the office staff, increasing work productivity by 32%.
- Skillfully programmed agendas for 5 executive managers.
- Effectively resolved customer issues, leading to a 12% increase in service rating.
5. How to leverage your education section?
Listing education is easy, right? – Your college name, degree and years in school. Done.
However, what if Sally has the same bachelor’s degree as you do? Well, in that case, you should take advantage of mentioning your relevant coursework, achievements or areas of interest.
How to list education on your office staff resume
Bredson High School
2013 - 2017
- Excelled in English Language and Literature
- Area of Interest: Computer Science
- Voted Vice President of the Debate Team
- Positive Attitude Award recipient
6. What are the most adequate additional sections to include in your office staff resume?
They may be called "additional" or "extra", but these sections can be quite decisive, especially when taking into account a high volume of competitive resumes.
Volunteering at the Tech Fair, for instance, may convey how you embrace technology, and participating in the Be a Better Leader conference speaks for itself.
Volunteering Activities
- Organizational Support – Tech Fair 2019
Conferences
- Be a Better Leader International Online Conference 2019