
Parts of a Cover Letter & How to Structure its Components
Do the parts of a cover letter have you in the dark? This guide will make the cover letter structure as clear as day.
You work the phone and meet and greet so clients feel respected and important. Your next trick? Prove it to employers with your professional business administration resume.
Watch out! Your business administration resume can’t be Dunder-Mifflin-level. Office and business admin jobs are dropping by 26,000 every year. More office-less jobs mean less elbow room for the Pams and Johnnys of the world. Your resume for business administration jobs must sparkle.
To go from good to great, put the right business achievements in your bullet points. Hint—they’ll line up with the job duties like an A9 in a photocopy tray. Do this one thing right and HR managers will pick your resume from the stack and dial your number fast.
You’ve got this!
You’re about to see a business administration resume example you can change to fit any business administration position. You’ll also get easy steps to write a resume for business administration jobs that’ll land 10x more interviews than any other.
Want to save time and have your resume ready in 5 minutes? Try our resume builder. It’s fast and easy to use. Plus, you’ll get ready-made content to add with one click. See 20+ resume templates and create your resume here.
Sample resume made with our builder—See more resume examples here.
Need a special kind of business resume? See these guides:
Here’s a business administration resume example made with our builder.
Joe Webster
Administrative Assistant
907-867-3258
joezwebster@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/joezwebster
twitter.com/joezwebster
Goal-oriented administrative assistant with 4+ years of experience creating reports and maintaining confidentiality. Seeking to supply thorough and organized administrative support to Invest Arrowhead Inc. At Bastion Fund Inc., helped reduced labor cost 25% by facilitating the introduction of project management software.
Experience
Administrative Assistant
Bastion Fund Inc
July 2017 to Jan 2020
Key Qualifications & Responsibilities
Key Achievement:
Administrative Assistant
Citadel Repay
Aug 2015 to Jun 2017
Human Resources Intern
Credible Trade Inc
May 2014 to July 2015
Education
Bachelor of Science in Economics
Fordham University
2010-2014
Skills
Member, Looking Forward Business Administration Association
Certifications
Here’s how to write a business administration resume step-by-step.
Why does format matter in a business administration resume? Well—does it matter in the written work you’ll do after they hire you? If so, they’ll judge you on the layout of your resume. Your format, line-spacing, spelling, and font and margin choices are a sample of your future work.
So—
Here’s how to format a business administration resume template:
Include these resume parts:
Nobody likes to read a wall of words. Make your resume 30%+ white space for readability.
When does the combination format work best? See our guide: How to Pick the Best Resume Format
Experience on a business administration resume is not so simple. Yes, you should list your jobs and duties, but that alone won’t get you hired. The other candidates have had business and office jobs, too. You have to show that yours fits like a tailored Brooks Brothers suit into the job.
See these business administration resume samples:
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Experience
Administrative Assistant Bastion Fund Inc July 2017 to Jan 2020 Key Qualifications & Responsibilities
Key Achievement:
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Wrong |
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Those are worlds apart.
If you write your work experience section with accomplishments like in example #1, employers will stampede to your inbox. But example #2 is bland as paste.
For an entry-level business administration’s resume, find your achievements in non-business administration jobs. Were you a waitress and raised customer satisfaction scores 10% as part of a team? That shows teamwork skills. Or maybe you were an HR intern and ran a database of 250 leads.
See these entry-level business administration resume examples:
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Human Resources Intern Credible Trade Inc May 2014 to July 2015
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Wrong |
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Why does that second sample fail? Because it’s generic. Employers can’t tell if you were more Dwight Schrute or more Jim Halpert. But the first sample shows that even though you’re new, you still have business wins to point to. Be like sample #2. It proves transferable skills.
Pro Tip: There are 26,000 fewer business administration jobs each year. The solution? Look for remote jobs in business administration. You’ll find lots more opportunities.
When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.
When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.
If you have a PhD or an associate degree, will it make a difference in a business administration resume? Nope. They don’t care if you have a lot of education on a resume or a little. What matters is the intensity you brought to it. Show it with few AT&T-worthy school accomplishments.
See this business administration resume example:
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Education Bachelor of Science in Economics Fordham University 2010-2014
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That’s quick, but it shows you weren’t out back the whole time smoking cigarettes. You care about finance. And you honed your business administration skills as treasurer of an association. Which education section stands out more? One that shows key skills like that? Or one that just lists a degree?
Pro Tip: Don’t overuse bullet points. Your resume design should have enough variety to make employers want to read it. Add other text so it doesn’t look like a long laundry list.
Choosing the right skills is everything in a business administration resume. You might list Microsoft Office, but the business uses Google Drive. Or you might list record keeping, but the firm has an automated data storage system. How can you know which skills will get you hired? They’re in the job ad.
So—
Start with this list of skills for business administration resumes:
But—
Here’s how to choose the best business administration skills:
Do that, and your resume will be music to the HR team’s ears.
See this business administration resume example:
Say the firm asks for budgeting, customer service, and correspondence preparation.
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Like a glove.
Business administration skills on a resume like that just work. They’re the right skills, and you didn’t say “handled” or “responsible for.” You made your case with resume action words. Plus, you added numbers to convince the hiring team.
Which soft skill dominates the hiring field? See our guide: +30 Best Examples of What Skills to Put on a Resume
You can’t just stop at education in a business administration resume. Why not? You might have a few work achievements just by getting lucky. Show you’re not a one-hit-wonder with a few outside-of-work accomplishments. You can add an MS Office certificate or volunteer work.
Choose from:
Certifications won’t beat experience. But—among two entry-level candidates, a certification can win out. Consider these:
Did you make pasta in a soup kitchen or swing a hammer for Habitat For Humanity? Those look great on business administration resumes. They show organizational and teamwork skills.
Don’t list languages on your resume for business administration jobs unless the clients or employees speak it too. How can you find out? With informational interview questions.
Associations like CABA and ASAP can help you find work faster. They supersize your career networking. But they also show you care about the business administration world.
Have you attended cons like Admin Bash or the Boundless? One job-seeker we spoke with said speaking at a conference was the one thing everyone asked about in interviews.
Were you employee of the month? Did you win a regional award? Awards are cold, hard proof you’re a solid biz admin.
See these business administration resume samples:
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Member, Looking Forward Business Administration Association
Certifications
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Wrong |
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No contest.
Pro Tip: How long should your resume be for business administration jobs? Write a one-page resume to make sure they don’t skip the best parts of your application.
You made it! Now it’s time to write your business administration resume summary or objective. You’re writing it last, so you’ll have plenty of great stuff to pick from. Do it wrong, and the hiring team could skip your resume. Do it right, and they’ll read it like a new release of Good to Great.
Here’s how to write a career summary:
See these career summary examples:
Right |
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Goal-oriented administrative assistant with 4+ years of experience creating reports and maintaining confidentiality. Seeking to supply thorough and organized administrative support to Invest Arrowhead Inc. At Bastion Fund Inc., helped reduced labor cost 25% by facilitating the introduction of project management software. |
Wrong |
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Results-driven administrative assistant with extensive experience assembling facility reports efficiently and maintaining confidentiality for top brands. A highly determined individual with excellent customer service skills. Dedicated team member with high-level organizational skills. |
Wow.
The last of those business administration resume samples phones it in. All those resume adjectives mean nothing. It’s like shopping for an office products supplier and reading, “We offer great products at great prices.” Yes, but what are your great products, and how much do they cost?
In an entry-level business administration resume, you need a career objective. Job-seekers used to talk about their goals in those. But you can’t do that today. Show value, or you’ll make a one-way trip to the recycle bin. Dig up a business achievement from school or from past jobs.
See these examples:
right |
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Supportive administrative assistant with skills in QuickBooks and written communication. Seeking to improve administrative support for Citadel Repay. As HR intern at Credible Trade Inc., used computer skills and interpersonal skills to develop a sales database of 250+ qualified leads. |
Wrong |
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Entry-level administrative assistant with high-end knowledge of Microsoft Office and customer relations. Skilled in providing exceptional support for office and executive staff. Highly proactive individual with excellent communication skills who can solve problems and write reports. |
Yoicks. You won’t get hired with the bad resume example. It says you can do everything, but it feels salesy. But that first one lists your skills and your goal to help the company. It also shows a key research achievement the manager will love.
Pro Tip: Internship experience on a resume can get you hired. If it’s in the same field as the job you want, list it as experience. It’s the most influential factor when employers choose between two entry-level candidates.
Do business administration resumes need cover letters? Definitely. Most employers don’t require them, but almost half do. That’s per our HR statistics report. Don’t know which half you’re dealing with? Write a letter every time. But avoid the cookie cutter trap of, “Here’s my resume.”
To write your cover letter:
Can you put salary requirements in a cover letter? Sure, but do your research first to make sure you’re in the hiring ballpark. Pitching too high or low is a mistake.
Read more: How To Write A Cover Letter in 8 Simple Steps and How to Make a Resume: A Step-by-Step Guide
Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:
See more cover letter templates and start writing.
Here’s a recap of how to write a business administration resume:
That’s it! Now, we’d love to hear from you:
Let’s chat below in the comments, and thanks for reading!
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