
50 Best Resume Tips 2023: Great Tricks and Writing Advice
Don’t have much time, but need a good resume ASAP? Here’s a master list of the best resume tips out there, plus a bonus to make your life easier.
You’re about to see a perfect office clerk resume sample.
Better yet, in 5 minutes you’ll learn how to write one yourself.
Why is it so important?
Because, statistically speaking, every time you apply for a corporate clerical job, you compete with 250 other candidates.
That means a stack of 250 resumes on a recruiter’s desk. You have to make your office clerk resume catch their attention right off.
The good news?
There’s a proven way to do it that you’ll learn in 5 minutes.
Read on and I’ll show you:
Here’s an example of a resume for office clerk positions made using our resume builder.
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.
Targeting a more specific office or administrative support position?
Check out more sample office staff resumes and dedicated resume writing guides:
For a general, office clerk basic resume examples and writing tips, read on. You’ll get answers to all your questions about landing that dream clerical job!
1
Consider this:
On average, recruiters scan a resume in less than 10 seconds.
What does it mean for you?
That you have to make your office clerk resume skimmable. Make it easy for recruiters to find all relevant details.
How to do it?
Choose the elegant reverse chronological resume format. Recruiters are familiar with it so they’ll know where to look for information.
Plus, it lets you put your best foot forward. It showcases your most recent clerical job.
Here’s what to include in a reverse-chronological office clerk resume, from top to bottom.
Pro Tip: Once you’re done writing your clerical resume, save it as a PDF file. This way, your formatting won’t get messed up. Just remember to double-check with the office clerk job description if the company accepts PDF. If not—send your resume in DOC.
Want more information on resume formatting? Here’s the only guide you’ll need: Three Resume Formats: How to Format a Resume for Greatest Impact
Now, have a look at how to craft each section to get an office clerk resume that will make top employers fight one another over who hires you.
2
Remember those 6 seconds of a recruiter’s attention an average resume gets?
Exactly. An average one.
The good news? There’s a way to make recruiters read your resume in full.
The trick?
At the very top of your office clerk resume, put a concise paragraph that explains why you’re the ideal candidate for this job.
This short paragraph is called either a resume objective or a resume summary. Think about it as a trailer for your job application. If it’s interesting enough for the hiring manager, she’ll want to read your whole resume.
Use an office clerk resume summary if you’ve got relevant experience. Give an outline of your career and highlight your best achievements.
Writing an entry-level clerical resume with not much relevant experience? Use an office clerk resume objective. Showcase what you’ve learned so far and how you’d fit in.
Whichever you choose, remember one thing—
A well-written professional office clerk resume objective or summary focuses strictly on the employer’s benefits, not the candidate’s.
Long story short: don’t write about what you want out of the job. Focus on what you have to offer instead.
Check out these sample office clerk objectives and summaries to see what I mean.
Let’s begin with objectives.
RIght |
---|
Dynamic college graduate with excellent communication skills seeking office clerk role. Excellent initiative and project management skills developed over the course of my degree. Ready to use organizational skills to help EY’s team with implementing the new internal communications system. |
Wrong |
---|
Recent college graduate with no professional experience but lots of enthusiasm. Able to type, answer phones and would like my first job to be in an office. I’m friendly and a fast learner. |
See the difference? The candidate from the right example has done her homework. She knows her prospective employer’s upcoming challenges and makes an offer to help tackle them.
The wrong example? The bottom line says basically: “I’ve got no relevant experience, but I need some job.”
Now, let’s compare two very different examples of office clerk resume summaries.
RIGHT |
---|
Professional, efficient office clerk with 6+ years experience working for a large corporate organization. Promoted to executive secretary in 2017. Introduced a time management system and increased the efficiency of the office by 15%. Looking to leverage excellent project management and organization skills to help Hogan & Partners’ team reduce office administration costs. |
Nailed it.
Relevant experience, quantifiable achievements, and an irresistible offer to seal the deal. The hiring manager will want to call this candidate ASAP.
WRONG |
---|
I am an office worker with 6 years’ experience. I am seeking a job in a corporate environment where I can learn and develop my office management and clerical skills. |
Not awful, but… that’s about the only positive. It’s super generic and provides no details whatsoever.
Pro Tip: In every resume objective or summary for clerical positions, address the company by name and indicate the position you’re targeting. Yup—that means you cannot send one general office clerk resume for every application. And that’s the point. Personalization works wonders!
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.
Writing the perfect office clerk resume objective or summary isn’t easy, I know. For more expert tips and real-life examples, check out our handy guides: How to Write a Resume’s Professional Summary and How to Write a Resume Career Objective
3
Most office clerk job descriptions on a resume look pretty much the same.
“Office administration,” “maintaining the calendar,” “assisting administrative stuff.”
You might fear it sounds underwhelming, but we both know it’s hard. It’s complex work that requires amazing time management and multitasking skills.
The good news? You can describe your office clerk work experience in a way that will make your resume stand out and get every recruiter hooked.
How?
In the work experience section of your professional clerical resume, don’t just talk about your past duties and responsibilities. Focus on your achievements.
Here’s how:
Enough theory. Have a look at how it works in practice:
RIGHT |
---|
Office Clerk 2012–2018 Dunder Mifflin, Oklahoma City, OK
Key achievement: Fixed a recurring problem with procurement SOPs which led to cost cuts of $32,000/year. |
WRONG |
---|
Office Clerk Kemper Corporation 2014-2018
|
Pro Tip: Pack your work experience section full of action verbs. “Fulfilled,” or “monitored” sound way better than “responsible for fulfilling and monitoring.”
You get the point, right?
The right office clerk resume sample showcases quantifiable achievements.
The wrong one? That reads like a re-written description of responsibilities listed in the job ad.
The work experience section is the most important part of every office clerk resume. Want to make sure you’ll get it right? Here’s the guide to answer all your questions: How to List Work Experience on Your Resume
If you lack experience, check out: First Resume with No Work Experience Samples (A Step-by-Step Guide
4
More often than not, it’s easy to list your education on a resume.
Here’s what you have to include in this section:
Pro Tip: If you’ve got more than 6 months of professional experience, don’t include your GPA on your office clerk resume. Don’t list it either if it’s lower than 3.5. It might hamper your chances.
For most resumes, this will work just fine.
But—
If you’ve got little or no professional experience to put on a resume, you should make up for it in your education section.
In such case, add details like:
Here’s an example of a great entry-level office clerk resume education section.
BS, Accounting
Penn State, 2015–2018
That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
This candidate doesn’t have a lot of experience, but her academic achievements indicate that she’s willing to self-improve and that it won’t take her much time to learn the tricks of the trade.
If you’re hungry for more tips about listing your education on a resume for office clerk positions, check out this handy guide: How to Put Education on a Resume [Tips & Examples]
5
There’s one word to keep in mind when creating your office clerk resume skills list:
Relevance.
Don’t just randomly list skills you have. Show that you’ve got skills a particular employer wants.
Remember when I mentioned tailoring your resume to each job opening? That strategy applies to your skills section too.
Not sure what are the best office skills to list? In general, they fall into two categories: hard, technical skills, strictly connected to your everyday professional duties and soft skills a.k.a. social skills.
Here’s some inspiration for you:
VOIP phone systems | |
Data entry | |
Adaptability | |
Scheduling | Attention to detail |
Event planning | |
Typing 90 WPM | |
QuickBooks | |
Customer service | Conflict resolution |
Corporate accounting |
Pro Tip: The worst mistake you can make in your skills section is failing to include your soft skills. This Harvard study shows that modern economy will increasingly reward those candidates who combine technical with soft skills—that means more job opportunities and higher pay.
For more strategies to spice up that office clerk resume with the best skills, see this comprehensive guide: 30+ Best Examples of What Skills to Put on a Resume (Proven Tips)
6
Included all the above resume sections? Great! It’s a decent office clerk resume you’ve got there.
But—
You’re one step away from making it a killer one.
That step is called an additional resume section.
And why is it so important?
Because that’s the place where you can show off your unquestionable achievements that set you apart from other candidates.
Such as?
Have a look at some ideas for an additional section on a resume for office clerk positions.
Can’t showcase any of the above yet? Take it easy. An entry-level resume can still benefit from an extra section.
Check out these ideas:
Pro Tip: To boost an otherwise flimsy office clerk resume, consider taking an online training class or two. You can finish most of these within a couple of hours and they can have great impact on your chances of landing that next dream job.
Don’t know what to include in the extra section of a professional office clerk resume and what to leave off? Read our guide: Resume Sections to Include on Your Resume: Guide (+20 Examples)
7
“Sleep with the CEO’s daughter, this way you’re guaranteed to land a job at the company!”
Seem like the worst career advice one can get?
Yeah. It probably is.
But you know what?
“Companies don't read cover letters anymore, don’t waste your time on writing one,” comes in a close second.
Almost half of the recruiters won’t open your resume if there’s no cover letter attached.
An office clerk cover letter is often expected even if the job description doesn’t explicitly ask for one. And it can be used to your massive advantage.
Think about looking for an entry-level position. Daunting, right?
A well-written cover letter for office clerk positions can get you there! It can prove to recruiters that you’re motivated and driven.
But it’s not only junior candidates who should write a cover letter. Including a cover letter in your application doubles your chances of getting hired. Can’t argue with the stats, can you?
Pro Tip: Make your office clerk cover letter personal. Use the job poster’s name. For bonus points, do some research—visit the company website and mention their upcoming projects or challenges and say how your expertise could help.
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.
For the best advice on cover letter writing out there, read this guide: How to Write a Cover Letter in 8 Simple Steps
Demand for office clerks is projected to shrink in the upcoming years. This means the competition is fierce. A perfect clerical resume has never been as important.
Luckily, you are going to have one. Just follow the key office clerk resume writing steps we covered:
For the final word—keep your phone at hand and wait for interview call-ins!
Got any more questions? Need further help? Want to chat about writing your resume? That’s great cause I can’t wait to hear your thoughts! Drop me a line in the comments, and I’ll get back to you right away.
Don’t have much time, but need a good resume ASAP? Here’s a master list of the best resume tips out there, plus a bonus to make your life easier.
How to write a resume that will get you the job you're looking for? This step-by-step guide will show you the best resume examples, and you can write a resume in a few easy steps.
Interview coming up, and you just don’t know what to expect? Here’s a compilation of the most common interview questions that you might hear and how to answer them.