Paradigm shift.
That’s what you’re going to do today.
You’ll finally stop knocking on every recruiter’s door to get a callback. Instead, you won’t be able to put your phone down ever again—
It’ll ring off the proverbial hook with interview invites.
So sunset the idea that you can’t figure out how to write an administrative assistant cover letter.
You can!
And here you’re going to get the incentive to yield a successful career right there before you.
This guide will give you:
- Sample administrative assistant cover letter better than 9 out of 10 others.
- Administrative assistant cover letter examples that let you plug in your core strengths.
- Tips with examples for entry-level administrative assistant cover letter and with no experience.
- Comprehensive step-by-step guide on how to write a sample cover letter for an administrative assistant position.
Want to write your cover letter fast? Use our cover letter builder. Choose from 20+ professional cover letter templates that match your resume. See actionable examples and get expert tips along the way.
Cover letter sample for a resume—See more cover letter templates and create your cover letter here.
Administrative Assistant Cover Letter Sample
Steward Pacheco
Administrative Assistant
519-430-5655
spacheco@email.com
December 5, 2021
James G. Jones
Human Resources Manager
XYZ Ltd.
4104 Sixth Street
New Westminster, BC V3L 3C1
Dear James,
I’m pleased to submit my application for the administrative assistant position at XYZ, as the company provides me with the same level of utmost care during tax filing every year. It’s always been friendly and fruitful cooperation, making me a happy customer of your services. I’d love to become part of your successful team.
It’s been 4 years since I became an administrative assistant at ABC. I’m happy that XYZ and ABC share the business structure, which allows me to settle in smoothly and conduct business without interruption and delay. Let’s have a look at my most significant achievements:
- Negotiated a new contract with a paper supplier to reduce our impact on the environment at a lesser cost, saving the company $2.5K a year.
- Led the implementation of ServiceNow to log, monitor, and respond to internal and external requests on the administrative side with no delays.
- Collaborated on a project to eliminate unnecessary and unused office space across sites. Redesigned the office strategy to reduce 27% of offices let.
My experience in office management will contribute to your organization’s smooth (and therefore successful) transition, as it couldn’t escape my notice that you’ll be moving offices soon. As much as it is about driving employees towards change, the first thing to take care of is to prepare the office for their welcoming. And I’m confident I could help you with that.
Why don’t we schedule a meeting this week to discuss how I could use my expertise to help you with your most prominent project to date?
With kind regards,
Steward Pacheco
Let’s start, shall we?
1. Take Your Cover Letter Template Online
Admin jobs have changed over the past few years.
You no longer copy, print, fax, file.
At least, not so much.
You went online, took your job with you, and made friends with DocuSign and Workday.
So, once you’ve realized the world’s moved on, why would you write a cover letter in a clunky text editor? The formatting there is Notepad-horrible. Eek!
The best option is to have online software take care of your template. You’ll be worry-free. But if you can’t do that, then—
Here are the formatting rules to stick to with your cover letter for an administrative assistant:
Sample Cover Letter for an Administrative Assistant—Format
- Space it out. Set margins to 1-inch and line spacing to 1-1.15 points. Plus, double the space between paragraphs.
- Pick a legible font, Arial or Calibri. Pick 10–12 points in font size.
- Create a header with your personal information: name, job title, phone number, and email address.
- Leave enough white space. You’ll write a half to one page, so you need room.
Once you’ve done that, prepare a clear outline.
This is what you need to incorporate into your administrative assistant cover letter:
- Header with your contact information
- Date of writing
- Hiring manager and company’s address
- Formal salutation
- Attention-grabbing opening
- Achievement-thick body paragraph
- Reasons why behind your application
- Request to schedule a meeting
- Complimentary close
- Signature
Et voilà!
Pro Tip: Name the file with the job title you’re applying for at the front, followed by the “cover letter.” Recruiters tend to use the search bar to thread through their inboxes. That’s how you make sure you get noticed.
Let’s now upskill your writing game.
2. Transcribe a Gripping Cover Letter Opening
The vertical for generic intros is already saturated.
Yours must be unique; give the recruiter a heads-up for the best job application they’re about to hold in their virtual hands.
On a screen, that is.
There are several strategies you can use:
- Drop names
- Comment on a recent event
- Appeal to the shared values
- Be the solution to the company’s problem
- Call out your most significant achievement
A no-brainer, really.
See how to leverage two of those opening strategies:
Cover Letter for an Administrative Assistant—Opening Samples
| RIGHT |
|---|
Steward Pacheco Administrative Assistant 519-430-5655 spacheco@email.com
December 5, 2021
James G. Jones Human Resources Manager XYZ Ltd. 4104 Sixth Street New Westminster, BC V3L 3C1
Dear James,
I’m pleased to submit my application for the administrative assistant position at XYZ, as the company provides me with the same level of utmost care during tax filing every year. It’s always been friendly and fruitful cooperation, making me a happy customer of your services. I’d love to become part of your successful team. |
| WRONG |
|---|
I’m writing regarding your recent job posting for an administrative assistant at XYZ. I’m interested in the position due to my corresponding experience. Here’s my experience so far. |
The first example is going places. See how they handled addressing the hiring manager. Stew used their name.
To stand first in line for recognition, you need to do the same. Recruiters and hiring managers can’t be bothered with letters not addressed to them directly.
If you can’t find it, though, backfill the spot with “Dear Hiring Manager.” That’s the only way you can get away with not including the name.
Let’s run one more strategy up the flagpole for a candidate with no experience:
Administrative Assistant Cover Letter With No Experience—Opening Example
| RIGHT |
|---|
It’s with great pleasure that I’m applying for the position of administrative assistant at XYZ Ltd. Since I’ve become a Business Administration undergraduate, management was the subject I excelled at effortlessly. You’d be pleased to know that I earned a scholarship for a year’s co-op to put my strengths into practice at an office in New York. |
Lacking experience in the field you wish to get a job can be intimidating.
But hey!
Did Sarah mention anything about having professional experience as an admin?
Naaah.
She wrote about her biggest achievement to date that happened to be relevant.
You can have a successful track record as a fresh graduate or career changer. You just need to tweak the narrative and utilize your transferable skills and knowledge to convince the recruiter of your fit.
And don’t refrain from writing with feelings behind your application. Motivation and excitement about growth and development prospects are just as important as qualifications.
When making a resume and a cover letter 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.
3. See to the Middle Paragraphs
In the following two paragraphs, you’ll type away how perfectly you match the ideal candidate image.
Prove you’re the example they based their matrix on. And do that with confidence. You grabbed their attention with your intro, and now you have to hold it even tighter.
But!
(There’s always a but.)
Don’t give away all the details about yourself.
Copying your resume is pointless. As your administrative cover letter only introduces your application, have the recruiters throw a thought shower around it.
Take a look at the below examples of administrative assistant cover letter’s body paragraphs:
Administrative Assistant Cover Letter Canada—Middle Paragraphs Examples
| RIGHT |
|---|
It’s been 4 years since I became an administrative assistant at ABC. I’m happy that XYZ and ABC share the business structure, which allows me to settle in smoothly and conduct business without interruption and delay. Let’s have a look at my most significant achievements:
My experience in office management will contribute to your organization’s smooth, therefore successful transition, as it couldn’t escape my notice that you’ll be moving offices soon. As much as it is about driving employees towards change, the first thing to take care of is to prepare the office for their welcoming. And I’m confident I could help you with that. |
| WRONG |
|---|
I’ve been an administrative assistant for ABC for four years. My responsibilities have been negotiating contracts with vendors and suppliers, helping with the CRM implementation, and using my expertise to redesign the office strategy.
I’m optimistic that I’ll be able to meet your needs and help you succeed at whatever you do—especially knowing that you’ll be moving offices. |
See?
Steward clearly read the job description and tailored the wording of his cover letter to it.
Be like Steward and do the same.
Here’s how to match the job ad with your cover letter for an administrative assistant position:
- Have a thorough read of the job ad.
- Mark every keyword referring to a qualification, skill, or quality.
- Address them in the second paragraph, but not all. Pick those for which you’re sure you can make a convincing case.
- Point out 2 to 3 of your accomplishments.
- Say why you think the company is the best choice for you, and you for the company. Mentioning your shared values is a good starting point. Cultural fit is often a factor in the hiring process.
Make sure to speak from your heart. Everyone’s different, and so is their point of view. Don’t look for inspiration elsewhere to any of the paragraphs but inside.
Personality in cover letters is inestimable.
Entry Level Administrative Assistant Cover Letter—Middle Paragraphs Sample
| RIGHT |
|---|
I’ve picked extracurricular activities to expand my skillset during my school years, e.g., volunteering at a Dean’s office as an assistant, logging disproportionate calculations or inaccuracies while doing inventory, and playing captain in the university’s soccer team. They’ll serve as a baseline to what your onboarding and training plans have to offer.
I find the opportunity to work for the XYZ company rewarding, as we share the same values, namely growth and ownership. As a responsible individual, I must be on top of things and have never missed a deadline, or will I ever plan to do so. I’m sure I could achieve the same results at XYZ. |
Again, you can revert to motivation and enthusiasm.
Sometimes it’s all you need.
4. End Your Cover Letter By Close of Play
If you think you have zero cycles for the rest, you’ll be happy at the prospect of being at the end of your cover letter writing journey.
Literally.
Not only will you finish this one, but you’ll also not have to write another. (Unless you’d like to progress, of course.)
In the last paragraph, call the hiring manager to action. Have a glance over their calendar and schedule a meeting between you two. This week would be best.
See how to write a call to action in an administrative assistant cover letter ending:
Sample Cover Letter Administrative Assistant—Closing Paragraph Example
| RIGHT |
|---|
Why don’t we schedule a meeting this week to discuss how I could use my expertise to help you with your most prominent project to date?
With kind regards,
Steward Pacheco |
Thank you for considering my application.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
With kind regards,
Steward Pacheco
Can you guess why the wrong example is wrong?
It doesn’t take it.
It leaves it.
No matter which part of the cover letter you’re writing, every word has to speak to your advantage.
Use the ending to reinforce your motivation and persuade the reader of your fit for the position.
Then, sign off the letter with one of the following and your name:
- Kind regards
- Best regards
- Thank you
- Yours sincerely
- With regards
They all work!
And hey—
Got an extra achievement up your sleeve? Share it in an eye-catching P.S. below your signature. For example:
P.S. I’d love to tell you how I saved the company $2,000 a month in unnecessary expenses.
Or:
P.S. I’ve also boosted administrative efficiency by 12% through introducing several automated solutions. Eager to tell you more about them!
A great cover letter that matches your CV 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.
Key Takeaway
Get a recap of how to write a cover letter for an administrative assistant:
- Be yourself. Nothing works better than peppering your administrative assistant cover letter with personality.
- Format your cover letter to stay in place and have recruiters read it without effort.
- Create a smooth flow between paragraphs.
- Speak only about what you can do. Leave all the haven’ts, didn’ts, and nos out of your application.
- Ask about the interview. Don’t wait.
And that’s it.
There you have it!
I’d like to hear from you, though.
Please tell me—
- Want more info on how to write great administrative assistant cover letter samples?
- Wondering how your administrative assistant cover letter for entry-level can get you noticed?
- Have I missed something?
Leave a comment. I’ll be happy to reply!
