You are the administrative assistant in the office that no one notices until no one is there to organize and package the “big deal” in time for the courier to deliver it before the deadline. The whole world notices when the go-to girl is sick and work needs to be done. You remember what it was like to want this job, you even dreamt about it and prepared weeks for your interview. But one day it dawns on you that perhaps working through lunch to help the sales team get that big sale isn’t as glamorous as you had originally expected. And when was the last time someone told you what a great job you were doing, or gave you a commission on the big deal, or even let you have a couple of drinks on their lush expense account? If you are still thinking about that when you read this sentence, then it’s been too long and you’ve probably been considering a change to a workplace that will respect your unique talents as an administrative assistant.

When it comes to making changes such as a career change, particularly when you are in an support position, using terms like “probably” and “considering” isn’t going to get you anywhere. In fact, using those terms anywhere in life is not going to get you anywhere, at least not what you really want anyway. So what is it that you want? Really want? I would guess that it is a higher paying job, some appreciation for your efforts, and if people noticed your existence on days when you weren’t sick, that would be a plus as well, wouldn’t it?

Stop thinking about it and start doing, and the first thing you need to do is fine tune that resume. Make it shine and stand out amongst the crowd. For every admin assistant job that is advertised, you can expect to be competing with anywhere from 50-100 other people for the employment. It just happens that the job market is short talented admin professionals, very few face unemployment for long, and most realize that leaving your present employer for a new administrative position will return you higher pay.

When you are re-organizing your resume, it can’t appear weak. The people that you are submitting it to have listed their requirements in the administrative assistant job description, they know the work you are applying for is the usual requirements for an administrative assistant, but they may be offering something a little extra that appeals to you, maybe better hours, or better pay, you should consider everything is on the table. Or perhaps you just work better with their corporate image, or that they have recently lost a secretary and there is no one to do their vital job.. Regardless, you don’t want to enter standard typing and phone skills on your resume. You want to use descriptive terminology and action words that speak to the employer about you as a person as well as you as an admin assistant. Use words like

• “immaculate attention to detail”,
• “strong interpersonal skills”,
• “love working with the public”,
• “superior organization skills”

Use terminology that would be more typical the job you are hoping to land than the job you have, you will exude that appearance with a resume like that.

Don’t forget that your resume is the first impression they will have of you. They will also be looking at 50-100 of these packages, from all across North Carolina, so after they have been reading “excellent phone skills” 100 times, they are going to be looking for that person that stands out of the crowd. Your resume package is the complete package of you tied up in a brief portfolio. You may be undervalued and unappreciated at your current secretary position, but don’t let that reflect itself as your first impression for your next job. You deserve more, what are you waiting for?

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