Spotlight on administrative professionals: How to get hired

In honor of National Administrative Professionals Day, we’re shining a light on the positions that make business possible – admins!

Never considered becoming an admin? Hear us out. According to CareerBuilder data*, administrative professionals are in high demand with more than 1.5 million open positions. One of the most compelling aspects of pursuing a career as an admin is that you can work in virtually every field. You don’t have to be a physician to be employed in a healthcare. Similarly, you don’t have to be a teacher to be involved in education. Administrative jobs allow you to pursue industries you’re passionate about without the need for graduate degrees or certifications.

Transferable skills are key.

Even if you haven't worked as an administrative assistant or other administrative role, odds are that you probably possess some of the skills necessary to succeed on the job. Master multitasker? Attention to detail? Self-starter? Check, check, and check? Congratulations! You’ve already got some of the foundational skills to excel in this profession.

To assess how your unique skills and abilities line up with jobs for administrative professionals, visit CoLab, the CareerBuilder hub for exploring all your career options. With CoLab, when you search for a role, we’ll surface the skills for administrative jobs and suggest other roles that you can also pursue to maximize your earning potential and find a position that suits you.

Make sure it’s a match.

No administrative position is the same. Responsibilities will vary by industry, by company, and by the individual you’re supporting. You may have to screen calls – or not. Your manager may ask you to arrange her business travel – or not. You may have to be in the office as late as your boss – or not. When you’re browsing administrative professional jobs, be sure to read the fine print so you understand what the day-to-day demands of each are and if it’s something you would enjoy – or are capable of -- doing. Get as granular about the details of the job in every interview to be sure it’s a good fit.

Get your administrative professional resume ready.

No resume? No problem. CoLab has you covered with resume examples for a number of administrative roles, such as administrative assistant, administrative director, executive assistant, and more. It’s an easy-to-use tool; your resume will practically write itself! Once you have the basics down, be sure to make the effort to tailor it to different administrative roles you’re pursuing to increase your chances of landing an interview. The same goes for your cover letters. Customize them to the company and the demands of the position so that hiring managers will take notice, particularly if you haven’t been an admin previously.

Look ahead.

Once you’ve secured a job as an administrative professional, you can parlay your experience into advanced positions, such as a high-visibility assistant to the CEO or a corporate events planner. Depending on whom you support, this could be your entrée to a role in operations, on the HR team, or in the marketing department because administrative pros wear so many hats – and have so many transferable skills.

*In partnership with Textkernel.

More tips for working as an administrative professional

Check out more resume writing best practices for admins.

More must-have administrative skills need to land the job.

Are you a generalist? Then you’ll make a great administrative assistant.