How to get a Job as an Administrative Assistant with No Experience

One of the more common jobs advertised online and on job boards is that of an administrative assistant.

While the job is not as ubiquitous as it once was due to companies outsourcing admin roles overseas and using ticketing systems, it’s still one of the most common roles.

In fact, many people who are entering the job market and want to work in an office environment, but are not sure about where to start looking might very well benefit from focusing on an administrative assistant role.

The great thing about this particular role is that you can move from company to company once you have experience. The skill set is transferable and therefore if one company happens to shutdown or downsize, you can find another administrative assistant job at a different company.

The issue that I want to address here is how someone with no experience can find a job as an administrative assistant.

How exactly should you go about finding that first job? Well, it’s a common issue for a lot of people who aren’t in the medical field or other technical field. We have a great general article that focuses on the problems of the entry level job here.

But this article is more specific to finding work as an administrative assistant. So, the advice here is going to be specifically tailored to finding work as an administrivia without having any prior experience.

It might seem like a daunting task if you’re sitting there looking at a blank resume, but rest assured by the time you’ve finished reading this article you’ll have a better idea about how to approach the situation.

What Does an Administrative Assistant Do?

So, what exactly does an administrative assistant do? It’s not something terrible complicated to explain, but it is a bit vague for someone who hasn’t actually worked as an admin.

The truth is that the job title encompasses quite a lot of variables. Administrative assistants might have very different tasks depending upon the company where they work. But there are certain similarities that are common to the role.

An administrative assistant does administrative  tasks. It sounds obvious, but that is what essentially this person does.

Those tasks might be anything from filing papers in a physical filing cabinet, copying forms using a Zerox, answering phones, responding to emails, handling vendor deliveries, or greeting clients and bringing them to conference rooms when they arrive.

The particulars of the role are tailored to the companies actual business. So, an administrative assistant in a tech firm might have very different day to day actions than the day to day duties at a real estate firm, for instance.

What Are The Key Skills for Working as an Administrative Assistant

For the most part, the main skills that you will want to list on your resume are: Microsoft Office, Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel. Less important are PowerPoint.

Basically, the MS Office suite are the skills that you will want to have on your resume.

When recruiters are scanning resumes they quickly check to see if you have those listed. If you don’t, then you often will be passed over for review.

And what’s more important is that if you are submitting your resume though an online vendor portal where you can upload a resume, then odds are that a human being is not looking at the resume. What happens in those situations is that a computer is scanning the resume and then filtering it into the ATS system.

An applicant tracking system is used by almost all staffing agencies and big companies. Resumes are submitted online and then filed into this system. The system scans the resume for words and this is how recruiters and internal hiring managers select applicants.

This is one reason why it’s important to have your resume in Word or PDF. If your resume is not setup in the correct format, odds are that no one will ever see it.

When applying for an entry level role where you are looking to work as an administrative assistant, it’s important to make sure that the phrase administrative assistant appears on your resume and you also list the MS Office skills we have just discussed.

Are Administrative Assistants in Demand

Very much so. However, not as much as in years past.
That doesn’t mean that you have no shot at getting a job as an administrative assistant without experience. All it means is that there is more competition for these roles. And because of that, you will have to be more direct and strategic in your methods.

The fact is that there are more people applying for these jobs than there are jobs. In the past, there were a lot of jobs that required a human administrative assistant. Now, because most companies outsource their labor overseas, there is less call for administrative assistants.

There are entire industries such as call centers and most customer support roles that have been outsourced overseas. This has decimated the industry for people who are local to the united states.

However, as you probably know from personal experience, many people find dealing with level 1 call reps who are overseas and have no knowledge of the product or company to be an infuriating experience.

Because of that, there are still many customer service roles that exist for local USA talent.

However, customer service is just once slice of the administrative assistant job field. Most of the work involves practical work that is till too hard to outsource (though many major companies are trying to automate and outsource this as we speak).

What is means is that an administrative assistant role is now something that requires a good resume. In many instances, the company will want someone who has graduated college.

Certainly, if you’re applying to be an administrative assistant at a hedge fund, private equity firm, or high end tech company, they are looking for college graduates.

The pay is still low, but the competition necessitates that they can require more.

I’ll cover in more detail below how exactly you will want to approach the job hunt and which fields require more refined resumes.

Are Administrative Assistants Becoming Obsolete?

Not necessarily. They are becoming less and less common, but that does not mean that the job will be completely obsolete.

Even when companies have outsourced as much as they can, there will still be call for native USA workers who work either remotely or in person and have a firm grasp of company culture.

One of the issues with automation and outsourcing is that the jobs become much less personalized and more robotic and anonymous.

There are some administrative assistant roles that will never be outsourced or farmed to a robotic automation center. Anything that requires in person greeting of clients or vendors, as well as most higher end administrative tasks can’t be delegated overseas or to computers.

Likewise, most non-profits and government and hospital agencies have unions that prohibit outsourcing jobs overseas.

While the companies and C-level board members might hate it, unions are a strong force in preserving worker rights.

A remote administrative assistant who works at a foreign call center might make 1 dollar an hour. Multiple that by hundreds and you can see the huge savings that bord members enjoy.

However, hospitals, non-profits, and government jobs are safe at any level currently because strong unions prevent this from happening.

Different Levels of Administrative Assistants

Before you head out and start applying for an administrative assist job it is important to know the different sectors you are applying to. Different fields have different work requirements and you should know this before you submit your resume.

Let’s briefly review some of the different types of industries that hire administrative assistants and how each is different in their requirements:

• Government Administrative Assistants

Government work is mostly civil service work. If you want a job with a government agency, then it’s going to come down to taking a civl service exam and making sure you have a resume that meets the minimum requirements.

The upside to any government job is tha the beneifts and job protection are amazing. They simply cannot be beat. In addition to amazing benefits, your salary is raised on an annual basis and it has nothing to do with performance. As long as you are working for the company, your salary will be raised in line with the union regulations.

The downside to this work enviroment is that the peole who work in government offices tend to fit their negative reputation. You will have to navigate working with people who do not work, even though they are on the clock. It’s something to be aware of whenever taking a government job.

• Local Businesses

Most local businesses will need administrative assistants. The upside with these businesses is that they almost never outsource their jobs overseas or automate. The downside is that they don’t pay much, they often offer no benefits provided.

These local business might be anything from a locksmith to a landscaping company. They tend to be old fashioned, when compared to larger multi-national firms.

Sometimes the jobs are posted on Indeed, but most of the time you’ll see them posted on sites like Craigslist. These businesses will even post the old fashioned “Help Wanted” signs on the windows of their store. And of course another way in which these places hire people is by word of mouth. You’ll often find that the people working there either knew each other outside of work, or had some other sort of outside connection.

If you have no experience, then landing an administrative assistant job with a small local business is a good path. They are less stringent when it comes to experience and more impressed with someone who is reliable. That said, you will still need to have the basic skills and having some sort of experience is important.  I’ll give you a primer on how to handle that lack of experience a bit later.

• Medical Offices

Medical offices can also be considered local businesses, but they often have specific skills that an administrative assistant will need. For the most part, medical receptionists will need to have prior experience working with patients and insurance companies. That’s the main thing that sets medical office work apart from other admin roles: insurance.

The primary skill needed for working in any medical office is going to be entering billing information so that the office can bill the insurance companies. Secondary tasks include scheduling people to come in for appointments.

Many people who work in a medical office don’t go to college and instead they obtain certificates in things such as medical coding or even participate in job training programs that help people obtain work as medical receptionists. Many cites such as NYC and LA will pay people to take these courses.

However, the pay as a medical office worker tends to be very low—just over minimum wage. There is incredibly turnover in the industry as well. It’s common to see a medical receptionist resume where they have worked a half dozen jobs in as many years.

• Hospitals

Hospitals are much different than medical offices. While they might seem like similar places to medical offices, they are by nature of their size much different.

The primary difference when working as an administrative assistant in a hospital is that you are working withing a much larger bureaucracy. This has its benefits and drawbacks.

The first benefit is that most large hospitals will have unions. These unions, especially in major cities such as Boston, LA, New York, and other union strongholds, are very powerful.

If you are able to find a job as a hospital administrator and become a permanent employee with union benefits, then you can expect to have guaranteed pay raises, health care provided for you, retirement benefits and all other things that unions have fought hard to get their members.

The downside is that terrible bureaucracy means that it can be hard to find a job in a hospital. Many of the roles in hospitals are given to friends and family members of people who already work there. So, it can be difficulty to get that initial foot in the door.

The most important thing about getting a job as an administrative assistant in a hospital is to have some experience, so a job at a medical office would look good on your resume. 

• Tech Companies

Now we’re moving into the realm of the professional world. These firms are much different than medical offices or hospitals. You will need to have graduated college and have an excellent resume in order to get a job at a tech firm.

The entire setting is different than medial offices and hospital. It requires a much more professional standard of behavior. Because of this, applicants need to be more refined, educated, and professional in their appearance and conduct.

If you’re seeking to work as an administrative assist and have no experience, then it will be tough to land this job. You will need to have graduated from college and it would be helpful to have recent experience in the form of internships on your resume.

Again, the pay is not great when compared to other professional roles, but the environment is more pleasant than working in a hospital. However, these companies do not provide anywhere as comprehensive a benefits package as union work. There are often few personal days, no healthcare, and no retirement funds.

Also, while they do not publicly state it, many tech firms prefer to higher younger employees. So, being straight out of college isn’t a bad thing. Many large companies have an ageist bias, but in particular they like to hire young people because they pay such low wages and younger people are more likely to accept a low wage.

• Fortune 500 Companies

This is essentially the same as with Tech firms, you need a have graduated from college and have a solid resume. However, unlike Tech firms, Fortune 500 companies as a general category are not as age focused. They don’t have the same focus on hiring youth.

The more important thing when applying to a Fortune 500 company, or one that is similar, is a solid resume, good work experience, no work gaps, and a college degree.

If you’re looking for an entry level role at one of these firms, then you obviously are going to have to tackle the problem of a lack of experience. That’s what internships are for! So make sure you have some listed on your resume.

As a rule, the work you’ll have to do at a Fortune 500 firm is going to require more skill than what you would do at a local business or medical facility. For this reason, it’s important to know MS Office including Excel and Outlook.

• Private Equity and Hedge Funds

This is a very tough administrative role. These are high performing firms that only want to hire people who are extremely driven. They don’t have a bias against new grads or people who don’t have a lot of experience, but they will want to see internships as well as a GPA.

These roles are highly in demand and only the most competent people will be hired. The pay is normally significantly better than in other private sector roles.

However, there is a much more stringent vetting process. Because there is so much money at stake, people won’t be hired just because they know someone or because a seat needs to be filled.

Unlike hospitals, government agencies, and non-profits that do not need to be productive, these firms are all about money and productivity. Therefore, they only want to hire driven Type A people.

• Real Estate Firms

Real estate is a very popular job market for administrative assistants. The first thing to know is that there are a wide variety of real estate firms. As a rule, the small landlords and property management agencies will use Craigslist and word of mouth. Many of these business either pay minimum wage or try and pay off the books.

The more legitimate property management firms and large real estate business with headquarters and offices will be more professional. They are going to have large online presence, multiple employees and have a more business like setting.

Some of these roles will require special software such as Yardi, but for the most part a basic administrative assistant role will require handing emails, dealing with client interaction, and answering phones.

When applying for an administrative assist role at a real estate firm, make sure to check them out online. The real estate industry is rife with people who skirt the law and it’s no uncommon for them to treat employees poorly. So make sure to read reviews on Glassdoor and also just do your own googling about the company.

• Non-Profits

All non-profits hire administrative assistants. The good news is that means that there are always jobs. The bad news it that non-profits don’t pay their low level administrators much. This is in line with their low pay for case managers and other support staff. The executives of Non-Profits make the lions share of the wealth, with even small Non-Profits designed to assist homeless having executives making hundreds of thousands of dollars, in some cases even millions. And it’s not just shelter based non-profits, it’s everything including education non-profits.

The upside to working at a Non-Profit is that they offer great benefits and long vacations. They are similar to government roles in that way. The only difference is that unlike government union jobs, there is not as much job security.

A good resume is less important for a non-profit than the type of background and socioeconomic environment you are coming from.  Non-profits like people who have exposure to the population that they serve. So people who have done volunteering with a certain group are going to have a leg up when it comes to being hired.

Likewise, non-profits often will post ads online , but in truth they have secured spots in their agency for friends and family of other members.

Finally, if you do work at a non-profit, the transition to corporate work is tough. The level of performance required at non-profits is dramatically below that of the private sector. Because of this, corporate headhunters and recruiters tend to not consider people who have worked at non-profits as having rigorous work experience or a strong work ethic.

Tailor Your Resume

As you can see from reviewing the different types of administrative assistant roles in different sectors, it’s important to tailor your resume.

If you are looking to get a government or non-profit job, the focus is less on what school you went to or your GPA or even your skill set. It’s more about whether or not you are personally a good fit for the organization.

For government roles, most of the process is highly standardized and comes with tests. Government roles for administrative assistants such as filing clerks are all civil service roles. They are not predicated upon being a high performer or having a great resume.

On the other hand, if your goal is to work at a large corporation or anything in the professional sector, you’re going to need a great resume, internships, and excellent presentation.

In addition to making sure that your resume will be up to par with the company’s standards, it’s a good idea to review the LinkedIn pages of people who work at the company.  If you review what types of experience, they have then you’ll be better able to tailor your resume to fit the company profile.

Embellish But don’t Lie

One of the main pieces of advice I suggest is to not lie on your resume. You don’t want to put anything down that a future employer might be able to check.

For instance, if you list that you worked at a particular company, then the recruiter might contact them for a professional reference. Or they might just go ahead and pay for a employment verification.

In the case of a government or non-profit, you can be sure that they will conduct a background check in addition to an employment verification. This is because in those industries, performance is less important, so they cannot judge as quickly as the private sector who can and cannot really fill the role.

So, don’t lie on a resume. Embellishment is fine. Some ideas on how to embellish include boosting your job responsibilities. 

You might also ask a family member of friend who runs a business to vouch for you having worked for them in some capacity. Just be sure to discuss well in advance how you will handle the reference should they be contacted.

Don’t list schools you didn’t graduate from on your resume. Don’t list jobs you have never worked. Don’t list anything that can be proven false by a credentialing department.

Think Temp Jobs at First

One good way to get your foot in the door is to connect with temp staffing agencies. These places won’t normally be able to get you a full time job, but what they can do is get you something to list on a resume.

If you truly have no experience, then you need to get something on your resume that will further your career.

And while it’s true that temp agencies tend to only want their workers to work as temporary workers and never go permanent with a company, it doesn’t matter in this instance. The main thing you are looking to do when you are finding that first administrative job is to secure any job. You want that entry level job to create a better resume.

Once you have that job on your resume, getting another will be much easier. So don’t discount using a temp agency to find yourself work.

So, How Do You Get That Admin Job Without Having Experience?

Alright, you’ve read a lot of information here, and you’re probally ready for the inside scoop.

Well, here’s my suggestion on how to land an administtraive job without experience.

First, determine what sort of ondissty you have a good chance of landing a job in.

Did you go to college? If so, was it a good school? Did you study something like Communications, Marketing, Psych, Economcis, Philosophy or English? If so, then you can try and land a job at a higher end firm. Private Equity, Hedge Funds, Investment Banks, etc… Though most of the time these jobs are lined up using internships.

If you didn’t go to college or if you went to a college that’s not an elite school, or if you studied something such as Human Resources, Business, or some generic coursework, then it will be difficult to land a job at a prestegious firm. They simply won’t think you have the intellectual ability to handle the task.

If you didn’t go to a good college (which is a relatifve term, but most people understand what that means) then you will want to check out local businesses, or large companies that have many internal roles to fill.

It would even benefit you to seek out temp agency. While they are not going to get you a permanant role (they make money by keeping you on their temporary staff) they can pad your resume out.

Here’s my list of methods to use:

• Direclty Apply via Company Websites
• Use Indeed/Craigslist/Monster/Local Messageboards
• Use Connections
• Non-Profits (low pay, easy work)
• Temp Roles (low pay, unsteady, but pads the resume)
• Internships- These Can Turn Into Real Jobs
• Government Civil Service Exam (get the job by passing an exam)