How to Write an Admin Assistant Cover Letter That Leaves Employers Speechless

When you’re in the market for a new admin assistant position, it’s easy to focus on your resume and the job interview. Those are easily two very important factors when it comes to impressing your (hopefully) future employer. However, there is another opportunity for you to stand out to employers that you may be overlooking: writing a great cover letter.

As an admin assistant, you need to show employers that you have the right skills, qualifications, experience, and personality for the job. But getting all of that to fit on your resume is easier said than done. This is where a great admin assistant cover letter can go a long way in showing employers that you deserve to be considered and given a job interview.

Having helped some of the nation’s top companies find quality admin assistants, we’ve read quite a few cover letters in our time. To help you write a cover letter that gets an employer’s attention and paints yourself in a great light, view our cover letter writing tips for admin assistants.

1. Dive Past the Resume

Your resume is a great way to list all of your relevant admin assistant skills and past work experience. However, you don’t want to repeat your resume verbatim when writing your cover letter. Instead of listing your skills and accomplishments like you would in a resume, the cover letter is more like an elevator pitch to secure the job interview.

Use your cover letter as a way to dig deeper into your past work experience. Instead of repeating past responsibilities, take the opportunity to share why that responsibility was important and what you learned from it. This shows employers that you understand the value of what you’ve experienced in the past and can appreciate what past employers have taught you. To give you an idea of what to write, read our example below.

• As an admin assistant for XYZ Company, I learned the importance of anticipating the team’s needs. Instead of waiting for instruction, I would frequently review team calendars and workloads to find opportunities where I could assist them. This allowed me to make an impact without having to ask for direction.

2. Share How You Can Help as an Admin Assistant

A cover letter introduces employers to who you are, why you want the role, as well as why you’re the best person to hire as an admin assistant. In other words, your cover letter can bring your candidacy to life, whereas your resume can’t.

You can start by walking employers through the many ways you can help them as an admin assistant. This may include keeping them on schedule, prioritizing their tasks, or keeping the entire team organized. The main points to touch on are the different benefits you can bring to the table. For inspiration on how to tackle this, we wrote an example for you:

• I believe I can help the XYZ Company team by keeping the team organized, on schedule, and assisting in any necessary research. I will work hard to take work off of your team’s plate and provide them with insightful information that helps them reach their goals.

3. Find a Way to Stand Out

Admin assistant job openings are highly competitive — putting yourself up for a role means that you’ll have to compete against others doing the same. And having read countless resumes and cover letters for a wide range of roles, they all start to sound the same after a while.

Help your cover letter stand out from the crowd by including bits of your personality or personal story. To further stand out, you can also try comparing yourself to other candidates — just be careful to keep it delicate. For example, instead of writing that you’re a driven admin assistant with a great attitude, you might write:

• Every good admin assistant is organized and able to manage their time wisely. But great admin assistants do it all with grace and positivity, which is something I believe I bring to the table.

4. Change It Up for Each Employer

Your cover letter is your opportunity to wow employers and showcase why you deserve consideration to become their next admin assistant at their company. That’s why you should take the time to tailor each cover letter for the company or position you are applying for.

Before writing your cover letter, do a little research to see if you can find the name of your hiring manager. If you can identify the person that will be reviewing your cover letter and resume, call them out by their name in your letter’s greeting. It’s also a good idea to review the admin assistant job description prior to writing to make sure that you highlight the specific skills, experience, or education they’re looking for in a candidate. In addition, research the company you are applying at to get a feel for their company culture. Then, in your cover letter, detail the personality traits that would make you a good culture fit or addition to the team. You might write something like:

• As a friendly individual who loves working with others, I think I would make a great fit at XYZ Company. Having worked as an admin assistant for the past three years, I also have the knowledge and expertise necessary to produce excellent work.

5. Stay Humble

As job seekers, it’s been ingrained into you that you need to sell yourself in order to get the job you want. While it’s tempting to tout all of your accomplishments, top references, and skills, it’s important that you don’t come off as braggy.

Keep yourself in check as you write your cover letter to make sure that you leave a good impression, not a sour one. For example, if your cover letter becomes a laundry list of reasons why you’re awesome, it’s best to take a step back and tone down the boasting.

What Are Other Must-Haves for Impressing Employers?

Cover letters that are personal, differ from your resume, and address an employer directly leave the best impression. Follow our guidelines above to write an admin assistant cover letter that shows employers you deserve an interview.

Not sure what you should write about in your cover letter? Need help putting together your resume? Include these administrative assistant skills in your resume or cover letter if you want your best chance at scoring an interview.