How to Write a Secretary Resume Summary

Secretaries work at the front desks of companies, and typically serve as first contact with potential customers, vendors, and job interview candidates. Main secretarial responsibilities include answering phone calls, providing information on the business, and organizing appointments.

What a Resume Needs Today

A clear and concise secretary resume objective is now . . . a thing of the past. While your career objective is most definitely important to you, it is of little interest to the hiring manager. Why? Because it doesn’t address the pressing business need the hiring manager or company has. A secretary resume summary is now the way to go. The resume summary will occupy the real estate that your objective once occupied—it goes at the top of your resume, underneath your header, and should consist of approximately three to six sentences.

Unlike the secretary resume objective, which talks about your personal career goals, the resume summary will highlight your core competencies and major achievements. Vet out what you’re most proud of, and what would be most compelling to a hiring manager.

Don’t Go Into All the Details

Know your audience, and craft your summary to appeal to them. Remember that the summary acts as a quick (and attention-getting) overview of your key skills, talents, and achievements. You’ll have way more room in the Work History section of your resume to go into great detail on notable achievements tied to past and present jobs, so focus the Summary on your key professional attributes (the ones that will really make a hiring manager sit up and take notice).

Sample Secretary Resume Summary

Here’s an example of a solid secretary resume summary:

Dedicated, client-focused secretarial professional with deep knowledge of office management procedures. Proficient understanding of MS Office and vendor management systems. Excellent customer service, with strong attention paid to detail, organization, and presentation skills.

Consider using adjectives such as adept, excellent, creative, and smart to describe yourself. Opt for verbs that showcase your talents, such as manage, lead, execute, develop, create, implement. Word choice is important, and you want to be sure your secretary resume summary stands out by using language that is clear, powerful, and descriptive.

Think you might need help with creating a summary that takes the place of your secretary resume objective? A resume builder can help with that. You can also check out our secretary resume example for guidance on how to get started with yours.

The Bottom Line

Although the objective of any resume is to get you moved forward in the next step of the hiring process, a secretary resume objective will tell the hiring manager that not only are you out of touch with current trends, but that you are also focused on yourself, rather than on them. Instead of an objective, write a great secretary resume summary, one that commandingly showcases the unique and valuable skills you bring to the table!

LiveCareer offers help at every step of the job seeker’s journey. Find resume templates and resume examples for use, plus a Cover Letter Builder, and guidance on how to answer some of the most common interview questions.

Additional Job-Seeker Resources

• How to Write a Resume
• How to Write a Cover Letter
• Resume Templates
• Cover Letter Templates