CV Writing Tips: TOP Secrets To Writing a Powerful CV for Administration Jobs

By Tabitha Makumi,

What makes one stand out in a field where there are so many people looking for administration jobs?

“A secret to beat competition is by using a well crafted CV which indeed explains why the recruiter should hire you and leave out the other hundreds of CV applying for the same position,” advises Mr Victor Kamanda of Flexi Personnel.

According to Mr Kamanda, a person applying for administration jobs should always make sure that they are able to highlight the most important skills needed for administration jobs which they gained in their previous jobs.

“To get through the short listing and get invited for an interview, you have to list your specific duties and responsibilities which make you the right candidate for the job.”

But not so fast, Martin Githaiga, a recruitment officer at Corporate Staffing Services agrees with Mr Kamanda but he adds that, “For most people who apply for administration jobs especially the entry level positions, I find that they are very brief. He explains that, “Yes your CV should be brief but not so much as writing a one liner duty such as “manning the reception” and moving to your next duty.”

He asserts that, “Of course as a recruiter I know you were manning the reception, but apart from that , what else were you doing? He adds that, I advice people to take a rough paper and list all their duties and responsibilities and to do so in the order of their priority, then they can list say eight of them on the CV by favouring what the recruiter is asking for in the job advert.”

As an example he says, “If maintaining the general filing system of the company or even planning and preparing meetings to maintaining an adequate inventory of office supplies were your duties while ‘manning the reception’, then you should list that on your CV.”

Mr Kamanda adds that there are certain keywords every recruiter hiring for administration jobs is always looking for. “We are talking of buzz words such as good organizations skills, a quick learner, good communication skills, ability to multi task, technical knowhow, excellent time manager and all this skills which administration jobs call for.

But he is quick to caution that, and while one is stating their skills and trying to convince the recruiter that indeed they are right person for the job, Mr Kamanda says, “It’s important to make sure that you’re doing more than simply making a claim like most people do and assume the recruiter will put two and two together and get the hitch.

Speaking to June Njoroge a career advisor specializing in CV writing at Corporate Staffing Services, she shares advice on the concern raised by Mr Kamanda by saying that, “ A surefire way of making sure that you are not making empty claims on your CV is by for example if you are claiming to be detail oriented which is a common skill in administration jobs, give specific examples and include important details that show that you are indeed detail-oriented.”

She sums it up by saying that, “Remember the point here is to back your claims up. If you worked on a major project where little things mattered greatly, include that. For example in describing detail-oriented strengths you have to explain how you have created checklists in the past to make sure important details aren’t overlooked in the office or you can discuss of ways you reviewed documents and files to ensure that all forms were accurate and complete.”

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