Examples & writing guide
Personal Assistant CV example and writing guide
Updated 3 July 2026
This personal assistant CV example shows how to present administrative experience without turning the page into a list of routine tasks. Use the guidance to write a focused CV that demonstrates sound judgement, careful organisation and measurable results.
Examples by experience level
Junior Personal Assistant
TemplateGrey Frame5 / 5
Why this works
This example turns transferable reception and administration experience into credible evidence of diary control, careful communication and reliable follow-through.
Continue writing your CVPersonal Assistant
TemplateNavy Atlas4 / 5
Why this works
This example pairs core PA responsibilities with credible evidence of diary control, travel planning, communication, confidentiality and measurable administrative improvements.
Continue writing your CVSenior Personal Assistant
TemplateBlue Horizon3 / 5
Why this works
This example shows trusted executive support through diary ownership, careful gatekeeping, international travel coordination and measurable improvements across a demanding workload.
Continue writing your CVJunior vs senior: what changes
| Aspect | Junior | Senior |
|---|---|---|
| Personal statement | Lead with transferable administrative experience, reliability and evidence of learning quickly. | Open with the scale of executive support, complexity handled and improvements delivered. |
| Diary and meeting evidence | Show accurate scheduling for one manager, a team or a busy shared calendar. | Show proactive control of complex diaries, competing priorities and senior stakeholder meetings. |
| Communication | Demonstrate professional handling of calls, emails and straightforward enquiries. | Demonstrate judgement when filtering communications, managing access and representing an executive with clients. |
| Travel and expenses | Include well-organised bookings, itineraries or expense administration with modest, defensible measures. | Show coordination of complex itineraries, last-minute changes and larger volumes of expense reporting. |
| Autonomy | Emphasise accuracy, responsiveness and following established procedures. | Emphasise anticipating needs, resolving clashes and protecting executive time with limited supervision. |
| Leadership and improvement | Mention small process improvements, handovers or support given to colleagues. | Quantify standards introduced, administrative teams coordinated or processes improved across a wider function. |
How to write a personal assistant CV
Use a reverse-chronological format and aim for one or two pages. Put your contact details first, followed by a short personal statement, skills, employment history, education and any relevant extras. A plain layout with clear headings is easier to scan than columns, graphics or decorative rating bars.
| Section | What to include |
|---|---|
| Personal statement | Your level, the setting you have worked in and two or three strengths backed by context |
| Experience | Recent roles first, with achievement bullets beneath each job |
| Skills | A compact selection matched to the vacancy |
| Education | Qualification, institution and completion year |
| Extras | Relevant languages, volunteering or professional development only |
Tailor the opening third of your personal assistant CV to the employer. If the advert centres on diary management, calls, email, travel or meeting administration, make the strongest matching evidence easy to find. Keep the personal statement to two or three sentences rather than repeating the rest of the CV.
Under each job, combine the action you took, its scale and the result. Select skills you can prove through your work history. List education briefly unless you are early in your career, in which case useful modules, projects or administrative placements can carry more weight.
Personal statement examples
Personal Assistant with four years of experience supporting senior managers in a busy professional services office. Skilled in coordinating complex diaries, arranging multi-stop travel and handling sensitive correspondence with care. Reorganised meeting and approval routines to reduce diary clashes and help leaders respond to priority requests sooner.
Hard-working Personal Assistant looking for a new challenge. I am organised, good with people and able to do many office tasks. I would like to join a successful company where I can develop my career.
Writing your experience
A job description records what you were expected to do. A strong experience section shows how well you did it. Start each bullet with a clear action, add the scope of the work, then give the result. Useful measures include the number of diaries supported, weekly meeting volume, travel bookings, expense value, response time, scheduling conflicts resolved or hours saved. These figures should come from records or evidence you can defend.
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Managed a busy diary | Coordinated a director's diary across 25 weekly meetings, cutting double bookings from six a month to one |
| Arranged business travel | Booked 18 domestic and international trips in six months, keeping every itinerary within the approved budget |
| Dealt with emails and calls | Triaged about 80 weekly messages and calls, escalating urgent matters within 15 minutes |
The stronger versions work because each gives the reader a picture of pace, responsibility and outcome. You do not need a dramatic percentage in every line. A reliable count, turnaround time or reduction in errors is often more convincing than a vague claim about improving efficiency.
Personal Assistants handle diary scheduling, phone calls, emails, travel, accommodation and general administration such as filing and expense reporting. Minute taking can also form part of the role. Write about these duties selectively: choose the examples that best match the vacancy and reveal judgement rather than copying every task from the job description.
For senior work, show anticipation and gatekeeping, as expected in an executive assistant role. You might explain how you protected preparation time, resolved competing requests or prepared an executive for decisions. If you coordinated with clients, state who was involved and what your intervention prevented or accelerated. For entry-level applications, draw on reception, retail, hospitality, volunteering or study projects where you organised people, handled enquiries or kept accurate records.
Good opening verbs include coordinated, prioritised, scheduled, arranged, reconciled, prepared, streamlined, screened, resolved and drafted. Avoid inflated verbs when a simpler one is more accurate. Keep each bullet to one or two lines, vary the evidence, and place the strongest result first under each role.
Key skills & ATS keywords
Hard skills
Soft skills
ATS keywords
Education & certifications
There is no need to pad this section. List each qualification in reverse-chronological order with its exact title, provider and completion year. If you are still studying, state the expected completion date. Recent applicants can add one short line on a relevant project or placement; experienced candidates usually need only the core details.
The available routes are optional rather than universal entry requirements. The Institute of Executive Assistants and Administrators (IEAA) offers the Level 3 PA Certificate Course and the PA Diploma. Pitman Training offers the PA/Secretarial Diploma, Executive PA Diploma and Professional Executive PA Diploma. These courses can normally be studied over one or two years. OCR Examinations Board offers Business Administration Courses that can normally be studied over the same period. A Business Administration Degree is another optional route.
Choose what to include according to the vacancy and your actual background. A completed course can support an early-career application, but it should not displace stronger evidence from paid work, placements or volunteering. Do not describe an optional route as mandatory. If you have no named qualification, keep the section factual and use your employment bullets to demonstrate relevant administrative ability.
Write credential names exactly as awarded. Do not shorten titles in a way that could imply a different course, and do not list training that you merely plan to take as completed. Older qualifications can be compressed to one line so the reader reaches your recent evidence quickly.
Common mistakes to avoid
AvoidListing routine duties without showing how well they were handled.
InsteadTurn each duty into evidence of scope or outcome, such as the number of diaries coordinated, meetings arranged or expense reports processed. Use only figures you can defend.
AvoidWriting a generic personal statement that could suit any office role.
InsteadName the type of support provided and focus on relevant evidence such as diary coordination, inbox handling, travel planning and discreet communication.
AvoidLeaving confidentiality as an unsupported claim.
InsteadShow how you handled sensitive information within agreed access and sharing boundaries, without revealing private details about an employer or executive.
AvoidOverloading the skills section with vague traits such as 'hard-working' or 'friendly'.
InsteadPrioritise specific Personal Assistant capabilities, then support softer qualities through concise examples in the experience section.
AvoidUsing one long paragraph to describe every administrative task.
InsteadUse three or four short achievement bullets per role, beginning with a strong verb and ending with a clear result or defensible measure.
AvoidSubmitting the same CV for Personal Assistant and senior executive support vacancies.
InsteadAdjust the emphasis to match the vacancy: transferable organisation for junior posts, broader coordination for established roles, and leadership, judgement and scale for senior posts.
Frequently asked questions
Aim for one page if you are at entry level and have limited experience; two pages usually give established candidates enough room. Keep only material that helps prove your fit for the vacancy.
Use examples from reception, retail, hospitality, study or volunteering that prove scheduling, communication, organisation and careful handling of information. Put the strongest transferable evidence near the top rather than apologising for the missing job title.
No. A British-style CV normally leaves out both a photo and date of birth, giving the space to evidence relevant experience and skills.
In two or three sentences, state your level of experience, the type of support you offer and one or two defensible strengths or outcomes. Tailor the wording to the executive, private employer or team described in the vacancy.
Do not add a credential merely to fill space. If you hold a role-specific qualification, list its exact title, provider and completion year; otherwise give more space to relevant experience, education and transferable evidence.
Translate earlier work into PA evidence: managing bookings, coordinating people, handling enquiries, keeping records or protecting sensitive information. Retain the original job titles, but write the bullets around duties and outcomes that transfer honestly.
From example to application
Turn this personal assistant example into a CV that sounds like you.
Keep the structure that works. Tailor the details around your experience, strengths, and the role you want.