Writing a strong administrative assistant job description is a key step in hiring the perfect candidate for your small business. It should include the role’s details, requirements, and compensation, as well as information about your company’s culture and application process. Explore the three steps below to ensure the job description you create clearly outlines your expectations—for the benefit of future admin hires and current employees alike.
To help you with the process, we created an administrative assistant job description template for you to download and modify to fit your company’s needs.
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Step 1: List Position Details
The first part of the job description includes items specific to the administrative assistant position. This information is normally listed at the top of the page as a bulleted list or in a box. The most common details are listed below:
- Title: This is the role’s complete job title. Examples include personal assistant, virtual assistant, administrator, receptionist, office manager, office assistant, admin assistant, and executive assistant.
- Department: Identify the department that the employee will work in. Common departments for administrative assistants include Human Resources, Operations, and Administration.
- Classification: This designates whether the position is full-time, part-time, seasonal, or temporary and if the job is exempt or nonexempt. Due to the low pay nature of many administrative assistant roles, they are typically nonexempt, meaning they are eligible for overtime.
- Compensation: Indicate the salary or hourly band and range for the position.
- Reports To: List the job title that this position reports to. It is good practice to list just the position and not the name of the manager, as this is subject to change.
- Direct Reports: Identify whether this role has any positions reporting to them (i.e., an administrative manager who has aides). You can either put a yes or no designation if you think your organizational structure may change, or you can list the positions by name.
Step 2: Indicate Job Responsibilities & Requirements
This section describes the tasks that your company expects a person in this role to complete. This means thinking about who the administrative assistant is aiding and why. Will the job be most focused on general employees, executives, clients, or customers? Do you need someone who is remote or on-site? Will they be managing office tasks such as supplies and inventory?
List a general overview of some of the administrative tasks that the person will perform. Common duties include:
- Answering phone calls on the company’s main line
- Being the first point of contact for potential clients at the front desk
- Creating presentation decks and taking meeting minutes
- Setting up “All-Hands” meetings, conference calls, and other events
- Planning annual employee appreciation day
Your company’s needs may change between the time you create a job description and when you post a job opening, so you should focus on basic requirements that apply to all administrative assistants. Examples include:
- Minimum [X] years of experience worked as an administrative assistant or a related position
- Minimum education requirement
- Microsoft Office skills (e.g., Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
- Verbal and written communication skills
- Experience setting up meetings and conference calls
- Experience in event planning
- Note-taking skills
Step 3: Identify Compensation & Benefits
Compensation details play a vital role when crafting a job description for an admin assistant. It’s needed to stay competitive so you can attract top talent and retain current employees by making them feel valued. According to Glassdoor, the average administrative assistant salary is around $52,000 a year.
The salary amount can vary depending on these factors:
- Location: Admin assistants in metropolitan areas or regions with a higher cost of living typically earn higher hourly rates than those in places with a lower cost of living.
- Experience: Candidates with several years of experience, especially those with specialized skills or industry-specific knowledge, may demand a higher salary.
- Industry: Sectors like finance, legal, and technology tend to offer higher wages due to the complexity and demands of these industries.
- Job responsibilities: Admin assistants responsible for managing teams, overseeing projects, handling high-level tasks, or contributing to strategic planning generally receive higher pay.
Specify whether overtime is available or necessary and if your company offers bonuses, incentives, or additional perks. Include a benefits summary that outlines what you offer, such as healthcare, wellness programs, paid time off, flexible work options, and retirement plans. To avoid confusion, clarify in the job description if these benefits are only available to full-time employees.
Keep in mind that the rise of remote work has expanded opportunities in administrative support, making competitive compensation and employee benefits more important than ever. Clearly detail these elements in your job description to help you attract the right administrative assistant.
Turning the Admin Assistant Job Description into a Job Ad
A job advertisement is distinctly different from a job description—but certain sections share the same information. A simple way to structure your administrative assistant job advertisement is to use your base job description and add certain sections, like a discussion about your company’s culture and instructions for applying.
These sections are already in the template provided above. Simply delete these sections if you want your admin assistant job description to remain a simple job description.
Introduce your company culture in this brief section. While good company culture has key components, you should mention what makes yours unique.
Some examples include:
- Company size (small or large)
- Company work process (collaborative or individual)
- Company office’s environment (traditional and structured or fun and unconventional)
This will go a long way in ensuring that you find future applicants who want to work and add to your current culture. It will also be helpful in case you decide to turn your job description into a job posting. Don’t make the mistake of leaving out things potential employees might want to know, such as career advancement opportunities, work-life balance, and your company’s mission and values.
If your company’s mission is to reduce its environmental impact, increase diversity and inclusion, or provide an exceptional customer experience, this is the place to highlight that information. If your company doesn’t have one yet, check our collation of small business mission statements for some inspiration.
Including instructions on how to apply will help you repurpose your job description as a job advertisement quickly. Companies can use a third-party job board like Indeed or LinkedIn, encourage candidates to apply on their websites, or ask applicants to email their job applications. For clarity and simplicity, this information should be standard among your jobs, so you should be able to use it on all job descriptions.
Tips for Finding the Right Administrative Assistant
Creating a job description starts the first step to finding an administrative assistant for your business—but finding the right employee for your needs can be a totally different story. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when recruiting an admin assistant.
- Review your admin assistant job description: Check whether the position details in your job description are still correct and update it if the role has evolved through time. This will help you when screening applicants, as it provides a quick checklist of things to look for in a candidate.
- Tailor your job ad: As stated above, some quick additions can quickly turn your job description into a job advertisement. Besides that, ensure you’re tailoring the ad to something that will attract candidates. Keeping your salary bands updated and competitive, highlighting your benefits, and detailing your company culture will make your open role more attractive to potential employees.
- Use multiple recruitment channels: Casting a wide net will allow you to find as many potential candidates as possible. Post on multiple job boards, partner with school graduate internship boards, and attending job fairs are easy places to start. To start, check our roundup of the best job posting websites.
- Assess cultural fit: This is one aspect that helps determine whether a candidate will last long and thrive in your company. To check this, ask open-ended interview questions to discover what type of team environment candidates thrive in and what they expect from their colleagues and managers.
- Consider long-term career goals and aspirations: This is another factor of an applicant’s success in the role they’re applying for. See how their vision can align with your company’s objectives and the growth opportunities you offer. This is also where you want to reiterate the role’s responsibilities and clarify what’s expected of them from day to day.
- Structure your onboarding process: A thorough process sets your new hires up for success from when they start. Apart from giving them the training and resources they need, it’s crucial to give them a rundown of what life in your company is like. Check our new employee onboarding guide for the best practices to setting up your process.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes, administrative assistants can do their work remotely. With the widespread adoption of digital communication tools and cloud-based platforms, they can handle almost any task remotely, from managing schedules to coordinating meetings and organizing files.
The level of experience needed for an admin assistant depends on the team and department they’ll support. If you’re hiring for a position that involves supporting executives or handling complex tasks—like project management or high-volume communication—you may need someone with a higher level of experience.
Applicants with minimal experience or recent graduates may be a great fit for entry-level or general administrative support, especially if they have strong organizational skills or a keen eye for detail.
Admin assistants are essential across many industries, but some of the top sectors include healthcare, finance, legal, technology, and education. Admin assistants assist with data entry, scheduling, client support, project coordination, document preparation, and more.
These tasks make admin assistants indispensable for the smooth operation of any company.
Bottom Line
An administrative assistant job description is a comprehensive document that lists the job details, duties, and requirements expected of the position. It also includes information on compensation and benefits for full transparency. With all these in place, an effective job description will help you hire the right administrative assistants for your company in the future.
