This administrative assistant job description is yours to copy, edit and post. It lists concrete office duties (calendars, records, invoices, visitor desk, supply orders) instead of vague "supports the team" filler, so applicants can see the actual job. After the template you'll find what the role looks like day to day, 2025 U.S. pay data from O*NET, sample interview questions and tips for a post that gets better applicants.
Administrative assistant job description template
What an administrative assistant does
An administrative assistant's day is a stream of small requests that all need to be right. Morning might mean clearing the shared inbox, confirming three meetings and fixing a room conflict. By lunch they've logged a stack of invoices, ordered toner and updated a client contact list. The afternoon brings a visitor at the front desk, a last-minute slide deck and notes from a staff meeting. O*NET's task list for the occupation reads much the same way: answering phones, greeting visitors, maintaining databases and filing systems, operating office equipment and scheduling appointments.
Admins work with nearly everyone. They take requests from managers, coordinate with finance on invoices and expenses, help HR with onboarding paperwork and deal with outside vendors, couriers and building staff. Good ones become the person everyone asks first.
Company size changes the job. At a startup or small office, one admin may also handle reception, light bookkeeping, IT tickets and event planning, so breadth matters more than polish. At a large company, the role is narrower: supporting one department, working inside formal systems for purchasing and records, and following set procedures. If your role leans toward one senior leader, you are probably hiring an executive assistant instead.
Skills and qualifications
Most of these jobs don't need a degree. In O*NET's education survey for this occupation, 50% of respondents said new hires need a high school diploma or equivalent, 22% said an associate's degree and 11% said a bachelor's. No license is required, so a short practical exercise tells you more than credentials do.
Salary
O*NET files this role under Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive (43-6014.00). That's a broad group: it includes department secretaries, office assistants and administrative clerks as well as admins. Using 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, O*NET shows a U.S. median of $47,540 a year ($22.86 an hour). The 10th percentile is $33,280 and the 90th percentile is $66,350.
Location moves the number a lot. O*NET's California median for the same group is $55,400, so check your state on O*NET's local wage page before you set a range. Then put that range in the post: a growing number of states and cities require pay transparency in job ads, and admin applicants compare pay closely.
Interview questions for administrative assistant candidates
- "Two directors both want the only free conference room at 10 a.m. tomorrow. What do you do?" Strong candidates check whether either meeting can move or go virtual, ask about priority instead of guessing, and confirm the result in writing with both people.
- "Walk me through how you keep track of open requests." Look for a real system, like a task list, flagged email folders or a shared tracker, plus a habit of closing the loop with the requester.
- "A vendor calls angry that an invoice is 45 days late. How do you handle the call?" Good answers stay courteous, take details, check the payment status with finance and give the vendor a specific follow-up time rather than an empty promise.
- "Tell me about a time you caught a mistake before it went out." Listen for a specific example in STAR form, and for whether they changed something so the mistake wouldn't happen again.
- "How would you set up a filing structure for a new project folder?" Clear naming rules, dates in a sortable format and access limits for sensitive files show someone who thinks about the next person who searches.
Our full set of administrative assistant interview questions adds more scenarios, red flags and a 1 to 4 scoring rubric. If several people interview each candidate, give everyone the same interview scorecard template so their scores compare.
Writing tips for this role
- List your actual tools. "Proficient in computers" means nothing. "Outlook calendars, Excel pivot tables and our HR system" tells applicants exactly what they'll use.
- Be honest about the mix. If the job is 60% front desk and 40% paperwork, say so. Candidates who want a quiet back-office role will self-select out, and you'll avoid early turnover.
- Include the title variants people search. Candidates look for "administrative assistant," "admin assistant," "office assistant" and "secretary." Use your main title, then mention one alternate in the role summary.
- Skip the degree requirement unless the work really needs one. Most admins enter the field without a bachelor's, and requiring one filters out experienced people for no gain.
- Say who they support. "Supports a 12-person engineering team" sets expectations far better than "supports various stakeholders." If the job is mostly running an office, compare with our office manager template.
Screening administrative assistant candidates with AI
Admin postings often draw hundreds of similar resumes. NTRVSTA scores and ranks each one against your job description, then runs a live first-round interview with an AI interviewer, by video avatar or audio only, that candidates can take at any hour. The questions adapt as the conversation goes, and behavioral prompts follow the STAR method, so you hear how someone handled a real scheduling conflict or a difficult caller rather than a rehearsed list of strengths.
The hiring manager gets a score breakdown that covers communication and English proficiency, plus video snippets of key moments and a shareable report before deciding who moves to the practical exercise. To understand what goes into those scores, read how AI interviews are scored.
Questions
What's the difference between an administrative assistant and a secretary?
Today they are mostly the same job under different names. O*NET groups them together as Secretaries and Administrative Assistants. "Secretary" is still common in schools, government and law offices, while most companies now say administrative assistant or office assistant. Use the title your candidates search for, and add the other in the post if your team uses it.
Should an administrative assistant job require a college degree?
Usually not. In O*NET's survey, half of respondents said a high school diploma is the requirement for new hires. Ask for strong writing, organization and software skills instead, and test them with a short work sample. A degree requirement shrinks the pool without telling you much about how someone will run a calendar or an inbox.
What typing speed should I ask for?
Only set a number if the job is heavy on transcription or data entry, and then test it rather than trusting a resume. For most admin roles, accuracy, clear writing and comfort with your tools matter more than raw words per minute.
How is an administrative assistant different from an executive assistant?
An administrative assistant usually supports a team or department with shared tasks like scheduling, records and supplies. An executive assistant supports one or two senior leaders closely, managing their calendar, travel, correspondence and meetings, often with access to confidential information. Pay reflects the difference: O*NET's 2025 medians are $47,540 for administrative assistants and $76,590 for executive assistants.
Want to watch an adaptive AI interview handle an admin first round? Book a 20-minute demo, or try a sample interview on your own. More templates live in our job descriptions library, and our guide on how to write a job description covers the basics for any role.
