Secretary CV Examples & Writing Guide

This is a CV for an experienced office secretary who supports a group of managers at a mid-sized engineering consultancy. The name is made up. Look at what sits in the top third: the number of people supported, the software, the typing speed and the meeting and travel volume. That is what an office manager reads before anything else.

The person reading your CV is usually the office manager or the senior manager you would support. They are not hiring for potential. They are hiring someone who will keep the office running from day one. Four things decide whether you get a call.

• Who you supported and how many. "Secretary" on its own says nothing. "Secretary to 4 managers and a 22-person engineering team" tells them the load you can carry.
• The software, named. Outlook diaries, Word, Excel, Teams or Zoom, and the sector system: EMIS Web or SystmOne in GP surgeries, Epic or Cerner in hospitals, a case management system such as LEAP, Clio or Proclaim in law firms, SIMS, Arbor or Bromcom in schools. Spell out the ones the job advert mentions.
• Accuracy and speed. Typing speed, minutes sent within 24 hours, zero corrections on reports, expense claims processed in 7 days. Numbers like these are your proof of reliability.
• Discretion. Secretaries see salaries, legal matters and personnel files. One line that shows you handled confidential information (HR files, client contracts, pupil records) matters more than any soft-skill word.

“The secretary CVs I call back tell me how many diaries they ran and what happened to the minutes. If you make me guess whether you can handle four people's schedules, I move on to someone who told me.”

Use a personal statement (3 to 4 lines) once you have worked in an office. Use a career objective only when you have no office experience yet or are switching from another field; keep it about what you bring, not what you want. Every version names the setting, the number of people supported and the software.

Most secretary CVs copy the job description ("answered phones, filed documents"). The manager already knows what a secretary does. Show volume, systems and what your work prevented or fixed.

Keep the skills section to 10 to 14 items a manager can test or verify. Name the software. "Computer skills" is worthless; "Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP)" gets you a call.

• Core software: Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams; Google Workspace; Adobe Acrobat; Zoom. Add the exact version or features if the advert does (mail merge, pivot tables, SharePoint libraries).
• Sector systems: EMIS Web, SystmOne, Epic or Cerner (medical); LEAP, Clio, Proclaim, iManage, BigHand and HMCTS online services (legal); SIMS, Arbor, Bromcom and InVentry (schools); Concur, SAP or Oracle for expenses and purchasing (corporate).
• Office skills: diary management for several people, minute-taking, travel and expense claims, multi-line phones, post and courier handling, records management, purchase orders, event and meeting set-up.
• Measurable skills: typing speed (wpm and accuracy), shorthand (Teeline) or audio typing if you have it, data entry speed (keystrokes per hour) for heavy-entry roles.
• Soft skills managers actually look for: discretion with confidential files, calm under interruption, follow-through on action points, plain professional writing. Show these in bullets rather than listing "team player".

The structure stays the same. What changes is the first line of the personal statement, the systems you name and the qualifications you lead with.

• Legal secretary: name the practice area (litigation, conveyancing, family, private client), the number of fee earners you support, court filing experience (HMCTS online services), document types (claim forms, witness statements, court bundles) and key dates diary management. Qualifications: a legal secretary qualification from CILEX or ILSPA, or a paralegal qualification if you have one. A tested audio typing speed is a common requirement.
• Medical secretary: name the specialty and setting (NHS trust, private hospital, GP surgery), the number of consultants or GPs you support, the clinical system (Epic, Cerner, EMIS Web, SystmOne), clinic letters from digital dictation, referral-to-treatment tracking, medical terminology and information governance training. Qualifications: a Level 2 or 3 medical secretary or medical administration qualification, such as those offered through AMSPAR, is the one most adverts mention.
• Ward clerk (hospital): this is a different job from a medical secretary. Lead with the ward (ICU, acute medical ward, A&E), bed numbers, admissions, discharges and transfers on the patient administration system, and handling calls between nurses, doctors and families. NHS adverts state the Agenda for Change band (often Band 2); check the advert for any required training.
• School secretary: pupil numbers, the management information system (SIMS, Arbor, Bromcom), attendance reporting, admissions, visitor sign-in and safeguarding, supply cover and parent communication. Schools require an enhanced DBS check; First Aid at Work is a common plus.

No licence or registration is needed to work as a secretary in the UK, so nothing here is legally required. Qualifications still help because they prove software and office skills without a test. List them with the awarding body and year.

• Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS): Word, Excel, Outlook or PowerPoint, Associate or Expert level. The most useful line for a general office secretary.
• Business administration: a Level 2 or 3 Diploma in Business Administration, or the Level 3 Business Administrator apprenticeship. The recognised route into office roles if you have no degree.
• Typing and shorthand: a tested typing or audio typing speed, and Teeline shorthand if you have it. Useful in legal, medical and senior PA roles; state the speed.
• Setting-specific: a medical secretary qualification (for example through AMSPAR) for medical roles; a CILEX or ILSPA legal secretary qualification for law firms; First Aid at Work and safeguarding training for schools.
• Education: GCSEs in English and maths at grade 4 (C) or above are the usual minimum. A Level 2 or 3 qualification in business administration or a related subject helps at entry level. List grades on your first CV; after a few years in work, the qualification and year are enough.

Most people who search this have office-adjacent experience they are not counting: retail with a till and a rota, a school office volunteer post, a church or club where they kept the minutes, a hotel reception. Managers hiring an entry-level secretary want three things: proof you can type and use Office, proof you turn up and stay organised, and a calm phone manner.

1. 1Lead with a short career objective that names your typing speed, software and any certificate (MOS Word takes a few weeks to earn and is one of the cheapest ways to add a credential).
2. 2Add a Skills section right under it: Word, Excel, Outlook or Gmail, Google Docs, multi-line phone, data entry, filing, booking apps you have used.
3. 3Turn any experience into office bullets. Retail: "processed 150+ transactions a shift and cashed up the till." Volunteer treasurer: "kept minutes and tracked a £3,000 budget in Excel." School office volunteer: "answered the reception phone and signed in visitors two mornings a week."
4. 4List coursework that counts: touch typing, business communication, office procedures, medical or legal terminology.
5. 5Keep it to one page and send a short cover letter. For secretary jobs the letter is your writing sample; managers read it.

Your CV is itself a work sample. A secretary who sends a CV with uneven margins, two fonts and a typo has failed the first test. Keep it clean and let the formatting show the skill.

• Length: one page if you are early in your career; two pages is normal in the UK for experienced secretaries and PAs. Never more than two.
• Order: header, personal statement or career objective, skills, experience, education, qualifications. Put skills high because managers scan for software first.
• One column, one font (Calibri, Arial or Georgia at 10.5 to 11.5 points), consistent dates, no tables or text boxes. Applicant tracking systems (Workday, iCIMS, Taleo, Teamtailor) read plain layouts best.
• No photo, no date of birth, no marital status and no full home address: your town or city is enough. UK employers do not expect these details on a CV.
• Keywords to mirror from the advert: the exact software names, "diary management", "minute-taking" or "meeting minutes", "travel arrangements", "expense claims", "records management", "reception", "confidential", "data entry", and the setting words ("legal", "medical", "school").
• Save as PDF unless the portal asks for Word: Renee-Castellano-Secretary-CV.pdf. Keep a .docx copy that looks identical, because some offices paste CVs into their own systems.

Run the file through the cvplex ATS checker with the job advert pasted in. It shows which software names and duties from the advert are missing and whether your header parsed cleanly.