Executive assistant CV examples · By Lily Shippen, EA recruiter
Executive assistant CV examples: what actually gets shortlisted
I have read tens of thousands of executive assistant CVs, and the ones that get interviews share a structure that has almost nothing to do with the templates most people download. This page shows you three: a real example before and after, with the reasoning a recruiter applies at each line, then two complete CVs written in Margot's interview and marked 81 and 82 out of 100 by the same scorer, to read in full.
Every example below is anonymised but structurally real: these are the patterns I see across the EA CVs that fail, and the rewrites that fixed them.
The before: a CV that describes a job anyone could have held
"Hard working and highly organised Executive Assistant with excellent communication skills, seeking a challenging new role in a fast paced environment."
- Diary management for a busy CEO
- Booking travel and accommodation
- Assisted with board meeting preparation
- Liaised with clients and stakeholders
Nothing here is false. It is just invisible. Ten thousand people can write "diary management for a busy CEO" truthfully, so the line carries no information about you. The profile could be pasted onto any applicant in the pile, and a recruiter reads eight hundred of these a week.
The after: the same career, told with evidence
"Executive Assistant to the CEO of a 400 person fintech through its Series B and C raises. I decide what reaches the CEO and what does not, own the board cycle end to end, and act in the CEO's name when they are unreachable, a trust earned across four years and never withdrawn."
- Hold full authority over the CEO's calendar, protecting two strategic focus days a week and resolving 60% of inbound requests without them ever reaching the CEO.
- Built the board reporting cycle from nothing: nine papers, four committees, distribution moved from the night before to seven days ahead, unmissed for eleven consecutive quarters.
- Cut executive travel spend 18% (£30,000 a year) by renegotiating agency terms nobody had reviewed in six years.
Same person, same job. The difference is that every line now carries scope (400 person fintech, Series B and C), authority (deciding what reaches the CEO, acting in the CEO's name) and numbers (60%, eleven quarters, £30,000). A hiring manager can picture this person in the room. That is what a CV is for.
What every strong executive assistant CV example has in common
A profile that could only be yours
Who you support, at what scale, and what you are trusted with. If your profile would still be true with someone else's name on it, it is not finished.
Achievement bullets with metrics
Budgets, headcounts, savings, volumes, timescales. Rough numbers beat no numbers. "Responsible for events" is a duty; "ran 14 events a year to £120,000 budgets" is evidence.
Authority made explicit
What you decide without asking. Spend limits, calendar authority, who you say no to on your executive's behalf. This is what separates a senior EA CV from an administrative one.
The last two years given the most space
Recruiters read your most recent role first and hardest. A CV that spends equal space on a role from 2014 is telling them your best work is behind you.
Two complete CVs, written in the interview
Both were built in Margot's interview from the candidate's own answers and marked by the same scorer that marks yours. Hannah Reeve and Priya Nair are composites of people I have placed, not real candidates, and every figure is the kind of figure a real CV carries. Read them against your own CV and notice that no line on either says "responsible for".
Hannah Reeve, EA to a managing director, marked 81
A law firm EA applying for a chief executive's office. Notice the profile opens with the thing she is known for, the achievements carry a figure each, and the current role is grouped so a reader can find the board work in a second.
Hannah Reeve
Executive Assistant to the Managing Director, Manchester law firm of 320 staff across three offices
Manchester · linkedin.com/in/hannahreeve
Profile
The thing I am known for at Calder & Rowe is being the person the whole firm comes to when something has to happen today. I moved 90 staff into the new Leeds office over one weekend with no lost working days and the diary running as normal, and I have kept Friday afternoons clear in the Managing Director's diary as thinking time for two years against roughly 45 meetings a week.
My measure is that the Managing Director walks into any meeting with the papers, the room and the people sorted, and I want to hold that same standard for a Chief Executive Officer in professional services or a scale-up.
Key achievements
- Turned board packs from two days late to five days early, eight sets of 14 a year, by bringing in a digital portal that saved about £9,000.
- Held the merger due diligence data room alone, turning round every document request from the other side's lawyers within a day. The deal completed on its set date.
- Cut the average trip cost by about 15% across roughly 60 trips a year with a move to a new travel agency in 2023.
- Brought the £60,000 hospitality and events budget in under forecast three years running, on a monthly check of spend against forecast.
Experience
Executive Assistant to the Managing Director, Calder & Rowe · MARCH 2021 TO PRESENT
The Managing Director holds the partnership board, three offices and the 2024 Leeds move. I hold the diary, the inbox and the board pack.
Executive support
- Run a diary of roughly 45 meetings a week across three offices and London, and rebuild about a third of them each week.
- 300 messages a day: half answered by me, about 20 passed to the Managing Director, the rest to the partner who owns them.
- Move or decline 20 to 30 internal meetings a week on my own judgement, from one-to-ones to supplier pitches and external speaking requests.
- Most internal email to partners and heads of department goes out in the Managing Director's name, and anything with legal content or a fee goes to him.
- About 60 trips a year, mostly UK rail with four or five European, booked and built as door to door itineraries.
Board and events
- Eight partnership board packs a year, plus minutes from roughly 30 board and executive committee meetings, every set out within 48 hours.
- Organise the annual partners' conference for 60 partners, the Christmas party for 320 staff and about ten client dinners a year.
- 90 staff into the new Leeds office over one weekend in 2024, with no lost working days and the diary running as normal.
Budget, suppliers and people
- Track the £60,000 hospitality and events spend against forecast each month and report the variance to the Managing Director.
- Approve spend to £2,500 on my own signature across travel, hospitality and office costs.
- Sign off about 40 supplier invoices a month and the Managing Director's expenses, and no account reaches 60 days overdue.
- Line manage the two team assistants in Manchester, holding their appraisals and holiday, and cover the Finance Director for roughly six weeks a year.
Personal Assistant to the Partners, Hale & Brook Solicitors · APRIL 2018 TO FEBRUARY 2021
- Ended weekly double bookings with a shared partners' diary and one system for six meeting rooms.
- Held four equity partners' diaries and about 25 meetings a week between them.
Volunteer Run Director, parkrun, Wythenshawe Park
Run the event once a month for about 400 runners.
Career break · AUGUST 2017 TO APRIL 2018
Travelled in South East Asia for six months, then temped on reception.
Team Assistant, Northgate Property · JUNE 2015 TO AUGUST 2017
- Held twelve surveyors' diaries and booked roughly 80 site visits a month across the North West.
- 2016: Replaced paper expense claims with an online system for all twelve surveyors.
Office Coordinator, Brightline Events · JANUARY 2015 TO MAY 2015
Fixed-term maternity cover contract, which ended when the postholder returned.
- Ran the office for a team of 15 and booked venues for about 20 client events.
Skills
Diary management: about 45 meetings a week across three offices and London, rebuilt weekly, declined and moved on my own judgement Board support: eight partnership board packs a year and minutes from roughly 30 meetings, every set out within 48 hours Inbox: about 300 messages a day, half answered in the Managing Director's name Travel: about 60 trips a year, UK and European, built door to door Budget and spend: the £60,000 hospitality and events budget held against forecast, spend approved to £2,500 on my own signature People: line management of two team assistants, and cover for the Finance Director about six weeks a year
Systems
Microsoft 365, Teams, Concur, Diligent Boards, DocuSign, Canva, Peppermint case management. Languages: conversational French.
Education
- BA (Hons) English Literature, 2:1, University of Leeds, 2011 to 2014
Awards
- 2024: Manchester Legal Awards, shortlisted for PA of the Year
- 2022: Calder & Rowe, winner of the firm's Support Star award
Development
- Aspiring Managers programme, Calder & Rowe, 2024: six months, followed by line management of the two team assistants.
Priya Nair, front office manager moving into EA work, marked 82
A career changer with no EA title and no CV to start from. The interview found the EA work already in the job: deputising, a budget, a signing limit, the owners' report, a system rollout. The CV never claims experience she does not have. It shows the same work at scale.
Priya Nair
Front Office Manager and Deputy to the General Manager, 210-room hotel of 160 staff
Leeds · linkedin.com/in/priyanair
Profile
I find the thing four days out: the same 40 rooms sold twice to a 180-delegate conference and a wedding, 22 guests moved to a sister hotel with a free coach, and the General Manager made me his deputy. Since then I have taken guest satisfaction from 7.9 to 9.1 out of 10 in eighteen months, moved 210 rooms onto a new property management system overnight with no lost bookings, and stood as the senior person in the building about 90 nights a year.
I want that same work for one person now, as Executive Assistant to a General Manager or Director in hospitality or property in Leeds or Manchester.
Key achievements
- Cover the General Manager for about 25 days a year, holding the duty rota, guest escalations, supplier sign-off to £5,000 and the daily revenue call with group office.
- Caught 40 rooms sold twice to a 180-delegate conference and a wedding four days out, and moved 22 guests to a sister hotel with a free coach.
- Raised the guest satisfaction score from 7.9 to 9.1 out of 10 in eighteen months by rewriting the check-in standards and retraining all 14 staff.
- Led the front office move to a new property management system in 2023, testing over six weeks and going live overnight across 210 rooms with no lost bookings.
- Write the owners' report every month by the fifth: occupancy, average room rate, guest satisfaction, complaint counts and front office payroll against budget, with a two-page narrative.
- Brought the front office rota spend in 4% under the previous year by forecasting the monthly spend against the staffing plan.
Experience
Front Office Manager, Marlowe Hotel, Leeds · SEPTEMBER 2022 TO PRESENT
The Marlowe Hotel is a 210-room four-star hotel in Leeds city centre with about 160 staff, one of six hotels in the Marlowe group. Its trade is mainly corporate and conference business.
Deputise for the General Manager and run the front office team of 14 across three shift leaders, eight receptionists and three guest services agents.
Deputising and reporting
- Wrote the handover sheet the front office still uses and covered duty manager nights twice a week, senior person in the building about 90 nights a year.
- Pull occupancy, average room rate, guest satisfaction, complaint counts and front office payroll against budget each month, and write the two-page owners' report he sends on the fifth.
- Last year: Ran the board's Leeds site visit, holding the agenda, the rooms and the dinner.
Budget and suppliers
- Hold the front office budget of about £180,000 a year for staffing and supplies, and approve spend to £1,000 on my own signature.
- Choose and manage the taxi firm, laundry contractor and guest amenities supplier, and agree rates to £20,000 a year on my own signature.
People and guests
- Hold rotas, appraisals and return-to-work interviews for the 14-strong front office team.
- Induct every new front office starter, about 12 a year, on a two-week programme I wrote, and run the annual fire and safety refresher for all 14 staff.
- Handle two or three VIP and celebrity stays a month, including a government minister's visit. Hold the disciplinary and grievance paperwork for the front office team.
Front Office Shift Leader, Marlowe Hotel, Leeds · MARCH 2018 TO AUGUST 2022
Led a front desk shift team of four or five at a 210-room hotel, about 120 arrivals and departures a day.
- Checked in 96 arrivals on paper through a five hour system failure, kept the queue under ten minutes and rebuilt every record with no billing errors.
- Ran the front desk with four or five staff a shift, handling about 120 arrivals and departures a day.
- Cashed up about £15,000 a day at the close of every shift.
- Took every guest complaint raised on shift and settled it at the desk.
- Two nights a week as night duty manager, senior person in the building with all 210 rooms and the night team under my cover.
Treasurer, Parent Teacher Association, daughter's school, Leeds
Hold the accounts and the fundraising figures, about £6,000 raised last year.
Receptionist, The Queens Hotel, Leeds · JUNE 2016 TO FEBRUARY 2018
Covered reception at a 120-room hotel, about 80 guests a day and 60 calls a shift, and held keys after six months.
- Handled check-in and check-out for a 120-room hotel, about 80 guests a day, and was made a key holder after six months.
- Answered about 60 calls a shift on reception and ran the switchboard for the hotel restaurant.
- Took and amended room bookings for guests in person, by telephone and by email.
- End of every shift: counted and balanced the till and float, and handed both to the next receptionist.
Skills
Deputising: cover for the General Manager about 25 days a year, holding the duty rota, guest escalations and the daily revenue call Budget and spend: the front office budget of about £180,000 a year, spend approved to £1,000 on my own signature Suppliers: taxi, laundry and amenities contracts chosen and managed, rates agreed to £20,000 a year Reporting: the monthly owners' report by the fifth, occupancy, rate, satisfaction and payroll against budget People: rotas, appraisals, inductions and return-to-work interviews for a team of 14 Systems change: the 2023 move of 210 rooms to a new property management system, tested over six weeks and live overnight
Systems
Microsoft 365, Teams, Canva, Opera PMS, Fourth. Languages: conversational Hindi and Malayalam.
Education
- Leeds City College, BTEC Level 3 in Hospitality, 2014 to 2016
Awards
- 2024: Front Office of the Year, the hotel group.
Development
- 2023: St John Ambulance three-day first aid course, one of two named first aiders on reception, four guest collapses handled since.
- 2023: Completed the group's four month Rising Leaders programme, then ran structured one-to-ones and cut team turnover from five leavers a year to two.
Interests
Bake for a stall at Kirkstall farmers' market one Sunday a month.
If your CV has the figures these two carry, it is a shortlisted CV. If it does not, the free checker will tell you where they are missing, and Margot's interview asks for them one at a time.
Download the finished CV
This is the after, complete: a full executive assistant CV written to the standard above, with a skills section that carries context on every line, in each of the four templates Margot lays out. Charlotte Reeve is a composite of EAs I have placed, not a real person, and every figure on the page is the kind of figure a real CV should carry. Download any of them and put yours beside it.
Want yours written like the after?
Margot interviews you with the questions I ask in a screening call, then writes your CV to this standard. Score your current CV free first.
Score my CV for free
Lily Shippen
FOUNDER, LILY SHIPPEN, EA, PA AND CHIEF OF STAFF RECRUITMENT · THIRTEEN YEARS PLACING EAS
Lily has read tens of thousands of EA CVs and shortlisted the ones that worked. Margot is her screening interview, written down. About Lily and this site