Executive assistant CV guides · by Lily Shippen, EA recruiter
Executive assistant CV keywords: what the software and I actually look for
Written by Lily Shippen, founder of the Lily Shippen EA, PA and chief of staff recruitment agency. Thirteen years of shortlisting, tens of thousands of CVs read, and every rule on this page is one I use at my own desk. Who I am
The keywords that matter on an executive assistant CV are the ones in the job advert, written into lines that carry evidence, so "board papers" belongs inside a line about eight board packs a year rather than in a bare list of skills. The software employers use matches words while a recruiter like me matches evidence, and a CV that does both gets through the software and gets the call, whereas a CV that stuffs the keywords into a bare list gets through the software and then gets skipped by me, which is the worse of the two outcomes. A skills section with context and level on each line is a different thing altogether, and I read those.
I get asked about keywords more than almost anything else, usually by someone who's read that a robot reads their CV before a human does, and part of that is true, so I'd rather explain it properly than let the myth do the rounds. Most employers and every agency run CVs through software, usually called an applicant tracking system, which stores the text and lets a recruiter search it, and that's genuinely all it does, because it doesn't score you, it doesn't rank you and it doesn't reject you for a missing synonym. It finds the CVs that contain the words the recruiter typed, and then the recruiter reads them, so the question isn't really "which keywords" but "which words, and where do they go".
How the software actually works
- It reads the text of your CV, and tables, text boxes, columns, icons and headers can break that reading, so your beautifully designed two-column CV may arrive as a jumble, which is why the template uses none of them.
- It stores the text and the recruiter searches it, and "board", "Concur" and "private equity" are the kind of searches I run when I'm shortlisting.
- It matches words rather than meaning, so "board papers" doesn't match a search for "board packs" and "C-suite" doesn't match "chief executive", which is why the safe course is to use the words in the advert, since that's what the recruiter who wrote it will search for.
- It doesn't rank you, because a human does that in the first eight seconds or so of reading, on the evidence in front of them.
The words recruiters search for
These are the searches I and the recruiters I work with actually run when we're shortlisting EAs, and each one belongs in your CV if it's true of you, inside a line with a figure rather than in a list.
The principal
Chief executive, CEO, chair, founder, managing partner, managing director, board, executive team and C-suite are the words that place you, so use the one the advert uses and the one your employer uses, both if they differ, as in "Chief Executive (CEO)".
The work
Diary management, complex diary, travel, international travel, itineraries, inbox management, correspondence, board papers, board packs, minutes, agendas, committee, governance, events, offsites, expenses, budget, procurement, suppliers, onboarding, line management, projects, due diligence, investor relations and confidential are the words that describe the job, and they each need the figure that proves them.
The sector
Private equity, venture capital, family office, legal, professional services, financial services, listed, PLC, FTSE, start-up, scale-up, charity, public sector, NHS and housing are the words a client asks me to filter on first, so if you've worked in one of them, name it on the title line of the role.
The systems
Microsoft 365, Outlook, Teams, Google Workspace, Concur, Expensify, SAP, Oracle, Workday, Diligent, Board Intelligence, DocuSign, Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, Asana, Trello and Canva belong in one line near the end, every system you use, because systems are the most searched words of all given that I can filter on them in one click, and a client who runs Concur wants someone who's used Concur.
The level
Senior, executive, chief of staff, business manager, office manager, private PA, authority, signing and approval limit are the words that separate a senior search from a general one.
Where the keywords go
They go inside the evidence, and that includes the skills section, so here's the same information written twice to show you what I mean.
A keyword list
Skills: diary management, travel, board papers, minute taking, expenses, Concur, stakeholder management, confidentiality, Microsoft 365.
The same words as evidence
Run the Chief Executive's diary of about 45 meetings a week and roughly 60 trips a year, built door to door. Eight board packs a year and minutes from around 30 board and committee meetings, every set out within 48 hours. Process the executive team's expenses in Concur, and hold the £60,000 hospitality budget against forecast each month. Microsoft 365, Teams, Concur, Diligent Boards, DocuSign.
Both versions get through the software because both contain the words, but only the second gets the call, because I can see the job being done, whereas the bare list just tells me you know the vocabulary and everyone knows the vocabulary. If you want a skills section, and I'd keep one, write it the second way with each skill and its scale on the same line, which the skills guide shows in full.
The words that hurt you
These are the words that make me stop reading, not because they're wrong but because every CV has them and none of them carry evidence, and while the software doesn't care about them one way or the other, I do.
- Dynamic, passionate, proactive, seamless, results-driven, self-starter and detail-oriented are all words I've read on thousands of CVs without once learning anything from them.
- "Proven track record" is a phrase I'd cut every time, because the record should be on the page rather than asserted at the top of it.
- "Stakeholder management" hides the people, so name them instead, whether that's the board, the chair, the brokers or the family.
- "Responsible for", "duties included" and "assisted with" describe the job description rather than you, so say what you did.
- "Excellent communication skills" is something I'll believe when you tell me you answer 300 messages a day in the principal's name, because that's specific and the phrase on its own isn't.
Matching the advert, honestly
Read the advert and list the nouns, meaning the principal's title, the sector, the systems and the tasks, then check each one against your CV, and if you do the thing but your CV doesn't say so in the advert's words, add the word to the line where the evidence already is. If you don't do the thing, leave it out however tempting it is, because a keyword you can't back up at interview costs you the role in the second meeting instead of the first, and that's a far worse place to lose it, since by then you've started to want it.
The free checker marks your CV on five things, and the two called content and format are where keyword problems show up, while the skills guide covers the eight things I actually shortlist on as opposed to the words I search for. Get the words right, then get the evidence right, and the software stops being something you need to worry about.
Common questions
Do applicant tracking systems reject executive assistant CVs?
Not on their own, because they store the text and let a recruiter search it, so a CV gets missed when its text can't be read, usually because of tables, columns or text boxes, or when it doesn't contain the words the recruiter searched for, and nobody is ever rejected by a score.
Should I have a skills or keywords section?
Yes, as long as each line carries context and level, as in "Board support: eight packs a year, minutes within 48 hours" rather than "board support" on its own, because a bare list of nouns gets through the software and tells me nothing, and you should keep a systems line too with every system named.
Which keywords matter most on an EA CV?
The principal's title, the sector and the systems matter most, because those are the searches recruiters run, and after that it's the tasks in the advert, written in the advert's words inside lines with figures.
Should I copy the job description into my CV?
No, because a CV that reads like the advert is obvious in a second and tells me nothing about you, so use its words where they're true, inside your own evidence.
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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