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I would argue that anyone who has worked has transferable experience to admin assistant. You just have to know how to lay it out so they know it too.
If you don’t have experience as an admin administrator, what kind of experience do you have? I know you said you had seven years experience but what kind of work are you doing?
1) Highlight your software skills. If you are good in excel, put some emphasis on that, as it is one of the harder MS Office programs. If you can't use excel, apply only for receptionist positions and take a couple of 1 day excel classes before applying for an AA position.
2) Get a temp position as a receptionist (answering phones and greeting people) or a lower level AA position).
3) Don't apply to law firms. They need specialized skills.
4) Don't apply to medical offices unless you have extensive medical knowledge or terminology.
5) Create a cover letter and tailor it for each job. All cover letters need to say why you want to change careers. Otherwise, they will think you are doing this temporarily because you can't find a teaching job.
6) On your resume and cover letter, show how your work as a teacher has prepared you for the work. If needed, move the affected bullet description of that position so it gets noticed. Examples are:
*Science teacher? - #4 above, show how teaching biology helps you with medical terms.
*English teacher? - Do you have strong writing skills? Seek AA positions with job descriptions asking for someone to draft letters/correspondence, assist with proposals, draft or write reports, etc.
*Phys Ed teacher? - Look for jobs that ask for planning and event coordination or state it is a fast paced environment. Then note in your cover letter that as a former phys ed teacher, you have an endless amount of energy and you had to plan sporting events/outings/tournaments, and coordinate x (ie: coordinate up to 30 people at a time).
*Social Studies teacher? - Look for jobs at a non-profit. They may pay a bit less, but you can apply elsewhere after 18- 24 month of that.
*Languages teacher? - Look for receptionist work and spend 18-24 months in that role. Emphasize that you are fluent in French or Spanish, so you can make those folks feel at home, etc. This will also help you get jobs at a doctor's office too.
*Special needs teacher? - In your cover letter state that this training has given you the ability to work with all personality types, including nuerodivergent people and that you enjoy working with them. Sometimes a company has a brillant contributor that is nuero divergent (ie Sheldon on Big Bang Theory). Having an AA on the team who can bring out the best in their genuises on staff will catch te recruiter's eye. If you have these skills look for positions at universities, research centers, hospitals, community health centers, and non-profits that work with folks who are nuero-divergent.
Teacher of young kids? - Note how you had to be very organized, have excellent skills for event planning events, how you are patient even if the situation is a bit chaotic.
Teacher of older kids? - Some of the above may be relevant. But you can also state that they sometimes challenged your knowledge, which you welcomed, and how you dealt with it, such as doing extra research before presenting a topic to students.
7) Nowadays a lot of companies use AI software that looks for key words. Take a look at your resume and make sure you have many of the key words in their job description. As a default, for an AA position, I would ensure you have the following words, if they apply to your skillset.
Detailed
Organized
Comfortable with (add applicable skills they listed in the job description).
Able to meet deadlines
Excellent writing skills or excellent written communication skills
Comfortable with or enjoy working with all personality types
Excellent Multi-tasking skills
Comfortable working alone and on teams
8) Critical Resume Details
Ensure your resume (and cover letter) are clean, clear and concise, including:
*Excellent spelling and formatting.
*Your name in the header (left or enter) in bold and in Arial 12 font. Your phone and email directly below your name. This should be in Arial 11 fobt.
*Arial font, size 11 (10 is too small fir some folks and 12 makes your resume too long.)
1 inch margins on top, bottom and both sides. Don't do a left indent on a resume. Best alternative to Arial is Times New Roman. But it is critical that you are consistent.
*Have 3-4 sections: WORK EXPERIENCE, SKILLS, EDUCATION. If you are applying to non-profits, you can add VOLUNTEER WORK if it is applicable.
*Put the strongest category at the top. So thatcmay be Skills first if yoy have good software knowledge.. If your work is relevant, mostly based on # 6 above, list Work Experience next, and Education last.
*All previous jobs should have a job title, start and end month and year (not specific date in month), name of company previously worked. Below that, write 1-2 sentences summarizing the work. Then add bullets with job description details.
*Be consistent with spacing, grammar, aligning to the left, etc.
*Your resume should be 2 pages. Less and you haven't introduced yourself. More and it is an autobiography. People with 20+ yrs of specialized service can use a 3 page max.
Good luck!