Office Administrative Assistant Job Description

An Overview of Administrative Assistant Jobs

To be successful as an administrative assistant, candidates should be professional, polite, and attentive. They should always be prepared and willing to meet the challenge. Administrative assistants must excel at both verbal and written communication.

Administrative assistants should have a genuine desire to meet the needs of others. Administrative tasks may include clerical tasks. Administrative assistant duties and responsibilities include answering telephones, arranging for meetings and travel, and managing schedules.

Adding details to your admin assistant job description will help applicants understand the role. Administrative assistant job postings can be listed under Administrative Specialist or Administrative Coordinator. The admin assistant job description sample shows you how to find the different roles and responsibilities.

The Secret Life of an Administrative Assistant

Without administrative assistants, many CEOs and other company leaders would melt like the Wicked Witch of the West after having a cup of water thrown on them. They wouldn't be able to keep up with all of the demands that circle them. The story changes when they have a competent and capable administrative assistant by their side.

They can skip along without any worry as they know someone is behind them. An administrative assistant can possess the qualities above, but that is an outdated view on the position. Administrative assistants are battle-hardened and right-hand to CEOs.

They make sure that the day-to-day tasks are managed with skill, so that the company leaders can focus on other matters. The administrative assistant's main responsibility is to make life easy for the CEO. They make sure that everything happens quickly and smoothly, whether it is managing a calendar, handling incoming calls, or even making a cup of coffee.

Administrative assistant duties can vary from one company to the next. Every CEO has different needs. Some are influenced by personal preferences while others are impacted by the industry.

They handle critical but somewhat mundane tasks to make sure the CEO doesn't have to spend their time on them. The primary purpose of an administrative assistant is to manage the day to day, ensuring company leaders can concentrate on the bigger picture, drive innovation, or keep the company moving in the right direction. Administrative assistants are technically proficient.

An Overview of Administrative Assistants

An Administrative Assistant is a position that is dedicated to helping professionals in a given industry. Administrative assistants perform clerical duties, manage the office's flow, and serve as the main point of contact for the office. An Administrative Assistant makes an average of $18,691 per year.

Deviations may be dependent on experience, location and company. An Administrative Assistant's hours might be different during a regular working week. Absolutely.

The tasks that are more general like answering phone calls and scheduling are the same. An Administrative Assistant in a law firm needs to be familiar with different types of protocols and industry language than assistant in an energy company. An Executive Secretary works with the highest-level employees.

The responsibilities are similar to an Administrative Assistant but require a higher level of professionalism and familiarity with the executive corporate communications. A business-related foundation degree is needed for a higher level of education. A good job description makes the company sound appealing to workers.

An Overview of Office Assistant Jobs

An Office Assistant is a person who works for the office staff. They are responsible for scheduling meetings, answering phone calls and sorting mail. Three years of relevant experience in an office setting is required.

The ideal candidate should have experience in both the office and back office space. They should be proficient in Microsoft Office applications. The Office Assistant needs experience in writing and proof in order to craft official documents.

Office assistant candidates should have the ability to write and submit research reports in a timely manner. Office assistants need to have at least one qualification in order to work in the office. Some employers prefer applicants with a Bachelor's Degree.

Training on-the-job is important. Microsoft Office training and certification is necessary as a lot office work involves typing, document editing and printing. Knowledge in the sector is not a must.

The CV should show good customer service skills, good knowledge of general office procedures and good organizational skills. The ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment is a plus. Good written communication and telephone answering skills are essential.

Using Work Experience to Show Your Administrative Assistant Skills

Administrative assistant skills are related to organizing and managing a workplace. Administrative assistants are in critical support roles, helping to maintain contact lists, communicate on behalf of executives, schedule meetings and more. They often work with executives, managers and other coworkers to provide them with the resources needed to complete their duties.

A strong grasp of administrative skills can help you excel in a support role, even if you are starting your first job search or making a career change. Administrative assistants should be able to correspond with their coworkers and managers frequently. When talking to clients, having conversations on the phone, or in person, and when participating in meetings, verbal skills are helpful.

Listening and responding appropriately are two examples of verbal communication skills. Organization is important for assistants in office settings. Administrative assistants often work in teams to manage many tasks at the same time.

Administrative assistants who support an executive should be able to keep their calendar. Administrative assistants should be good at storing and retrieving files, as they handle a file management system. Organizational skills include planning, delegation and office management.

Time management is the ability to be on time and to schedule your time so that you can complete all your tasks. Administrative assistants are usually able to finish their work by a set deadline, but they need to be able to manage their time. Those with strong time-management skills are able to plan their days for productivity.

Executive Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

Basic office skills competency is not enough for the Administrative Assistant who wants to get ahead in the 21st century. Administrative assistants and office assistants need to be socially competent. Soft skills are more important than ever because they are needed to communicate clearly and get along with coworkers, supervisors and clients.

Administrative assistants are taking on more responsibility than any other time in history. Administrative assistants need strong communication skills to accomplish tasks that are moderate to high complexity and scope. Administrative assistants are required to keep their team organized.

They will need to be self-starters who can see where processes can be improved and who will take the initiative to improve them. Executive Administrative Assistants must have strong business judgment, professional manners, organizational skills, and analytical skills to be able to interact with high-level executives inside and outside of the company. The Administrative Assistant needs to acquire a thorough knowledge of their company's products and services to be able to effectively do the more traditional tasks.

The employment of secretaries and administrative assistants is projected to grow at a slower rate than the average for all occupations. They state that it will decline from the year of 2014 to the year of 2024 because many executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants can support more than one manager. Many managers today perform work that was previously done by their executive secretaries, such as scheduling their own travel and meetings.

If you have experience using computer software applications such as word processing and spreadsheets, you will have a better chance of finding a job. Training can be found at your local community college, adult education centers and online. The Occupational Handbook has the latest pay scales for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants.

Office Assistants

Office assistant positions are found in all industries and have a lot of skills. Office assistants are sometimes called secretaries or administrative assistants, but they are more of a help in the functioning of an office. The needs of the people who use the office are similar to those of the law firm, medical practice, educational institution, or corporation.

The job of an office assistant is variable, and it just varies from day to day. You might be a receptionist, tomorrow you might need to repair the printer, and the next day you have to transfer the entire filing cabinet to the cloud. You will need a broad skill set to succeed.

Office assistants are often overlooked because they do their job right and nobody notices. Some people like the fast paced work and the feeling of being at the center of everything. A good secretary can find work in almost any organization.

Communication is a skill that an office assistant needs to have. You will have to interact with your supervisor, fellow office staff, the professionals you assist, and possibly clients or people in other offices of the same organization. You are the main communication hub for the team.

Office assistants write a lot. They might write something or do something else. Some people create content for the company website.

Getting Your Grounds on Administrative Jobs

If you are on an administrative assistant career path, you can transfer skills you gained in one job to another. Administrative jobs are a full spectrum of career levels, from entry-level to senior management, and are part of a broad umbrella. It is important to target areas that can strengthen your prospects for finding the job you want, as this may mean that you will find a job you like.

It is encouraging to think that an administrative job can be a great way to get to the top of your career path. Many employers don't require a college degree when hiring for administrative jobs Most do require high technological skills, along with great organizational, multitasking, communication, and people skills.

If you have formal training in business, you can use it to your advantage in the application for administrative jobs. If you have taken business or database administration and beefed up your accounting or business computer skills in high school, those are great qualifications to highlight. Specific qualifications like an administrative assistant certification, a certified virtual assistant, or a certified executive assistant can catapult you above the competition.

Community colleges and online schools can be used to get certified. Administrative assistants are often the ones fixing things. They can be called upon to identify and solve problems or resolve ongoing issues that a work team may face.

Helping colleagues, thinking ahead, and formulating a backup plan can help you shine in your administrative role. Administrative professionals can deal with difficult people. It can mean finding ways to work with a bad boss or trying to keep people in line.

Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in the 21-Century Era

Administrative assistants help a lot of managers and executives. Administrative assistants have taken on duties previously assigned to managers due to changes in technology. Administrative assistants and secretaries work in an efficient way.

They are information and communication managers for an office, and they organize and maintain paper and electronic files, conduct research, and spread information by using the telephone, mail services, Web sites, and e-mail. They may also handle travel and guest arrangements. Secretaries and administrative assistants use a variety office equipment.

Secretaries and administrative assistants use computers to do tasks previously handled by managers and professionals, such as creating spreadsheets, managing databases, and creating presentations, reports, and documents. They can also negotiate with vendors, maintain and examine leased equipment, purchase supplies, manage areas such as stockrooms or corporate libraries, and retrieve data from various sources. Managers and professionals have assumed many tasks traditionally assigned to secretaries and administrative assistants, such as answering the telephone.

Secretaries and administrative assistants have more time to support the executive staff because they do less word processing. There are specific job duties that are different with experience and titles. Administrative assistants and executive secretaries provide high-level administrative support for an office.

They do less clerical work than secretaries and more information management. They may also handle more complex responsibilities such as reviewing incoming memos, submissions, and reports in order to determine their significance and to plan for their distribution. They make arrangements for meetings of committees and executive boards.