To work as an administrative assistant, you will work in an office. It is mostly an office work. An administrative assistant holds an important position in his/her department or company.
Administrative assistants are responsible for recruiting, when there is no recruiting personnel in the company. They post advertisements and interview the candidates when there is an opening for a new position within the company. They also check their references, run tests and then finally choose the person who best fits the position.
The assistants monitor the people who are already hired within their department, making sure everyone is doing their jobs properly and accordingly. If they notice problems, they can terminate the other employee's work contracts.
The administrative assistants must have good finance knowledge, in order to handle the budget of the company. They need to make payrolls, close deals and sign contracts. The assistants must have good computer knowledge - some accountability programs like Win mentor, and of course the basic software (MS Office, Word, Excel) and the use of Internet browsers (Mozilla, IE, Safari).
They must know math and calculations - if they are required to handle the yearly budget, they need to make sure that money is not lost, that the company earns profit and that there are no discrepancies concerning payments and records.
The administrative assistant keeps the records of the other employees, and makes background checks on them if requested. They ensure that the whole department is running smoothly.
The administrative assistants must keep in contact with all the clients, providers and associates of the company they are working at - as well as keeping a friendly environment within their department, hence they must have very strong communication skills.
They must always keep a professional attitude, must be friendly towards other people, but at the same time, be assertive and self confident. The person who wants to be an admin assistant must be able to lead people and have good management abilities. They must know how to handle more duties and tasks at the same time and complete them successfully.
Beside the already mentioned skills and abilities, the assistants must answer phone calls, emails from clients and providers, and send out thank you letters. They have to wear professional attire that suits their job - in the more important companies, that would be an office suit, and in the more casual places that do not require a dress code, a shirt and office pants will suffice.
As for studies, the person wanting to become an administrative assistant must own a high school diploma, and probably be a college graduate - a bachelor's degree in Finances would be in their advantage. If one wants to work as an administrative assistant in an important company with many departments and lots of people hired, then they will need some previous experience in this field. They also need to prove they have the necessary skills to properly fulfill all their duties and responsibilities.
The salary for an administrative assistant position varies from $40,000 to $70,000, depending on the company and the state in which one is working.
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