Office Assistant Work

Office assistants carry out a number of job duties and act as a personal assistant to their bosses. They are known by a number of job titles such as office assistant, office secretary or administrative assistant. Office assistant work consists of all the administrative and organizing job tasks that are carried out by these professionals.

The specific tasks of an office assistant may greatly vary from one organization to another, however answering phone calls on behalf of the company, printing documents, sending faxes, running basic errands and providing customer service are some responsibilities that are conducted by most office assistants. Office assistants play an important role in the daily functioning of any organization.

Office Assistant Work Responsibilities

In this field of work, an individual may need to complete several daily tasks on a regular basis. Some of them are given below:

• Most office assistants accompany their bosses to meetings and have to note down important points that are discussed during the meeting. They also take part in the planning and conducting of various meetings held in the office premises.
• Answering phone calls on behalf of the organization is one of the main job functions of an office assistant. They should use good phone etiquettes while talking to clients or customers on the phone.
• Handling of office equipment such as printers, scanners, photocopiers, fax machines, etc. is carried out by office assistants who are trained to use these machines.
• Occasionally, they may need to carry out data entry work for the office. Other computing tasks include report generation, managing database and creating inventory reports.
• Office assistants working in specific fields may have to carry out basic level tasks related to that particular field. For instance, a person working in a medical facility may need to possess basic knowledge about medical terminology and common ailments.

Skills

As office assistants are required to complete such a wide variety of tasks, they need to be proficient in many areas in order to carry out their work efficiently. Having good written and oral communication skill is important as they have to interact with various office employees, bosses and customers while performing different tasks. They should be well adept at basic computer usage such as MS Office and browsing the Internet. Those who perform data entry level tasks, also need to have good typing skills. They should have good organizational and interpersonal skills which aid them in their daily activities.

Requirements

Educational requirements are generally not a factor in the selection process of an office assistant. Although, a high school degree is expected from most assistants as they need to have basic reading and writing skills. In some cases, office assistants are expected to have good knowledge about accounting and administrative work. Training programs in office administration are a relatively new feature, which some candidates undertake in order to gain an edge over other candidates for the job.

Work Conditions

Although office assistants mostly work in an office based environment, they may spend long hours in a standing position and have to occasionally lift heavy weights. This may lead to severe back pains in some cases. Also, staring at computer monitors for long periods of time may cause eye strain in some people. Office assistants work for around 40 hours in a week and they may have to occasionally work overtime whenever required.

Salary and Benefits

On an average, most office assistants earn between $24,000 and $40,000 depending upon a number of factors. These factors are type of industry, specific organization, experience and skill level of the person. They also receive additional benefits in the form of paid leaves, health insurance plans, pension plans and sick leaves.

Office assistant work is considered to be a 'jack of all trades' type of work, which requires the individual to be proficient in a number of areas and should be competent enough to perform all tasks diligently. Most people who work in this field move on to supervisory roles in their future careers on the basis of their performance and experience.