Executive Assistance

According to occupational sourcing: executive assistants, co-ordinate administrative procedures, public relations activities, conduct research and analyze functions for members of legislative assemblies, ministers, deputy ministers, corporate officials and executives, committees and boards of directors as well as corporate senior management executives or small business owners. They are employed by governments, corporations and associations.

In industry, they work mostly with senior management in a business administrative and office management support role and function as the main function and priority. Executive Administrators, Administrative Assistants, Secretaries, et al., are facing increasing office automation and organizational restructuring, slow growth and a saturated market, as part of the overall employment outlook and landscape of these business support professionals. Supply of candidates is in some cases exceeding demand and available positions.

The liaison and hub of sorts for the office environment, performing and coordinating an office's administrative activities, and storing, retrieving, and integrating information for dissemination to staff and clients, contributing to the seamless, effective and smooth operation of organizations and businesses is the main role and responsibility of the EA's.

Executive Assistants serve as an information manager for an office. They plan and schedule meetings and appointments, organize and maintain paper and electronic files, manage projects, conduct research, and provide information by using the telephone, postal mail, and e-mail. They may also handle travel arrangements.

According to various occupational handbooks: Secretaries and administrative assistants are aided in these tasks by a variety of office equipment, such as facsimile machines, photocopiers, and telephone systems. In addition, secretaries and administrative assistants use personal computers to create spreadsheets, compose correspondence, manage databases, and create presentations, reports, and documents by using desktop publishing software and digital graphics-all tasks previously handled by managers and professionals.

At the same time, these other office workers have assumed many tasks traditionally assigned to secretaries and administrative assistants, such as word processing and answering the telephone. Because secretaries and administrative assistants often are not solely responsible for dictation and typing (anymore), they have time to support more members of the executive staff. In a number of organizations, secretaries and administrative assistants work in teams, in order to work flexibly and share their expertise.

Some executive assistants or secretaries, perform highly specialized work, requiring knowledge of technical terminology and procedures. They can work mostly in schools, hospitals, corporate settings, or legal and medical offices, as well as other institutional, academic or political settings.

Representative of a very large and vast portion of the workforce today, in a society and business-world increasingly technology-reliant and enabled, most excel at taking on new and increasing responsibilities. This role is more of a hybrid, entry level business administration or project management and even analyst-like position, in some cases, although the majority of the job descriptions still focus on the clerical side of duties and tasks, they are becoming increasingly intricate and challenging roles for talented, multi-tasking individuals, who prefer a fast paced, demanding work environment.

High school or college graduates with some office experience make good entry level candidates, but the market has also become so competitive, that current skills and sometimes even post-graduate qualifications may be required for some of the positions.

Old school secretarial skills are in high demand, for the reliability and support they/it offers to senior executives, with increasingly high demands on time restrictions and productivity challenges. It is mainly an enabling support role, although more and more they have to step up and provide training and orientation for new staff, conduct research on the Internet, as well as operate and troubleshoot new office technologies - in a word become `all-rounders'.

Career-paths might include: being promoted to other positions such as senior or executive secretary, clerical supervisor, or office manager. Secretaries with word processing or data entry experience can advance to jobs as word processing or data entry trainers, supervisors, or managers within their own firms or in a secretarial, word processing, or data entry service bureau.

Secretarial experience can also lead to jobs such as instructor or sales representative with manufacturers of software or computer equipment. With additional training, many legal secretaries even become paralegals. Secretarial and administrative duties are of a personal, interactive nature and, therefore, not easily automated. Responsibilities such as planning conferences, working with clients, and instructing staff require tact and communication skills. Because technology cannot substitute for these personal skills, secretaries and administrative assistants will continue to play a key role in most organizations.

For additional information see: http://www.adminprof.com/associations.htm

Testing and certification with regards to computer skills, proficiency. International Association of Administrative Professionals; NALS, Inc.; and Legal Secretaries International, Inc. offer insights. As secretaries and administrative assistants gain experience, they can earn several different designations. Prominent designations include the Certified Professional Secretary (CPS) or the Certified Administrative Professional (CAP) designations, which can be earned by meeting certain experience and/or educational requirements and passing an examination. Increasingly virtual assistants and specialty business services professionals work independently, for themselves and from home, offering increased flexibility, while still contributing meaningfully to society and business AND earning some hard dollars in the process (or on the side)!

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