Perks of Being an Administrative Assistant

There are many advantages to becoming an administrative assistant. For example, this is a great way for a worker to come into a company and learn the in's and out's from the ground up.

Administrative assistants have many duties, both simple and complex. Mainly they support higher-level executives such as managers or CEOs. Oftentimes they support entire departments, teams, or projects.

Scheduling travel is an important duty. Admins typically book plane trips, hotels, and cars when an executive travels. They ensure there is someone waiting to pick the person up and also may handle expense reports.

They may also book conference rooms. Oftentimes executives will have team meetings or will have clients come in to discuss deadlines or projects. That means they will need a space to work in. The admin sees which conference room is open and books it. He or she may also order catering and coffee to nourish those in the room, especially if the meeting runs long.

Administrative assistants not only manage the schedules of executives or teams, but they also prepare correspondence and answer phones. These are some of the lighter duties. They will email people or write letters, stuff envelopes, and send out important documents. They answer phones and reroute calls to ensure the appropriate person receives the incoming call.

They use computer software to create spreadsheets, compose messages, manage databases, and produce presentations, reports, and documents. They also may negotiate with vendors, buy supplies, manage stockrooms or corporate libraries, and get data from various sources.

Conducting research is another important duty. The admin may be asked to research a competitor or to dig up information on an incoming client. This could take days to several hours. Then they will compile their information in a neat report for all to see.

If an executive has a visitor, an admin may greet the visitor, get them a beverage, and direct them to a seat until the executive can see them. It is their job to be friendly, warm, informative, and welcoming to all who call or arrive.

Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive is the largest subcategory of secretaries and administrative assistants, according to the BLS. They handle an office’s administrative activities in almost every sector of the economy, including schools, government agencies, and private corporations.

Other random duties include replying to messages and attaching files, resizing files and pictures, answering routine emails, preparing additional correspondence, responding to bills, handling bookkeeping, completing forms, applying company procedures, routing and distributing incoming mail and email, maintaining paper and electronic filing systems for records and messages, collecting and stapling forms, answering phones, paging executives, organizing and purging files, taking notes during meetings, and much more.

Job outlook for admins is healthy, the BLS reports. It is expected to grow 12 percent over the next decade, which is about as fast as the average for all occupations. But this depends on what industry the administrative assistant chooses to work in.