Administrative Assistant Job Description
Job Descriptions November 15, 2012Most critical administrative tasks in an organization are handled by administrative assistants. Corporation with advanced administrative tasks needs a specialized assistant. To become an administrative assistant; you are require to pursue a college degree, but educational requirements in this field vary.
An administrative assistant or secretary provides support for office personnel. The duties of these professionals significantly vary based on the number of assistants present and the size of the company. Some of their responsibilities include organizing files, arranging travel accommodations, scheduling appointments, and arranging meetings.
For an assistant to carry out their duties effectively, they have to be well versed with office equipment such as copiers, scanners, fax machines, and video conferencing systems. They have to take some coursework like keyboarding and management in order to become an administrative assistant that offers support to managers and executives. Generally, assistants carry out clerical duties like managing correspondences between high ranking personnel. They are expected to carry out research and prepare formal reports. Besides, these professionals are responsible for supervising and training other clerical staff members.
Administrative assistant who carry out medical and legal duties are required to have technical expertise in their field of work. For instance; medical administrative assistants need to be acquainted with billings, insurance claims and medical procedures while legal administrative assistants need to understand the legislation that is relevant to the forms of law, which their firms handle. Specialized administrative assistant work in public or private schools, or in the engineering field.
In addition, administrative assistants can work online from the comfort of their homes as virtual assistants. Their duties are similar to traditional administrative assistants, but everything is completed online. Based on the degree program virtual assistants follow, the virtual assistants can function as legal, medical or general administrative assistants.
The general administrative assistants’ employment are projected to increase by eleven percent from 2008 to 2018 that are based on the statistics researched by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. These statistics varies based on the field in which an individual works. There will be a five percent job growth for general administrative assistants; legal and executive administrative assistants had a higher projection.
An average salary for a general administrative assistant was $30,830 while legal executive assistant average annual salary were $40,000 as of May 2010. The income evaluation were based on the size of the company and the amount of work experience an assistant had. Virtual assistants are paid on an hourly basis.
In order for students to become an administrative assistant, students are required to obtain a high school diploma. Certificates or associate degree are perfect for this career, and students will engage in coursework like office administration, database management and keyboarding. The courses taken in college offers terminology and procedures to specific fields like legal and medical assistants.