If you’ve seen Mad Men you know Christina Hendricks as the beautiful, feisty, and professional Joan Holloway. While she functions as an office manager and administrative assistant, Joan brings a sharp awareness of office politics, and the changing role of women in the workplace, to AMC’s marquee period drama. The office can’t operate without her, as no one else knows how the office is organized. An Administrative Assistant provides support to people within a business, but beyond that this role provides an amazing opportunity to get deeply involved with a company and key executives, leading to future advancement.
Photo Credit: Flickr user ESwift
An administrative assistant provides support to people within a business by being the information and communication manager for an office. Furthermore administrative assistants are increasingly assuming responsibilities once reserved for managerial staff. Top executives need support to do their jobs effectively, and that’s where executive assistants come in: combining the organizational talents of an office manager, the record-keeping savvy of a financial whiz, and the professional foundation of a committed secretary into one flexible role. The great thing about being an Administrative Assistant is that it gives you the opportunity to get your foot in the door and then transition into something else within the company; it’s an opportunity for an entry level person to get in front of important people.
While a typical day for an administrative assistant varies, it generally includes some of these tasks:
On average in 2011 Administrative Assistants made $36,092 per year, while Executive Assistants earned $50,688. Qualified administrative assistants who broaden their knowledge of a company’s operations and enhance their skills may be promoted to senior or executive secretary or administrative assistant, clerical supervisor, or office manager ($23,347-$54,882/year). Administrative support experience also can lead to jobs such as instructor or sales representative. With additional training, many legal secretaries become paralegals.
Here are some hot spots for administrative assistants:
Employers of Executive Assistants increasingly are looking for candidates with a college degree. A degree related to the business or industry will provide you with an advantage in the application process. Although typically not required, testing and certification for proficiency in office skills are available through organizations such as the International Association of Administrative Professionals; National Association of Legal Secretaries, Inc.; Legal Secretaries International, Inc; and International Virtual Assistants Association.
Furthermore, to be an Administrative Assistant you’ll need to have great writing, project management, customer service, and communication skills. Beyond that, discretion, good judgment, organizational or management ability, initiative, and the ability to work independently are especially important for higher-level administrative positions.
If being an administrative assistant still sounds like your cup of tea, here are a few things you should do to get started.
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Associate Director for Management | Silver Spring, MD |
| Administrative Assistant | Boston, MA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Account Executive | San Francisco, CA |
| Intern (Engineering) | San Francisco, CA |
| Recruiting Coordinator | San Francisco, CA |
| Product Manager | San Francisco, CA |
| Recruiter | San Francisco, CA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Marketing Intern | Irvine, CA |
| Business Analyst | United States |
| Marketing Leads Administrator | United States |
| Team Lead - Commercial Sales | Irvine, CA |
| Account Executive Level 1 - Enterprise Sales | Irvine, CA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Advertising Intern | Los Angeles, CA |
| Admin Assistant | Los Angeles, CA |
| Account Executive / Social Media Coordinator | Los Angeles, CA |
| ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE | Los Angeles, CA |
| Administrative Assistant | Riverside, CA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Marketing Admin Assistant | Brentwood, TN |
| Associate Creative Director, ELP | Brentwood, TN |
| Motion Graphics Specialist | Brentwood, TN |
| Personal Lines Insurance Consultant | Plano, TX |
| Project Manager for Dave Ramsey’s Live Events | Brentwood, TN |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Recruiter - (Truck Leasing - Chicago/Franklin Park, IL) | Franklin Park, IL |
| Mortgage Loan Officer | O'Fallon, MO |
| VP Wealth/Retail Product Management | Jersey City, NJ |
| Sr. Director, Medical Affairs Registries Job | Summit, NJ |
| Director, Medical Affairs Learning & Development Job | Berkeley Heights, NJ |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Sales Associate | Kingston, NY |
| Administrative Assistant | Highland Heights, OH |
| Senior Assistant Buyer | Highland Heights, OH |
| Product Development Manager | Highland Heights, OH |
| Assistant Store Manager | Bolingbrook, IL |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Senior Developer | Seattle, WA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Java Developer | Township of Warren, NJ |
| HR Coordinator | Seattle, WA |
| HRIS Database Coordinator | Seattle, WA |
| Assistant Store Manager | Seattle, WA |
| Sewing Machine Operators - Luggage | Seattle, WA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Marketing & Commercial Fall Intern | Pittsburgh, PA |
| Data Scientist - Ad Relevance | San Francisco, CA |
| Investment Management Sales – Vice President, Wealthbuilder | Camas, WA |
| CDL-A Lease Purchase Truck Drivers | Plainfield, IL |
| Sundry Category Manager | Cranberry, PA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Human Resources Intern | Chicago, IL |
| Entry Level Sous Chef | Chicago, IL |
| Human Resources Generalist | Chicago, IL |
| Wine Retail Sales Assistant | Chicago, IL |
| Assistant Manager | Chicago, IL |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Computer Forensics Programming Internship | Chicago, IL |
| Case Law Intern | Chicago, IL |
| Marketing & Graphic Design Internship | Chicago, IL |
| Computer Forensics Internship Summer 2014 | Chicago, IL |
| Office Manager | Chicago, IL |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Mental Health Technician, Cc3 (FT 11p-7a) | Belleville, NJ |
| Event Planning Business Partner wanted | New York, NY |
| Sales Associate | Orlando, FL |
| Pediatrics Physician - Permanent: General Ped and Ped Dermatologist needed in a desirable northern CA area | California |
| Multiple specialties in and around the DC and Virginia area | Washington, DC |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| VP of Marketing | San Francisco, CA |
| Account Intern | San Francisco, CA |
| Account Manager | San Francisco, CA |
| Jr. Brazilian Account Analyst (English Speaking)/ Analista Digital (Inglês fluente) | United States |
| Technical Ad Ops Specialist - Implementation | Santa Monica, CA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Visual Designer | San Francisco, CA |
| Office Manager & Executive Assistant | San Francisco, CA |
| Production Coordinator & Designer | San Francisco, CA |
| Production Designer | San Francisco, CA |
| Director / Senior PR Manager | San Francisco, CA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| QA Analyst/Digital /Online Experience | Santa Monica, CA |
| Front End Developer | Santa Monica, CA |
| Sr Software Engineer | Santa Monica, CA |
| Graphic Design- Internship | Santa Monica, CA |
| Sr PHP Developer | Santa Monica, CA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Seeking Proposals to Develop a Community Program in Upstate, New York | New York, NY |
| Android Developer/Consultant | New York, NY |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Viral Content Intern | New York, NY |
| Web Developer-Product Marketing | McLean, VA |
| Product Modeling Analyst II | Chevy Chase, MD |
| Help Content Designer | San Mateo, CA |
| UX Designer | San Mateo, CA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Service Center Representative | Salem, MA |
| Credit Union Associate | Lansing, MI |
| Professional Benefits Sales Consultant | New York |
| Seasonal Assistant - Basketball Communications - Cleveland Cavaliers (Cleveland, OH) | Cleveland, OH |
| Seasonal Assistant - Facility Operations - Cleveland Cavaliers (Cleveland, OH) | Cleveland, OH |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Public Relations Associate Account Executive - NYC | New York, NY |
| Accounting Intern | New York, NY |
| Senior Accountant | Atlanta, GA |
| Senior Account Supervisor | Atlanta, GA |
| Certification Program Coordinator | New York, NY |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Inside Sales Representative (entry level sales) | Teterboro, NJ |
| Need a Female Personal Trainer | Columbus, IN |
| Tax Preparer | San Rafael, CA |
| Inside Sales Representative (entry level) | Garden City, NY |
| Education Consultant | San Francisco Bay Area, CA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Construction Consultant | Edina, MN |
| Services Coordinator I | San Antonio, TX |
| Transaction Analyst | San Antonio, TX |
| Legal Transaction Analyst | San Antonio, TX |
| Legal Transaction Analyst | San Antonio, TX |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Part-Time Research Associate | Chantilly, VA |
| Analyst - Published Research | Irvine, CA |
| Ad Production Coordinator | Washington, DC |
| Field Researcher - Seattle Area | Seattle, WA |
| Assistant Editor – Residential Construction Group | Washington, DC |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Exceptional Lead Sales Client Specialist | Peoria, AZ |
| Yoga Instructor - Studio | Westborough, MA |
| Customer Support Specialist | East Hampton, NY |
| Studio Manager - Scarsdale | Scarsdale, NY |
| Sales Associate | East Hampton, NY |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Head of Experiential & Performance Marketing (Los Angeles) | Los Angeles, CA |
| Need a Resume Writing Service | Milton, MA |
| Communications & Special Events Intern | Washington, DC |
| Legal Intern (1 day a week) | Los Angeles, CA |
| Legal Intern (1 day a week) | Los Angeles, CA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Manager of Hosted Data (SQL, Relativity, Ipro, external server) | Kirkland, WA |
| Public Relations Intern | Chicago, IL |
| Educational Training Intern | Chicago, IL |
| kCura - Public Relations Intern | Chicago, IL |
| Public Relations Intern | Chicago, IL |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Online Content Manager | New York, NY |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Loyalty Analyst | Bolingbrook, IL |
| International Sales & Marketing Associate (Junior Level; Beauty/Cosmetics) | Clifton, NJ |
| eCommerce Brand Manager - Cosmetics & Skin Care | Tarzana, CA |
| Outside Sales Representative - San Jose, CA | San Jose, CA |
| Dental Office Manager | San Diego, CA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Inside Sales Representative | Mountain View, CA |
| Director of Engineering | Mountain View, CA |
| Lead Data Scientist | Mountain View, CA |
| Lead Architect | Mountain View, CA |
| Sr Software Engineer | Mountain View, CA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Experience Office Furniture Installer Needed | Charlotte, NC |
| Print & New Media Advertising Account Executive | Rochelle Park, NJ |
| Print & New Media Advertising Executive | Rochelle Park, NJ |
| Experienced Furniture Installer | Savannah, GA |
| Health and Safety Manager | Haworth, NJ |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Market Research Analyst | Spokane, WA |
| Vet Lab Scientist,assc | Bernalillo, NM |
| Labor Education Specialist (Assist Ext Professional, Assoc Ext Professional) | Columbia, MO |
| Assistant/Associate Professor of Marketing | Las Cruces, NM |
| Associate Dean for Research, Collections, and Scholarly Communications | University Park, PA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| RN Case Manager | Tomah, WI |
| Skincare Sales & Marketing - Entrepreneurs Wanted | Newark, NJ |
| Skincare Sales and Marketing | Waukegan, IL |
| Prestige Skincare Sales & Marketing - Independent Consultants | United States |
| Phlebotomy Coordinator - Eve | Atlanta, GA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Design Intern | New York, NY |
| Content & Communications Intern | New York, NY |
| Project Management Intern | New York, NY |
| Media Intern | New York, NY |
| Creative Strategy Intern | New York, NY |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Pulmonology-Critical Care - Physician | Riverside, ME |
| Evaluation Intern | Sausalito, CA |
| Family Practice - Physician Assistant | Bangor, ME |
| Supervisory Park Ranger (I) | San Francisco, CA |
| Public Programs Assistant - Youth & Family Programs | San Francisco, CA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Computational Research Scientist | Spokane, WA |
| DBS Lead III | Everett, WA |
| Production Planner/Master Scheduler II | Everett, WA |
| Software Design Engineer IV | Everett, WA |
| Software Quality Engineer II (Verification & Validation Engineer) | Everett, WA |
| Job Title | Location |
|---|---|
| Junior Design Internship | Easton, PA |
| Senior Package Designer | Easton, PA |
| Senior Level Graphic Designer | Easton, PA |
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