Administrative assistants

Administrative assistants are employed in a very wide range of fields and provides various types administrative assistance to employees. Depending on the workload, they may be trusted with carrying out tasks for one or many individuals within a department, and cross-department work is sometimes necessary. The tasks they perform vary greatly depending on who they assist; when working for individuals, tasks may be personal in nature, such as running errands and fulfilling tasks as they are assigned.


Often, administrative assistants also have secretarial duties, such as accounting, data entry, billing, inventory, record-keeping, correspondence, and sales, so strong typing skills (including 10-key) and familiarity with Microsoft Office programs are very important. They may also work directly with customers and perform customer service tasks, such as those of a receptionist. For specialized work such as accounting, they may need to demonstrate relevant past experience.
Some positions also require candidates to be familiar with particular software depending on the duties of the job.

Strong interpersonal skills are important for this position in order to work well with both customers and employees. A minimum of a high school diploma is generally required for this position, and some employers may prefer applicants who have an associate’s degree or higher. Administrative assistants generally work in office environments during traditional business hours, while some do work from home.