Administrative Assistant Skills

Administration careers are one of the business jobs which require you to possess a great deal of general management skills. Typically, there are two positions in this career, namely an administrative manager and an administrative assistant.

An administrative assistant is one who performs the most basic tasks in the daily running of a business. Their duties are varied, so they should have fundamental skills and knowledge of all work areas.

• Maintaining inventory of supplies and resources required for the company.
• Recording the details of all transactions with dealers from the outside world.

• Reporting to the admin head or manager about records and administration issues.
• Arranging for workplace safety programs by getting in touch with third-parties who give demonstrations on workplace safety.

• Performing tasks like answering calls, handling company email accounts, filing and record keeping.
• Responsible for coordinating meetings and conferences.
• Making travel arrangements for employees and clients.

These are just the basic duties. There are many others which may vary as per the type of company and field of employment.

Since an administrative assistant is an individual who has to keep in touch with most departments and personnel, it is a mandatory requirement to possess good interpersonal skills. He should possess excellent oral and written communication skills for communicating effectively with everyone in the organization, answering phone calls, sending and replying to emails, etc.

As this professional has to do a lot of work in a given amount of time and coordinate with various staff, he is supposed to prioritize the tasks by urgency and importance. An administrative assistant should also be capable of completing the tasks within the stipulated time.

These personnel have to deal with a lot of data and reports. They need to use computer applications for data storage and proper administration. This is why they should have basic working knowledge about word processing applications, spreadsheets, databases, and other data management software. Beginners in the job can take up small computer courses in order to learn basic data entry and for updating data records.

An administrative assistant should be aware of the working of various processes in the organization. He needs to have the functional knowledge of business registration procedures, inventory dealings, state and local laws regarding business running, and other aspects.

He has to ensure that all resources are used effectively and efficiently, leading to low administration costs. He can even conduct a training session to help employees make the best use of supplies. General management skills are specifically required to work in a particular field such as health care, financial, legal, manufacturing, etc.

Last but not the least, the person should be organized, motivated, and punctual. Since managing time is very important in this job, a potential candidate should be a focused and determined person. He should be proactive in his work, and take appropriate decisions as per the situation. Logical thinking ability is also a prerequisite to be successful.

These are the basic skills a person should concentrate on. Though there is no specific requirement to become an administrative assistant; basic education, and administrative procedures like filing and record keeping are required to make a career in this field.

Moreover, a person should be prompt and capable of working independently as well as a part of a team. For entry-level jobs a candidate can expect to earn about $42,000 per annum on an average. However, with experience one can excel in this field and raise the income prospects.