Bettering Your Skills to Land Administrative Assistant Jobs |
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Posted By: Julie Shenkman In: Clerical & Administrative
If you're looking for an administrative assistant job opportunity, you can improve both your situation and skill set to make yourself an attractive candidate for many clerical admin jobs, ultimately giving you a leg up on the competition.
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If you're looking for an administrative assistant job opportunity, you can improve both your situation and skill set to make yourself an attractive candidate for many clerical admin jobs, ultimately giving you a leg up on the competition.
Administrative assistant job postings feature a variety of opportunities, from work-at-home data entry positions to in-house business administrative jobs. Before you start your administrative assistant job search, it’s a good idea to narrow down which types you’re interested in and concentrate on improving your skill set and situation for those positions.
For example, are you interested in working from home? You could land a job as a work-at-home transcriptionist, virtual assistant or data-entry worker. The key to landing one of these administrative jobs is to take stock of your ability to do the work before applying.
That ability isn’t limited to your personal work skills—you’ll also need to evaluate your computer setup to see if it’s capable of handling the demands of the job. Is your computer loaded with the right software such as Excel, Word, and a chat/teleconference program like Skype? If not, you may need to purchase and install such programs to make yourself the right candidate for the job.
You’ll also need a reliable Internet connection that's capable of high-speed transfer so you can send large files back to your employer. Spreadsheets, PDF files and Word documents will all need to be sent via email, FTP or other means back to the home office. If you’re trying to do this on a dial-up connection (which is rare these days, but still used in some areas) or a “borrowed” wireless Internet connection at a local coffee shop, you may experience trouble if the connection goes down or becomes unreliable. Make sure your Internet setup is ready for the demands of the job.
If you’d rather work on-site, these issues naturally don’t apply to you; however, some aspects of them will. How familiar are you with those programs many employers need their administrative assistants to use during the course of the day? The industry standard is the Microsoft Office suite, which includes Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook (for email and contact management). It's very important that relevant computer skills be listed on administrative resumes.
If you're not familiar with Excel spreadsheets and the basic functions, hop on a computer and start cramming. Also, brush up on Word, including the document formatting and shared editing features. Don’t be intimidated by the technology. Programs like these are designed to be user-friendly and intuitive, which is why many offices use them. You’d be amazed at how far a “can-do” attitude will take you when it comes to learning computer programs and other technology. Plus, this attitude illustrates to a potential employer that you are both willing and capable when it comes to learning new skills, making you a valuable addition to the team.
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