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Job Description | Duties | Working Conditions
Educational Requirements | Outlook | Salary

Related Clusters:
Business, Management, and Administration



Job Description: Administrative assistants help executives with office work. They work for a variety of businesses. These include manufacturing firms, accounting agencies, large department stores, hospitals, and many other businesses. They coordinate communication between executives in management positions and office workers. Assistants must manage people as well as take orders from their superiors. With supervision, they help executives in nearly all types of work. Some may also be called executive secretaries, executive assistants, administrative secretaries or administrative associates.

The military must keep accurate information for planning and managing operations. They collect data on equipment, personnel, supplies, and funding. Administrative support specialists compile reports, collect information, and maintain files to assist management in the operation of offices.

Duties: The work of an administrative assistant will depend on the type of business in which they are employed. They may perform some or all of the following duties:

• Coordinate office services
• Study procedures to reduce production time and costs
• Study jobs to determine responsibilities for wage adjustment
• Collect reports on attendance, expenses, new workers, and performance information
• Conduct job interviews
• Plan training programs
• Assist in preparing budgets

For additional information on tasks, knowledge, skills, abilities, work activities, work contexts, job zones, interests, work styles, work values, and related occupations, visit the O*Net Online, a division of the National Center for Occupational Information.

Military administrative support specialists may perform the following:

• Prepare letters, reports, and other documents
• Proofread written material
• Correct spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors
• Organize and maintain electronic and paper files and publications
• Order office supplies
• Greet and direct office visitors
• Sort and deliver mail
• Schedule training and leave for unit personnel
• Answer telephones and monitor fax machines

Working Conditions: Administrative assistants work in attractive offices. They usually work with other professionals in schools, hospitals, corporate settings, or in legal and medical offices. They normally work eight hours a day, five days a week. Overtime work may occasionally be required. Their jobs often involve sitting for long periods. If they spend a lot of time at a video display terminal of a computer, they may encounter problems of eyestrain, stress, and repetitive motion, such as carpal tunnel syndrome.

Military administrative support specialists work in offices on land and aboard ships.

Educational Requirements: Administrative assistants are expected to be proficient in keyboarding, spelling, punctuation, grammar, and oral communication. Shorthand may be required in some organizations. As office automation continues to become more complex, retraining and continuing education will remain an integral part of this position. For related information and recommended courses to prepare for this occupation, Tennessee high school students may visit the Business and Information Technology Standards online.

Military job training consists of 6 to 10 weeks of classroom instruction including practice in various office functions. Further training occurs on the job. Course content typically includes English grammar, spelling, and punctuation; keyboarding and clerical skills; setting up and maintaining filing and publication systems; and preparing forms and correspondence in military style.

Outlook: The estimated number of administrative assistants and executive secretaries in Tennessee is 31,190. It is projected there will be an 11 percent increase in this occupation through the year 2012 with approximately 945 job openings annually. For additional information on this occupation, visit the nationally recognized Occupational Outlook Handbook online.

The military employs approximately 23,000 administrative support specialists. For more information for Enlisted Personnel in Administrative Careers visit Today's Military online.

Military service: Military administrative support specialists are enlistees in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and the Coast Guard.

Salary

• Bureau of Labor Statistics, Tennessee Department of Labor website
• TN Department of Labor & Workforce Development website
• Bureau of Economic Analysis website

For an explanation of salary data please visit acinet.org

Last updated on: January 22, 2008