Administrative Assistant to Vice President Job Description Publishing

Current job title: Administrative Assistant to Vice President

Industry: publishing

Department: administration

Years worked in this industry: Less than 4

Years worked in this department: Less than 1

Special training or attributes needed or helpful to get job in this industry (or specific department): I have a degree in English education, have training in MS Office software, have in depth knowledge of the [denomination] church (this company is the publishing branch of the denomination and other Christian denominations). I also had known the current president of the company for 20+ years. Networking helped me to get hired.

Number of managers and/or staff supported: 3

Typical work hours: 7:30 am to 4:30 pm

Weekends or overtime hours: I am not required to work overtime very often. Perhaps 2-3 evenings/mornings per quarter. Yes, I do get paid for the overtime.

General salary range (Note: This is a general figure or range provided by survey respondent and may NOT be an exact salary in order to give survey respondent some privacy. Also you must take into account that the number of years worked in industry/department may contribute to this salary as well as criteria such as level of position and person reports to, required hours and geographical location.): $30,000 -- $35,000

Benefits (direct or indirect): Health/dental/eye insurance, retirement plan (with matching funds from company, pension plan, vacation, sick leave, occasional bonus days off for everyone in the company, company days at a local theme park (company buys tickets for entire family and provides a barbeque meal at the park)

Lingo you might hear in this industry:

Saddle stitch—staples on the spine
Perfect bind—straight back
Spiral—wire binding
Case bound—hard back books
Case bound with a dust jacket

A typical day on the job:

Positive things about being an administrative professional in this industry: 1) Lots of new books to read!!! 2) Meeting authors 3) Training sessions with our sales reps

Negative things about being an administrative professional in this industry: 1) Strict timelines—miss one and the book doesn’t get in the industry show—very bad news. Other than that…I can’t think of a negative.

Type of workspace/office: cubicle outside of managers' office

Primary responsibilities as an administrative professional in this position:

1) My most important task is keeping my boss on schedule. He has back to back meetings almost every day so I spend a lot of time overseeing his schedule.

2) Processing every book that is published by our company—getting into the data base, processing the paper work for the receiving department.

3) Processing contracts with foreign publisher who want to translate and publish our books in other languages.

Top thing(s) incumbent admin would require of job applicants seeking to be her/his position replacement: Ability to multi-task, ability to make decisions when VP is occupied, must be a self-starter—see something that needs to be done and do it

Office machines or equipment operated regularly: Computer, fax, copier, shredder, video equipment (tv, vcr, dvd, computer connections to tv)

Technology (hard) skills used regularly: Typing, computer use, calculator, filing,

Critical soft skills: Good communication—letting people know what the VP wants and/or needs from them in preparation for meetings and projects, organization skills—keeping up with VP’s paperwork, knowing where it is and when he will need it, tactful questioning of those requesting an appointment with VP to know if it is necessary or not.

Pace of this position: varies

Geographical region: Midwest U.S.