Assistant to Director Job Description Higher Education

Current job title: Assistant to Director

Industry: Higher Education

Department: Communications and Regional Programs

Years worked in this industry: 7

Years worked in this department: 1

Special training or attributes needed or helpful to get job in this industry (or specific department): Art degree helped; some fiscal training was important

Number of managers and/or staff supported: 7

Typical work hours: 8 to 5

Weekends or overtime hours: Rarely….yes, however I usually take comp time.

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.):

Benefits (direct or indirect):

Yes, health care, tuition rebate

Lingo you might hear in this industry:

cultivation – educating and enlightening donors about programs, scholarships and university needs.

Solitcitation – asking prepared donor for funds toward a specific targeted goal

Prospect – identified donors who have additional giving potential

A typical day on the job: Donor research, answering boss’s rolled-over phone calls, filing donor activity reports, writing researched articles for giving reports, filing fiscal reports, requisitions and orders for department, making travel arrangements and completing expense reports, arranging meetings and events, filing and organizing, keeping boss’s calendars and schedules, interoffice communication and planning, attending meetings, taking notes, keeping of departmental task list and changes, creating presentations, some human resource duties related to specific department.

Positive things about being an administrative professional in this industry: Certain degree of autonomy, fairly relaxed atmosphere, well-educated co-workers

Negative things about being an administrative professional in this industry: Lower pay than corporate counterparts

Type of workspace/office: cubicle

Primary responsibilities as an administrative professional in this position: Fiscal reports, travel arrangements, expense reports, creating presentations, calendars

Top thing(s) incumbent admin would require of job applicants seeking to be her/his position replacement: Self-starter, organized, able to prioritize

Office machines or equipment operated regularly: Fax, computer, printer, binding machine, scanner, calculator

Technology (hard) skills used regularly: Typing, word processing, presentation software, excel

Critical soft skills:

Good communication, diplomacy, flexibility

Pace of this position: average

Geographical region: Midwest U.S.