Current job title: Executive Admin [to
high level executive]
Industry: non-profit - association
Department: Executive
Years worked in this industry: 5
Years worked in this department: 5
Special training or attributes needed or helpful to
get job in this industry (or specific department): Masters
Degree; member of International Association of Administrative Professionals.
Number of
managers and/or staff supported: 1 & other assistant executive
directors when admins are on vacation
Typical work hours: 8:30-4:30
Weekends or overtime hours: Rarely; no
extra pay. Work 8 – 12 hr. days straight during our annual meeting (where
we have 60,000 attendees).
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.): Over $50,000
Benefits (direct or indirect): Free
health care & dental; extra week vacation with pay between Christmas & New
Year’s; free membership in Sam’s Club or Costco; newest equipment – flat
screen monitors – ergonomic desk chairs; free brown bag lunch meetings for
topics of interest; annual health screening at work; free flu shot;
business cards, covered parking. I have never had a supply request
disallowed.
Lingo you might hear in this industry:
IHE = Integrating
the Healthcare Enterprise;
MIRC = Medical Imaging Resource Center;
RadLex
= Radiology Lexicon. These are all software systems
A typical day on the job: A wide
variety of calendaring; preparing for meetings (agendas & handouts);
producing itineraries, checking registrations, hotel confirmations;
receiving and sending emails from my exec and for my exec; tallying
meeting.
attendees; dinner reservations; soliciting statistics for meeting
attendance; mail circulation; letters; phone calls. More than anything
else: Deciding what’s an appropriate response. Very busy every day. I am
only off on vacation or for business travel.
Positive things about being an administrative
professional in this industry: There is respect for the
executive admin position of an executive director. Working with the BoD
and BoT and their wives from all over the country is interesting work. I
have learned a lot about medical processes that I would never have know
about. The 150 people I work with are magnificent!
Negative things about being an administrative
professional in this industry: There is never enough time to
research things as in-depth as I’d like. Sometimes in the rapid pace,
mistakes are made. Wages may be higher in other for-profit industries.
Type of workspace/office:
outside the executive director’s office with a large office space &
partial glass walls, distant window
Primary responsibilities as an administrative
professional in this position: Keeping my bosses’
calendar/itineraries up-to-date. Producing meeting materials for
international leadership meetings. Maintaining and updating computer docs
for surveys. Catering various working lunch meetings at a competitive price.
Tallying attendance, providing and distributing agendas for meetings.
Compiling meeting notes and distributing. Keeping track of my departments
vacations and attendance.
Top thing(s) incumbent admin would require of job
applicants seeking to be her/his position replacement:
Confidentiality (complete secrecy about hirings & firings; wages; new
products; grant awards); Integrity (honesty & dependability, will complete
job); skilled pc user with Microsoft products. Prefer advanced degree and
participating IAAP member.
Office machines or equipment operated regularly:
Fax, pc computer, printer, telephone, Dictaphone, copier, FedEx computer.
Technology (hard) skills used regularly:
Software: M/S Office 2003, VISIO, TIMSS, Corporate Time, Mozilla
Thunderbird, Palm Pilot/Visio Handspring, Faxman, Calendar Creator Plus,
PrintScreen, Dymo Label.
Critical soft skills: Getting best
price for a variety of lunches for meetings.; cordial phone contact; very
quick response to email, especially from my boss; ability to make executive
decisions when necessary; maintaining my cool under pressure, business
dress every day.
Pace of this position: Very fast all
the time except when my boss travels
Geographical region: Midwest U.S.
roduced by Karen Porter, The Administrative Professional Job Performance and Career Success Coach™ and Founder and President of The Effective Admin:
"My specialty is
serving administrative professionals like you with job performance and career
management advice. I have 24 years experience interacting with the 'real'
workplace and working administrative professionals."