Current job title: Office
Assistant:/Editor
Industry: Publishing
Department: Editing
Years worked in this industry: 2
Years worked in this department: 2
Special training or attributes needed or helpful to
get job in this industry (or specific department):
Formal administrative assistant training
Formal training in Business Administration
Number of
managers and/or staff supported: 1
Typical work hours: It varies,
depending on how many stories we have to put out; but a typical day is
about 10 hours long.
Weekends or overtime hours: Yes. I work
approximately 10 hours overtime each week. I do get paid 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.): $11.00 -
$12.00 hour (for new employees)
Benefits (direct or indirect): Medical,
paid vacation (started my second year)
Lingo you might hear in this industry:
Typeset -an old term used when printing presses were ran off of actually
setting the letters into the plates, now we use it to refer to the letters
on the screens.
A typical day on the job: The usual
administrative assistant duties, plus typing the newsletters into the
program, and making sure all of the stories will fit before printing them
out.
Positive things about being an administrative
professional in this industry:
Creativity
Learning new things through the stories and facts I type up
Being a part of bringing helpful information to other people
Negative things about being an administrative
professional in this industry: Rejecting a story because it
does not fit in this month newsletter, or because it is not the type of
information we want to spread to other people.
Type of workspace/office:
I work out of my home.
Primary responsibilities as an administrative
professional in this position:
Communicating with the people who bring us the stories
Creating the newsletter along with the publisher and writers
Selling advertising space in our newsletters
Maintaining stock of all of the supplies needed
Research of new subjects each month
Top thing(s) incumbent admin would require of job
applicants seeking to be her/his position replacement:
Strong communication skills
Research skills (Internet and library)
Multi-tasking
Office machines or equipment operated regularly:
Computer
Copier/Scanner/Printer
Microsoft Office
Several print shop-type programs
Technology (hard) skills used regularly:
Only the Microsoft Office, print shop-type programs and the all-in-one
machine.
Critical soft skills:
Strong communication skills are important to understand exactly what needs
to be done each day.
Patience because sometimes the format or stories get changed a few time
and have to be reformatted due to space constraints, changing situations,
or something of that nature.
Organizational skills to be able to accomplish the needed tasks in a
reasonable amount of time.
Multi-tasking to be able to handle several situations at one time.
Pace of this position: Varies from slow
to fast but majority of days are average.
Geographical region: Midwest U.S.
Karen Porter, The Administrative Professional Job Performance and Career Success Coach™