Current job title: Senior
Administrative Assistant
Industry: Technology Company selling
to Healthcare
Department: Networking Services
Years worked in this industry: 15
Years worked in this department: 5
Special training or attributes needed or helpful to
get job in this industry (or specific department): I needed
to have basic knowledge of how computers work and the fact that I knew a
little bit about Networking technology certainly helped. I was told I
would need extensive use of MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, which I had.
Number of
managers and/or staff supported: 1 Vice President, 6 Sales, 3
Managers, and about 20 of their direct reports.
Typical work hours: 8:30AM to around
6:00PM
Weekends or overtime hours: I put in
time on the weekends once in a while and do work more than my eight hours
a day, but it is not required. I am salary and am not paid for 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.): $40,000 –
$55,000
Benefits (direct or indirect): We have
Health, Dental, Vision, 401K, employee stock purchase plan and Educational
Assistance to name a few.
Lingo you might hear in this industry:
1.) HIPAA; To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the health care
system, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of
1996, Public Law 104-191, included “Administrative Simplification”
provisions that required Health and Human Services (HHS) to adopt national
standards for electronic health care transactions. At the same time,
Congress recognized that advances in electronic technology could erode the
privacy of health information....
2.) Medical Informatics: The discipline that focuses on the acquisition,
storage, and use of information in health and biomedicine is called
medical informatics.
3.) (CPOE) computerized physician order entry
A typical day on the job: Every day can
be different. I usually have several tasks that need to be done, gather
marketing materials and making sure they get shipped out correctly.
Helping to create and edit new marketing materials. Getting the correct
forms and filling them out so that an engineer can get a new laptop---this
can be complicated. Answering the phone, I support one VP, six Network
Sales and their Engineers, I support 3 middle managers, and I will help
any of their reports. I create and edit organizational charts as needed. Sometimes
just to see what has changed, not to post or hand out. I can run reports
and look for items that need to be addressed. If I can handle I do, if not
I make sure the manager affected gets the information. I will follow up with that
manager to see if wants me to handle any of it. We have a website on our
corporate network, that I add and change to when ever I think of anything,
or someone brings me anything to post. If I run out of fires to put out, I
might re do files for someone who is backed up. We have plenty of self
educating materials to be read. Always have a ton of
information I can be reading and become more knowledgeable about. Weekly,
I gather information from four sources (managers) consolidate it into one
report, I edit the information and add information if I know something
that needs to be on the report and then I send that to our VP who lets me
know if is OK to send on up or if it needs to be rewritten.
Positive things about being an administrative
professional in this industry:
1.) My ability to learn new things. My only limits are what I put on
myself.
2.) Being able to support and help my team (dept.) be successful.
3.) Respect from the people I work with.
Negative things about being an administrative
professional in this industry:
1.) The title is generally looked down on.
2.) If you don’t push yourself you will get in a rut and burn out.
3.) You need to keep your skills up to date and learn about the industry
you are working in, usually on your own time. The last one is not an issue
with me, I think spending time on this type of thing is well worth it.
Type of workspace/office:
Cubicle
Primary responsibilities as an administrative
professional in this position:
1.) Working with large companies and being their partner is complicated and you must meet all their
requirements. Someone has to own that. I had requested it, it wasn’t part
of my original job description.
2.) Keeping corporate forms on hand and helping my department to fill them out
correctly. Examples: computer requisitions, training requisitions,
hardware requisitions, supply requisitions, hr requisitions, expense
reimbursement forms, AP forms…….
3.) Being a back up when people are out of the office. I may not know
how to fix their problem, but I do know who can help them and what the
next steps should be. Engineers, sales, project managers etc in my dept,
put me down as the person to contact when they are unreachable.
4.) Usual duties of making travel arrangements for the VP of the
department. We have a travel company who makes all the arrangements, so what I
do is check the travel that the VP needs to go on, figure out what
benefits him (and the company most) and then let the travel company
confirm and book the tickets. I am able to find deals and upgrades that
for just a few more dollars gets the VP in first class and in better
hotels.
5.) Help manage email and get things correctly on his calendar. I will
send out invitations and people will respond to me. Once all the details
are worked out, THEN, I put the information on his calendar. He is not
copied on all the back and forth from outlook.
Top thing(s) incumbent admin would require of job
applicants seeking to be her/his position replacement:
1.) To have some technical knowledge and know-how to use software
applications to automate processes and make sure everything looks
professional. Chances are if someone doesn’t have some technical knowledge
on their own they are not motivated, not a self starter and not going to
be much help to others.
2.) A good attitude and willingness to learn the best way to support the
team.
3.) Confidentiality, loose lips do sink ships still. I am continually
amazed at the amount of gossip that goes on with admins and other people.
And the amount of information they share is horrible.
Office machines or equipment operated regularly:
Computer, fax machine, copier, printer and I know how to do general
service on them, change toner, clear jams etc.
Technology (hard) skills used regularly:
Excel, Word, Outlook calendar, PowerPoint, Oracle, SharePoint, some Visio
Critical soft skills: Critical
thinking, being able to make decisions when needed. Most decisions don’t
need to wait until the manager is in. Use common sense. Example an
engineer needed to talk to his manager because he wanted to book a flight
to visit his nephew who just broke his leg. The manager was home very ill.
I checked with the engineer to make sure he wasn’t forgetting anything he
had to do and made sure no customer’s would be inconvenienced and that the
other engineers knew he would be gone and then told him his vacation was
approved and to go ahead and book his flight. The manager was very happy I
handled this. Self motivation---If you see something that could be done
better, figure it out and either delegate it or do it yourself.
Pace of this position: I make it Fast.
Geographical region: Southeast U.S.
Karen Porter, The Administrative Professional Job Performance and Career Success Coach™