To Be or Not To Be an Admin

By Teekwa P. Scarborough

Being an assistant is a powerful career to get into while moving on to your desired career. You can work in any industry and be a great assistant; however, you have to have a strong foundation as an assistant. You have to have strong technical, communicational, organizational, time management and follow up skills, to name a few, to be able to handle the different types of demands. You can use your 'being an assistant' as an underdog in any industry of your choosing and the career of your choice, but you must be a go-getter and be in control of your own professional development. It can open up exciting doors to your desired career. Don't Sleep on It! Assistants Rock!

• Language: English
• Publisher: BK Royston Publishing
• Release date: Oct 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386243724

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Becoming an administrative assistant was not the career path I initially chose. I tried to steer clear of going down that path. It was my impression that being an administrative assistant meant you would be a slave to a master. I wanted to be a businesswoman who owned her own business, but I was unsure of the type of business I wanted to start. One thought was that of an event planner. However, of the many choices I had, my career path began to change as circumstances in my life changed. I became a young single mother of twins who both had medical issues. Then the unthinkable happened, and I  had to painfully deal with the death of my first-born twin. Naturally, I put my dreams of owning my own business on the back burner.

I did not have like-minded entrepreneurs around me at the time. Although I had a strong family support unit, we were taught from a young age to finish high school, go to college, and get a good job. Being a business owner was never discussed, but I knew I was destined for greater things; I just did not know what it would be.

After starting college, I changed my major several times because I was still unsure of exactly what I wanted to do.

I knew I did not want to become a secretary, which today is interchangeable with administrative assistant. Running errands, coffee runs, and sitting at a desk all day did not sound exciting to me. As much as I tried to stay away from that position, it landed at my feet anyway. I had no experience as an administrative assistant, but at my first interview, my former boss saw something in me and gave me a chance anyway.

I was not intimidated by the other assistants who had years of experience. I took my new position as a challenge. After being an assistant for one year, I had more technical skills than the other assistants did. Most of the assistants had been with the company since graduating from high school and were accustomed to the old school ways. That old school way meant more work for me. I knew there was a more efficient way of get things done.

After starting the job with no experience, I began to take advantage of every free-training class offered by the company. I already had a great personality, I was eager to learn new things, and had the desire to assist wherever needed. After completing numerous training classes, I wanted to apply what I learned in my daily work functions. I was creating PowerPoint presentations from scratch, writing reports, creating spreadsheets, and I even typed a dissertation for someone’s Ph.D. When my department did not have enough work for me to do, I would reach out to my staff director and make myself available to assist in other departments. You must be a go-getter and be in control of your own professional development.

It’s a great opportunity to be in the mist of any company in an industry of your choosing. I can work in any industry and be a great assistant; however, you have to have a strong foundation as an assistant. You have to  have strong technical, communication, organization,  time management, and follow up skills, to name a few, in order to handle the different types of  demands.

You can use being an assistant as an underdog in any industry of your choosing or the career of your choice, and it can open up an exciting door to your desired career. At a point in my life, I had to stop going to college because I was not sure what career path I wanted to go into. I was switching my major almost every year and it was not benefiting me. I had to stop and really think about what I wanted to do. I knew that it was in the realm of assisting people, but not an assistant. That position required me to stay at my desk most of the time and it was a downside of the career for me. One day I was on the train, and I saw an ad for Monroe College that listed different majors. The one that most stood out to me was Information Technology (IT). A career in technology would still keep me in the world of assisting people, but it was a position that would allow me to travel and not confined to a desk. That week I visited the school, attended an orientation, and spoke to some of the professors in the IT department. This career really interested me. Therefore, I signed up for the next semester and three years later, I graduated at the top of my class with a 4.0 Cum Laude! I say this to show you that you can use being an assistant as a stepping- stone to the career you want to have. I did my internship with the company and continued to work