Good article from Houston Chronicle, Houston TX

Direct link: http://www.chron.com/cgi-bin/auth/story.mpl/content/adpub/jobs/professional/stories/lead.html

Article text:
Sunday, April 18th, 2004

Administrative assistant role expands
By REBECCA MAITLAND
Employment Correspondents


In the past 10 years, the role of administrative assistants has greatly changed due to personal computers, the Internet and e-mail.

"When secretaries had typewriters, we answered the phones, filed and waited for our bosses to give us something to type, but now everything is different," said Laly Salinas-Gandara, administrative assistant for Hospice Care Team Inc.

Today, many executives, managers and supervisors handle their own correspondence, often answer their own phones, and file clerks maintain files, which creates a new arena for the administrative professional.

Secretaries were once thought of as not needing any special skills, and anyone could do the job. However, today's secretaries and administrative assistants keep the day-to-day operations of offices and companies functioning, continue to expand their responsibilities, and make it possible for management to efficiently handle their responsibilities.

"Our administrative staff serve as key front-line public relations ambassadors for our agency, from taking the first call, to greeting visitors and facilitating the flow of information and communication in our office," said Meredith Morneau, executive director for Hospice Care Team.

As communication liaisons, administrative professionals maintain and support relationships with managers, employees, customers, vendors and the public. From sending and replying to e-mail to producing reports and newsletters, they disseminate information that is vital to the office workflow. They coordinate schedules and plan and participate in meetings where decisions are made. They often maintain financial records and databases and prepare mulit-media reports and presentations, according to Rick Stroud, communications manager for International Association of Administrative Professionals.

Salinas-Gandara not only answers phones, but also maintains the agency database used by all medical staff, uses specialized accounting software, handles light banking and numerous reports. She has also been cross-trained to cover other support staff desks so if an employee is out services and information or not delayed.

In her job, she said, she is a jack-of-all-trades, using written and verbal interpersonal communication, critical thinking, decision making, information management and many other skills daily.

"I use many traditional secretarial skills, but I also have good computer skills so I am able to learn new software easily, which is very important with technology constantly changing," said Salinas-Gandara.

Cross training of support staff is becoming increasingly important, which adds additional responsibilities to an administrative professional's daily routine.

"We need employees that are flexible, enjoy a variety of duties, and are able to be cross-trained. We believe cross-training is important for many reasons, but mainly to allow a caller or visitor to receive needed information in their own language," said Morneau.

Mastering technology is essential for administrative professionals. Nearly all support staff use e-mail, scheduling and word processing software on a daily basis. Most also use scanners, copiers, fax machines, voice and video conferencing equipment as well as computerized projection systems. Spreadsheet, database and presentations software also are essential skills for today's administrative professional.

"I have to know what every person in the agency does so I can direct calls and questions to the right person. I also keep up with where everyone is. It can be challenging, but I really like my job," said Salinas-Gandara.

Secretaries and administrative assistants are employed in all companies, agencies and organizations with approximately nine out of 10 administrative assistants being employed in service-providing industries, ranging from education, health, government to the retail trade.

High school graduates with basic office skills often qualify for entry-level positions, even though many employers are requiring extensive software application knowledge, and proficient in keyboarding, spelling, grammar, punctuation and oral communication.

Also, most employers seek those with good customer service and interpersonal skills, discretion, confidentiality, good judgment, organizational or management ability, initiative and the ability to be a self-starter.

When it comes to office support staff, most employers promote from within, which offers numerous opportunities to entry-level positions or those seeking careers in the administrative support field.

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