Admin Professionals Do More Than Book Meeting Rooms

Even if you have never given it much thought before, it’s easy to appreciate the sheer number of industries supported by admin professionals and how pervasive the role is in terms of keeping CEOs and managers on the right track.

Just how much has the profession evolved?

In early human history, great leaders were traditionally accompanied by advisers or scribes  who were also of critical importance because of their role in capturing important information. As gender roles evolved the once male-dominated scribe/confidant became the more familiar personal or private secretary.

As the role of secretaries expanded and more women demanded shorthand skills in particular, more schools opened up and associations like the Canadian National Secretaries Association was formed (in 1951).

Today many admin professionals are committed more than ever to improving in their field as well as wear many hats and carry out distinctive tasks on a daily basis. Today’s administrative professional does more than book meeting rooms but must understand software for word processing, presentations and spread sheets inside and out and be able to fix copiers and fix fax machines in stride. In many cases, the AA is the glue that binds it all together and their jobs can serve as launch pads to managerial positions.

Admin professionals are constantly directing the flow of never-ending office bustle that ensures they quickly become comfortable balancing numerous tasks simultaneously. Above average people skills are either brought to the table to be begin with or developed out of necessity in this profession.

AAs need to not only communicate with customers and vendors, but also with executives and managers. Being an AA means you are most likely to have a good idea of what’s going on because you are deeply involved in so many different things. AAs often know more about what’s going on in the organization and therefore it’s important that they can speak to these things that are ongoing in the environment when the job requires them to.