Executive Assistant Job Description, Salary Info and Career Options

Those with strong communication, organizational and computer skills may consider becoming executive assistants. These advanced administrative professionals fulfill administrative duties for top-level executives in a various industries. Employers often look for executive assistants with experience and education in their specific industry.

Executive Assistant Job Description

Executive assistants provide administrative support for presidents, CEOs, chairpersons and other company executives. Executive assistants may answer phones, file and manage paperwork, mail letters and purchase office supplies; however, their duties go far beyond these administrative tasks. They often coordinate meetings, prepare reports and other confidential materials, arrange travel, manage expenses and train other support staff. Executive assistants may be authorized to make business office decisions in the occurrence that executives are unavailable.

Executive Assistant Qualifications

According to executive assistant job listings on Careerbuilder.com, employers prefer applicants with bachelor's degrees and three or more years of administrative experience specific to the business's industry. Organizational, computer and interpersonal skills are also necessary for this profession. Executive assistants must maintain a professional demeanor in all situations and be able to withhold confidential information. They may also be required to work nights and weekends.

Executive Assistant Salary Information

In May 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that executive assistants earned, on average, $45,860 per year (www.bls.gov). Specific wages varied by industry. Most assistants worked in colleges and other post-secondary schools, earning, on average, $44,680 per year; however, the highest paying, yet rarest positions were in postal service offices, which offered a mean annual wage of $61,340.

Executive Assistant Career Options

According to the BLS, secretaries and administrative assistants made up one of the country's largest professions in 2008, filling approximately 4.3 million jobs. Executive assistants in particular held nearly 1.6 million jobs. They're needed in all types of businesses in a variety of industries, including colleges, retail and manufacturing businesses, trade firms and construction companies. Employment of executive assistants was expected to increase 13% from 2008-2018, and a growing number of positions will be available in the education, construction, healthcare and social assistance industries.

Executive Assistant Careers

Executive assistants typically function as administrative assistants, office managers and accountants. The best jobs go to those who are highly skilled in office software applications and who obtain highly prized credentials, such as the Certified Administrative Professional (CAP) designation, through organizations like the International Association of Administrative Professionals.

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