[jibarguen]

Hello, I've just been laid off from my Project Specialist job at a company I've been with for 13 years. I have really wanted to become an executive administrative assistant for many years now. I'm very qualified and intelligent, but I'm afraid my resume won't be taken seriously without a previous Admin job listed. Is this realistic in ya'lls opinion? Should I continue to pursue this type of career?

[alanmarcinek]

Don't give up hope. I left a career as a Church Music Director for 30 years and decided that I needed a career change. I quit my job, took a couple months off and then decided to work as a temp. I a went to smaller agency, took all the admin test. They sent me to my first job, and a week and a half later the company hired me as an Executive Assistant with a very nice salary and great benefits. I've now been here 9 months and honeymoon isn't over. I'm totally loving it.

Alan

[mcrouch]

I would find a recruiter that focuses on placing Administrative personnel. I am not talking about Administaff or Adjulon but an independant recruiter. They can give you advice on how to best position yourself in the market and help place you based on your strengths. You might want to investigate an Administrative Assistant role before expecting to jump right into and EAA role.
Good Luck,
Michelle

[Iphy]

In my experience, an Executive Administrative Assistant role requires more than just solid general administrative skills (software, organization, etc.). An Executive Assistant needs to have good critical thinking skills, the ability to identify connections between initiatives in order to identify potential conflicts or overlaps, a knack for seeing what else needs to be or could be done beyond the task being requested, and the ability to always be one step ahead of your manager. These skills aren't always developed easily in an administrative career path that focuses more on being reactive to any and all needs, rather than being proactive. But these analytical and conceptual skills do come into play more often in other lines of work. Spend some time thinking about your strengths and how they would apply to an administrative role, and craft your resume to emphasize those skills and abilities, rather than the job titles you've been given in the past. Good luck!

[SAMartin]

The first thing to think about is how your skills would transfer to an exec admin role. Are you proficient with the MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook)? If not, investigate free turotials/training on the web. Do you have experience with scheduling and planning meetings? Travel arrangements? Expense reports? Most executive admins are their executives' "right arm" so you'll need expertise in managing these details of their work lives. Great advice from Michelle to consider an admin assistant role prior to EAA. Alan's success story is highly possible if you're a committed, get-it-done employee - your work ethic and desire will be noticed! - Sandy

[Karen Loughman]

Speaking from experience, I recommend that you work as an Administrative Assistant before jumping into an Executive Assistant role. You will need the admin assistant skills and much, much more to perform the executive assistant role successfully. Understand that each executive is different with different needs. Some executive assistants pick up dry cleaning and some are the partners.
An Executive Assistant must know the company business thoroughly and acts as a partner to their executive; able to sit in on meetings, do their reports and other work and have a "whatever it takes" attitude. Also, the person in this position is asked to lead initiatives and will need leadership skills as well as upper management knowledge and business related skills.

[rrinyai]

Hi,

If you believe that you can do it, you should. It all depends on how much you want to become an executive assistant. I gather that you have lots of experience in this area, so why not give it a try.

Job hunting can be difficult, but if you have 13 years of experience, it should make your life much easier.

Thanks,

Richard Rinyai
The Professional Assistant