Current job title: Executive
Administrative Assistant
Industry: Real Estate / Facilities
Management
Department: Global Account Management
Years worked in this industry: 3
Years worked in this department: 3
Special training or attributes needed or helpful to
get job in this industry (or specific department): No special
training or skills required. My advanced software knowledge was my best
selling point, according to the managers who hired me.
Number of
managers and/or staff supported: 10-15
Typical work hours: 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM
Weekends or overtime hours: I work
weekends only in dire emergencies. I may do 1-2 hours of overtime a week
once or twice a month. I do get paid for overtime.
General salary range
(Note: This is a general figure or range provided by survey respondent and may
NOT be an exact salary in order to
give survey respondent some privacy. Also you must take into account that
the number of years worked in industry/department may contribute to this
salary as well as criteria such as level of position and person reports
to, required hours and geographical location.): $40,000 -
$50,000
Benefits (direct or indirect): Yes -
health, dental, optical, life insurance, 401k, ESP, a lot of
company-sponsored discounts
Lingo you might hear in this industry:
KPIs and CPIs - Key Performance Indicators and Critical Performance
Indicators. Metrics that are used to judge our performance of facility
management functions for a client. For example, a CPI incident would be if
one of our employees was doing electrical work on a client's building and
accidentally blew a fuse that cut off electrical power to the site
residents.
A typical day on the job: Some days I
don't see a single person. Other days I have 5-15 people fighting for
office space, asking for supplies, lining up to solicit my input or
recruit me for a project team, needing technical support, asking about
travel and visa requirements, needing a flow chart blown up to poster
size, wanting to make changes to our web site, asking where a conference
room is, or just wanting to chat and catch up.
Positive things about being an administrative
professional in this industry: There is so much that needs to
be done that the role is never boring. I have the opportunity to get
involved in a very wide variety of projects, and also become a respected
expert in certain areas that no one else has the time or inclination to
focus on.
Negative things about being an administrative
professional in this industry:
- The days when literally a
dozen people all want my attention at once.
- I hate arranging meetings and doing calendar management - it's the most
tedious, annoying and frustrating task.
Type of workspace/office:
large cubicle (U-shaped desk, lots of
storage space, biggest cubicle of our team :-)
Primary responsibilities as an administrative
professional in this position:
- General support (whatever is
needed at the moment) of our global account executive.
- Administration of the account's global intranet web site.
- Administration of the account's global employee recognition program.
- Support of special global projects and teams.
Top thing(s) incumbent admin would require of job
applicants seeking to be her/his position replacement:
-
Advanced software skills with the ability to figure out how to do things
via trial and error (versus wanting someone to tell you how to do
something)
- The ability to work extremely independently, with little to no
direction, to have good instincts and "mind read" as much as possible.
Office machines or equipment operated regularly:
Multiple PCs - usually two at a time
Fax, copier, scanner
Plotter (large scale printer)
Technology (hard) skills used regularly:
Very high level work in the Microsoft Office suite - advanced analytics in
Excel, high-profile presentations in PowerPoint. Macros and Visual Basic.
HTML and some Cascading Style Sheets for web design work. A little
PhotoShop.
Critical soft skills:
Patience,
Patience, Patience - you never get what you need when you need it, but you
need to fill everyone else's needs when they need something.
Ability to stay cool under pressure - other people's and your own.
Pace of this position: varies
Geographical region: Midwest U.S.
