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Administrative Assistant is a difficult job and not appreciated enough by companies. They are taken for granted and as long as things run smoothly nobody pays attention. I don't know what to say, except that I feel for you.
One piece of advice though: make a habit of attending parties, even if you are uninvited. Don't think anyone will chase you out, or tell you to leave. After a few times, your presence will be taken for granted and people will start expecting you there. That is one area where you can change things (if you want). Another is performing some jobs that require computer work, like PP presentations, reports, ect. This way you can become more involved in marketing, public relations, etc.
Do you have a college degree? An adm.assistant is often a fancy name for a secretary with a college degree. Try to move to a position with marketing or sales in front of assistant. Maybe those positions are promotable. What about customer service rep? At the very least, you have a job.
Things I Detest About Being an Administrative Assistant
There is no room for advancement. I are stuck in administrative work and always will be.
I wasn't an admin, but I was a receptionist and I know how frustrating it can be to have to try to advance when it seems like all the company wants is for you to stay put in your current position.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3DogNight
The job is nebulous, and with that - in my experience - the inherent inability to negotiate better money.
It can be very difficult with admin type jobs to be able to quantify what you are doing and how it benefited the company, which seems to be a big factor in both getting a raise and getting a new job.
HA well lucky you! Sorry to say, your workplace is the exception rather than the rule. The jackoff that broke the copier at my last workplace which was 90% male - his biggest effort was writing a note "call repair - broken" and we're lucky he found the tape to stick it to the copier itself.
Frankly I find that it's a demographic thing. I'm going to say Hemlock isn't an old fart and is not surrounded with old farts. There are two types who continue the stereotype (Mad Men) - old men and competitive women. Since most of the people needing these types of admins (second wives is what I call it) were "managers" in the 80's, or managers in their 80's....dunno about OP but I have done what you are listing above AND what she has listed.
The job is nebulous, and with that - in my experience - the inherent inability to negotiate better money.
"Competitive women". You said it. That type (I've heard) are resentful they weren't born with a **** and two *****. Describes a female boss I had to a T - deceptively, she looked like a fat, white haired grandma. She was the worst tyrant I'd ever met. I was her administrative assistant, of course.
She jammed the copier when she was there over the weekend, had a melt down over it, and literally busted it in her rage - the control panel was totally pried off and splintered. I came in Monday morning, and "What the..."????? Of course, everybody confronted ME with "What happened to the copier?" Our maintenance contract didn't cover it, of course - the repair guy's jaw dropped to the floor when he saw it.
Same manager was on vacation in Puerto Rico for two weeks and assigned me a large filing project before she left (because I'd need "something to do" while she was gone). In that interim, my daughter was in a very serious car accident (in the trauma unit, unconscious, hooked up to tubes, and then put in a body cast). Needless to say, I was out of the office for that interim and the project wasn't done. I got no sympathy whatsoever when I came back - and was really chewed out for it. I was told I should have "delegated" it. Yeah, that should have been my first thought when I was sitting by my girl's hospital bed. A stupid non-emergency filing project. I almost quit on the spot.
When I'd need to go to the restroom (and she couldn't find me), she'd page me over the loudspeaker. Once, I was (to be delicate) going number two, and she actually sought me out in the can! She was standing there as I came out of the stall, rattling off a memo before I could wash my hands! And I didn't have my steno pad with me. What the heck did she expect me to write on? Toilet paper?
Lastly, said boss would assign me a project right before I left for lunch, and when I came back, be standing at my desk asking how it's going. "I haven't started it yet." "Why NOT?!?"
Things I Detest About Being an Administrative Assistant
Treated like a combination maid/errand girl.
Always planning the parties/lunches/celebrations, but never getting to enjoy them because I am (a) too busy coordinating and overseeing the event or (b) I am not invited to participate. (I just got to plan it.)
The complete lack of privacy. I have co-workers, bosses and execuytives who feel they can rummage through my desk and my files anytime they need office supplies of any sort. I had one guy who was particularly guilty of this, so I strategically placed some feminine products where they would fall out of the desk drawer when he opened it.
Fixing the copier always falls under my purview
If my boss is late, I am considered the one who dropped the ball.
There is no room for advancement. I are stuck in administrative work and always will be.
In smaller companies, I am responsible for anwering all the phone calls which is very distracting.
Interruptions are numerous and my time is not respected.
But that's your job. Admin asst is just a new word for secretary. If you don't like it, get a different job or find a place where there is the possibility of moving into something else. Unless you don't have a degree - in that case, you're probably stuck.
Unless you don't have a degree - in that case, you're probably stuck.
I'm not an admin, but many of my friends are... and they had 2 year degrees. They then took advantage of tuition reimbursement and through a LOT of hard work, effort, and sacrifice, got their 4 year degrees. And are STILL admins. My old company (many thousands of employees) tended to pigeon-hole admins no matter WHAT their education level. Which was weird since the company invested its own money into these people. The admins even found it difficult to advance outside the company. It's almost like a stigma!
I hate to bust the public's bubble here but being treated poorly and generally disrespectfully - as in by everyone who blurts "but that's your job!" - is not part of the job.
Nowhere does it say:
-take phone calls
-order lunch
-take abuse from delusional people who think they're above you on the food chain of life
-shine shoes
-run reports
Secretary is a dying word thank heavens and so is the tight-dressed, big-harido, shake your ass and bring me coffee stigma. Lordy climb out from under some rocks for chrissakes. The job has evolved...SO SHOULD YOU.
Some people still look for secretaries - and they may get one. Some women like a more domestic angle at work. Being a wife at work as well as at home - well I'd rather someone slam me in the face with a vintage dictionary. I don't know of any that want to be a wife x2, but there has to be some out there...? I notice that is definitely an age-specific stigma. The age group: O-L-D. As dirt.
Admins have to be loaded down with certificates from MS Office, minor in accounting, be techno whips and still put up with that suck attitude of "you're just a secretary."
Anywhere you have a job description that says "and other duties as required", you should expect that sorta crap.
The duties of answering phones, and otherwise being the goto person for the minor "stuff" of being in an office, basic clerical, should really go to a receptionist. A person who's JOB it is to receive customers and co-workers with a smile on their face and make them happy to be be there. A person who's JOB it is to go get the coffee and order the lunch. A position where no degree in anything is required to do the job, but you should still be treated with respect for your ability to keep a smile on your face when you really really want to slap someone. A good receptionist is a talent skillset in itself. You're also the gatekeeper.
Once you've attained a degree, and a degree is required to have the job, you should be treated with the sort of respect due a person who had to get a degree to do that job. "Running reports" may be part of that job. If you're on the low end of the admin spectrum you could be expected to be the one that covers for the receptionist, but only when that person is on their lunch break or in the bathroom.
A well-run office will have a receptionist to screen incoming calls, leaving those who need their heads in their computers and tasks free to do their work, and have their phone time with only those they need to speak to in the course of their job.
I had such a receptionist job once as a temp, and I still kick myself for not accepting the full time job at the business when it was offered. I found the job extremely easy, and the office did not give me any other work that would interfere with my primary responsibility of answering the phone, screening the calls and sending them to the right work stations. Apparently they had such a hard time finding someone who could simply do that with a smile in her voice that I was a relief. I also had to do such difficult things as get water and coffee for waiting clients. And deliver faxes from the main machine to the attorney that was waiting for them. There was one paralegal that would take over the phones while I took lunch or a break.
Anyway, a well run office should have a receptionist and/or minor clerical staff for the minor clerical stuff. And leave the admins to administrate.
That's why they call it work. If it was supposed to be fun, they'd call it fun instead of work.
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