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I am looking into switching fields and getting into admin. asst. / secretarial positions. I am a very fast typist (65-72wpm) and know the microsoft office suite, (light on excel though). One of my prior positions I did some admin. asst. duties. But I do not have any experience with phone/receptionist type work.
Anyone have any tips for me, since I am new to this game? Any classes I should have? I currently have an associates degree and other career development classes taken over the years.
It seems I am having a hard time finding entry level work. Most want 1-2 years experience minimum. I know I will take a salary hit from my previous job, but that is OK.
I am also wondering about legal secretarial field.
I don't know about receptionist work. Have you tried to go thru a temp agency? They will test you on your skills and sometimes based on your skills that can get you into the door of a long term temp to hire position.
What is your current field now? And it is something where you can cross skills, meaning were you doing job duties that might fall under the realm of Administrative Assistant.
Admin jobs range in duties from typing to updating budgets to cost accounting for high level admins.
I would not think I would be good for much extensive accounting, since I hated math in HS, got good grades, but it was just not good for me. My previous field is graphic design and our area is completely glutted with others with my same qualifications so I am looking for another career to segue.
I think I would do best in a marketing type of environment. In the prior position I was in, I helped out marketing communications people. And worked with legal approval and safety approval teams. I enjoyed this aspect of my job, so a natural segue was to admin.
And yes, I am working with staffing agencies. Hopefully they can help me out. I have been tested for all the skills required. But because of my fast typing, they keep pushing me to data entry. I hate hate hate completely repetitious work.
And there seems to be a lot of general office secretarial positions open no matter what the economic situation. Where as in my previous field, if the economy hiccups, there goes the marketing jobs.
I agree with the Temp agency suggestion. I have been an Executive/Administrative Assistant for 12 years. I will warn you though.....not a whole lot of companies are using agencies right now because of the expense. So what you would get from an agency is to know what level your skills are. A lot of people are out of work and the competition is tough...I'm searching myself.
Also, take a closer look at your recent jobs...you may have more experience than you realize.
Look for administrative positions within the marketing arena. There are usually Marketing Support Admins, do a search for marketing support, marketing admin, things along that line. And I am sure that you will come up with something.
I have been in the Administrative/Clerical field for over 30 years now and I am even having a hard time securing a decent position. It's an employer's market and they have the pick of the litter. My suggestion to you, and even to myself, would be to possibly take some accounting courses. There seems to be a better market in accounting. Good luck!
The reason I ask about legal, is there seems to be a lot of legal secretarial positions available here and they seem to pay really well. And I heard that if you are a fast typist it is good because you will be typing a lot of legal briefs. I enjoy a fast paced atmosphere. I feel I am very good with written and verbal communications. I am a fanatic about accurate and detailed communications in fact!
I will take the marketing suggestions. But most of the marketing jobs here seem to want a marketing bachelors degree.
I worked in accts payable back in hs / college years but that was pre-computer/modern phone systems/fax. (I used to work a telex machine!)
My most recent job was graphic designer / print production in direct mail for the last 5 years. Laid off. Company financial reasons. I was not treated really well at the company so I am really looking to get out of that line of work. After 23 years, I am burned out for many reasons related to this field. (too long of a story to go into here)
I did everything under the sun at the position prior to this last one - as well as graphic design. Because of ongoing layoffs there, I ended up with 3 people's jobs at the end of my time there. The entire marketing dept. was eliminated and sent to atlanta.
I really am looking for positions that have readily transferable skills to many different fields to make myself recession-proof through various industries slumps. I am tired of getting laid off and having to deal with increasingly hyper-detailed and specific requirements for employment.
Usaully those type postitons come from a companies known workers from the lower ranks. Rarely do you see this position filled outside the company.The reason is that this is a supervisory position and they want someone who knows the ins and outs of their business and company.Maybe a new compnay moght hire outside for a admin. asst. position.
YES! Legal secretarial work is a great gig!! It pays well, it requires higher level secretarial skills so there is some challenge to it, law firms have profit sharing and yearly bonuses, the bosses (the lawyers) are truly the smartest ones in the room (unlike corporate jobs were the managers may be clueless).
There are several ways of breaking into this field:
1) receptionist at a mid size or large law firm;
2) secretary/paralegal/receptionist for a sole practitioner lawyer (which means low pay and no benefits) but after 1 year you should be able to transition into a bigger law firm with higher salary and full benefits;
3) starting as a file clerk. You can get a file clerk position at a bigger place and get the full benefits if not the high salary, then move into a secretary job hopefully within one year.
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