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Looking at job requirements, it just says that a Bachelor’s Degree is required or preferred. What would you major in to be an executive assistant?
I have two years Administrative Assistant experience, but I know that it is not the same as being an EA, and for many EA jobs, you have to have a B.A./B.S.
Looking at job requirements, it just says that a Bachelor’s Degree is required or preferred.
I have two years (secretarial) experience, but I know that it is not the same as being an EA,
and for many EA jobs, you have to have a B.A./B.S.
Once upon a time a plain old High School Diploma signified adequate vocabulary and arithmetic skill to be hired into just about any job there was. That and the ability accurately type X wpm were enough to be hired and subsequently progress
to the higher level of secretary within that company or professional firm.
A few night courses in one business office skill or another (eg: bookkeeping) or something that will teach the 500 to 1000 technical terms commonly used (eg: legal, medical, insurance, engineering) within that sort of company or professional firm plus of course the time doing the job and demonstrated personal traits (eg: discretion) are all that was needed to advance.
Meeting that standard of competence is still all that is really needed almost anywhere, but because the typical HS diploma has been devalued so much employers have learned to look to the next level of academia to find those who will have the vocabulary and arithmetic skill to be initially hired.
Quote:
What would you major in to be an executive (secretary)?
Focus on the skills that might actually be utilized.
Executive assistant is a vague term. Lots of people advertise for an “executive assistant” when they want an experienced secretary for a top-level boss, i.e., and assistant to an executive. A true executive assistant is a quasi-executive in his or her own right. S/he manages independent projects and is a gatekeeper for the executive. S/he functions more as a chief of staff than a secretary.
There is no specific degree to be an executive assistant. Here in New York, many executive assistants have fine or liberal arts degrees. The emphasis is usually on critical thinking and writing rather than business, per se.
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Most executive assistants I worked with had liberal arts undergrads and often management grad degrees. I worked for awhile as a c level EA and have a management graduate degree. It really varied from field to field what the undergrad was in. You need a bachelors in something to get your foot in the door, unless you're in an uneducated area or poorer area. Often those, they call it an EA and it really is an admin assistant or secretarial job.
It doesn't really matter. It's the skills that get you promoted.
Be highly organized, very professional in dress and demeanor, discreet, and really good with Microsoft Office products. It helps if you know the basics of accounting and know your way around a spreadsheet like a MF.
As you move up, you need to know more event planning and how to run a staff. The pinnacle is probably an executive assistant to a CEO, and those people RUN THINGS. They set up corporate meetings, dinners at the bosses house, travel, etc. They oversee the boss' whole staff. They control the bosses' calendar. EAs are quietly often some of the most powerful people at a given company... but the key word is quietly. They have a behind the scenes kind of power. If they start acting like they run the world they get fired.
At that level an MBA would be helpful to have I guess. But really what you need is to earn the absolute trust of the boss. And to break in you just need a Bachelors in whatever.
Do not waste a MBA on being an executive assistant. Its just a glorified secretarial job. Honestly even a bachelors is wasted on this long term. I'd say all you really need is a high school diploma and some solid work experience for executive assistant jobs.
Do not waste a MBA on being an executive assistant. Its just a glorified secretarial job. Honestly even a bachelors is wasted on this long term. I'd say all you really need is a high school diploma and some solid work experience for executive assistant jobs.
You are painting with a broad brush. Executive Assistant does not always mean secretary. I don't even know if it means secretary most of the time. The Executive Assistant I knew had a graduate degree, reported directly to the president, gathered information/did fact finding, coordinated internal and external resources, chaired committees, etc., etc. She had a position of substance and she had the president's ear. She did not have any secretarial duties; that's what the secretaries and administrative assistants were for.
You are painting with a broad brush. Executive Assistant does not always mean secretary. I don't even know if it means secretary most of the time. The Executive Assistant I knew had a graduate degree, reported directly to the president, gathered information/did fact finding, coordinated internal and external resources, chaired committees, etc., etc. She had a position of substance and she had the president's ear. She did not have any secretarial duties; that's what the secretaries and administrative assistants were for.
I agree, often times the administrative assistant is the office manager. She is where I work. I think a business degree would be the most practical.
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