Your Career as an Executive Assistant starts with a Degree Program
Administrative and executive assistants were once known as secretaries, but that career has flourished and changed. As technology soars in offices, executive assistants are in demand. Executive assistants coordinate office administration activities, often involved with data creation and storage. They're communications experts, schedules, organizers and responsible for disseminating information by phone, mail, Web, and email programs. Executive assistants work for top executives in organizations. Some specialized assistants work as legal or medical assistants. Work environments include: schools, hospitals, corporate offices and government agencies.Virtual assistants can work from home.
An Executive Assistant Degree can Advance Your Career
If you're interested in a career as an executive assistant, a trade school can give you a solid foundation in office administration. Executive assistant programs include classes in
- Keyboarding
- Word processing
- Databases
- Business communications
- Accounting
- Human relations
Advanced classes include presentation software, computerized accounting programs and spreadsheets. Executive assistant programs offer:
- Administrative assistant certificate
- Business fundamentals certificate
- Executive assistant diploma
Certificate programs run approximately eight months; an executive assistant diploma is a two year program.According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, opportunities for administrative assistant are expected to increase by 11 percent between 2008 and 2018, with above average employment growth in health care fields. Executive assistants can make a median annual wage of nearly $30,000. Executive assistants working for local government make a median wage of nearly $42,000, where those in management companies can make a median annual salary over $45,000.
