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With administrative professionals taking on more responsibilities in the 21st-century corporate office, the admin field’s future is secure. In fact, more than a quarter million administrative assistant and secretarial positions will be created between 2004 and 2014, according to the US Department of Labor.
But with technology taking over many of the low-skilled tasks admins traditionally have performed, what greater responsibilities should admins expect to dominate their days as their profession moves toward the 2010s? In honor of the 2008 Administrative Professionals Week theme, Forward Moving, here are some top trends to watch for.
Microsoft Office 2007 Mastery Mandatory
The world’s most predominant office productivity software has changed dramatically, and mastering it is key to admins’ future success. “The shift from Office 2003 to Office 2007 is not an incremental upgrade,” says Aaron Ensminger, managing editor of OfficePro magazine. For example, “Outlook now serves the purpose of project management in a lot of offices,” he explains.
Skills in Web conferencing and mobile communications software are also rising in value. These technologies change course much more rapidly than the ocean liner that is Microsoft Office.
Collaboration Skills Are Vital
The managerial challenge for administrative professionals is a many-headed beast.
“Admins are in charge of making meetings happen,” says Heather Mayfield, vice president of training and operations at Snelling Staffing Services. And in 2008, that means coordinating people, telecommunications and other resources in multiple cities and time zones. In addition, some of these people are working in company offices, others from home and still others in airport lounges.
Admins Are Becoming Trainers and Technicians
“In our office, the admin is the person I go to with software questions,” says Mayfield. “Admins are functioning as software trainers.”
“The admin is basically the copier technician too,” she says. Looking to control maintenance costs, many offices are asking admins to get technical. So some admins will be packing a screwdriver with their lunch. “They often stand over the shoulder of the technician so that maybe they’ll be able to fix it next time.”
Schedule Flexibility Cuts Both Ways
“Work hours are changing,” says Mayfield. “Admins don’t necessarily start at 8 o’clock and end at 5. They’re getting cell phone allowances and BlackBerries to answer calls from the boss at 7 a.m. Or maybe they can take two hours off in the middle of the day to see their kid’s school play, but they work until 6 or 7.”
According to Ensminger, “24-hour communication is getting to be an expected thing.” So in the 2010s, admins may find themselves struggling to draw a line between their work and private lives.
Working Long-Distance Is an Option
“Long-distance administrative support is getting larger and larger,” says Ensminger. This trend helps employers keep field offices smaller and lets admins stick with a relocating boss without moving themselves.
At the same time, admins must be careful to keep in touch with office culture and back-channel communications if they find themselves working far from the boss.
Administrative Managers on the Rise
With admins taking on so many responsibilities, a management track is on the rise. “The path for an admin is such that if you stick with it, generally you’re going to end up supervising other admins,” says Ensminger.
This means senior administrative professionals are taking key roles in the employment life cycle of entry-level admins, from the job interview to on-boarding, training, daily supervision and even performance assessment.
Admins Blaze Trails to Other Careers
These days, some admins are given such opportunities to advance and specialize that they sometimes migrate to a new career field in the process. “I’m seeing more and more people start in an administrative role and move into something completely different,” says Mayfield. “We placed an admin as a temp who went permanent as an IT analyst in that department.”
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For more information and tips to help you advance your administrative career, see all our advice for admin professionals.
