In our last post, we discussed “what is administrative work?” Now, let’s walk through how I analyze an administrative assistant job description.
How, you ask?
Well, I searched and found real administrative support jobs, and I’ll go through my thoughts. This time we’ll breakdown an administrative assistant job description.
The administrative assistant title can have many meanings and versions.
When people often label an administrative support professional, they often consider it more politically correct to say “administrative assistant” versus “secretary.” It sounds more professional or official.
So if you’re looking for an administrative role, I strongly suggest including “administrative assistant” in your search, unless you’re looking to get into management or executive assistant work.
Okay, let’s just jump right in!
The Administrative Assistant Job Description
The Administrative Assistant Job Description – Initial Observations
After reading through this job description, I grouped all the responsibilities they were asking for into three sections: administrative support, secretarial, and advanced.
I do this to help me weed out bullshit jobs. In my last post, I talked about what administrative work typically included. We’ll use that information to help sort through this job posting.
Administrative support typically includes both administrative and secretarial tasks.
However, you need to pay attention to the “advanced” tasks. You shouldn’t see any kind of management, training, or supervisory role unless the job title shows they are looking for a more experienced admin (ie Sr. Administrative Assistant).
Let’s look at the group breakdowns:
Administrative Support:
- Provide departmental administrative support
- Transcribe recorded meetings
- Create, edit, proofread paperwork
- Take meeting notes
- Coordinate and schedule meetings
- Carry out “administrative special projects”
Secretarial:
- Answers phone/email/letters
- Mail distribution
- File management
- “Other duties as assigned”
- Handle purchasing, invoicing, and expense payments
- Office inventory management
Advanced:
- Report preparation
- Prepare budget and perform budget research
- Copy editing for paperwork
- Use judgement in “routine and non-routine” situations??
- Supervise other staff, temps, and interns
- Train staff and be a staff resource
The Administrative Assistant Job Description Breakdown
General Opinion
This administrative assistant job description is a little… too much. But, most of the requirements do make sense.
For example, everything in the administrative support and secretarial groups is appropriate responsibilities. However, this position needs more than that.
To be clear, a couple of advance tasks in an administrative assistant job description are perfectly fine, BUT there are a lot of advance tasks for this job! So, if you were interested in the job, please inquire more about those advanced tasks.
Administrative Assistant’s Experience and Education (vs pay)
This is my biggest concern with this post.
There is a big difference between the poster’s bare minimum eligibility requirements and their preferred requirements. Being eligible to qualifying for this job with a high school diploma or GED with 1-3 years of experience VERSUS an Associate’s degree AND 3-5 years of administrative experience is pretty big.
Also, they want MORE years of experience if you have more education rather than less, according to this posting.
I mean, really?
The poster is clearly looking for someone with a lot of experience and/or education. I wish they would just put that, if that’s the case.
I do not believe they are looking for someone with a high school diploma or GED with 1-3 years experience. If you are in this category, I would imagine they are looking for closer to 5 year experience.
It doesn’t add up.
I’m inclined to believe they are were simply hoping to get more people to apply, which makes sense (for them).
The Administrative Assistant’s Pay
The pay is about average for the administrative field (and has been for… ever), which isn’t great.
However, with the equal amount of advanced skills, the posting should really be at least $50,000 a year. Also, I saw nothing about benefits, so that should DEFINITELY be a question prior to accepting the position.
When you see responsibilities asking you to train, supervise, or manage other employees (not just interns), the position is automatically elevated beyond a normal administrative assistant’s role.
Regarding “using our judgement,” we are here to support. An administrative support professional should not make business and company decisions on their own.
There are managers, directors, and owners for a reason. It is their responsibility (and accountability) in the end, not yours.
Therefore, I would specifically get clarity as it pertains to “use your judgement” and budget management tasks as an administrative support professional.
Administrative Assistant’s Cost of Living
Having given you my opinion on the minimum salary, please read the following excerpt from a 2019 article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitutional:
“Purdue also studied at what level money no longer impacts your emotional well-being and ‘life evaluation’ — or overall life satisfaction.
Here’s where Atlanta stood on those metrics:
- Salary you need to be happy: $121,170
- Salary you need for life evaluation: $109,630
- Salary you need for emotional well-being: $69,240-$86,550.”
“Here’s how much money you need to live happily in Atlanta, according to study” by Courtney Kueppers, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 2019
This freaking means you’re more likely to struggle to live in Atlanta on this salary!
However, I also understand that a job is a job, and experience is experience. Let’s be real. Most administrative assistant job pay sucks. So consider what is important to you when you’re interested in applying for any job.
Questions I Would Ask in this Administrative Assistant Interview
- Could you walk me through a typical day in this role?
- Please give me an example of an “administrative special project,” and what they did in order for the project to be completed?
- You showed there is a supervisory role within this position. Is there already staff for me to train? If not, are you planning on hiring additional staff, temps, and interns?
- Am I responsible for their coaching opportunities and annual performance evaluations?
- I see sometimes you’d prefer I use my best judgement. Would you provide me with “routine and non-routine” examples when this would apply?
- I didn’t see it on the job description, so please provide me with the benefits I would be eligible for, if hired?
- How am I evaluated annually, and by whom?
- Please provide me with a bit more about the report and budget preparation requirements for this position. Any examples (verbal or written)?
WORTH IT GRADE:
3 / 5 post-it notes
Conclusion
Well, I hope you enjoyed my analysis of the administrative assistant job description posting! Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash
