Administrative Assistant Duties

Administrative assistants have a long list of duties. From clerical work to out-of-office tasks like fetching supplies, administrative assistants often need to be in ten places at once. If you think of an office like an engine, administrative assistants would be the grease. Keeping a business well-oiled and running smoothly falls into the hands of what might be considered the most junior member of the staff. Kinda makes you think a little, huh? If you're considering an office job, read on to find out more about administrative assistant duties.

"Administrative assistant" isn't the only title for these business dynamos. Depending on where you work, these can also be called secretaries, receptionists, executive assistants, personal assistants, office managers, and on and on. The naming discrepancy can have a twofold reason. The first reason is that each business is unique, and therefore requires different things from its assistants. A small home-based business might have an administrative assistant doing the work that would be handled by a whole team in a larger office - but since there are less things to manage in a smaller setting, the work is easily handled.

The second reason for administrative assistants to be known by a host of names seems to be political correctness. Not only does "administrative assistant" sound like a more important job than "secretary", it's typically considered to be a more professional title. According to the Board of Labor Statistics, administrative assistants "provide high-level administrative support for an office and for top executives of an organization." Yet many workers with the responsibilities of receptionists or personal assistants are listed as "administrative assistants" in company directories.

There are a wide range of responsibilities that could be administrative assistant duties, but these can vary greatly from business to business. At a small business, the secretary may also be the mail clerk, whereas larger businesses typically have separate clerks to fulfill mail distribution needs. Administrative assistants in a law office might help to prepare briefs, while those who work in a doctor's office are trained to handle medical transcription and billing. Fetching coffee typically falls under an administrative assistant's duties, but I've also been in offices where it was frowned upon. In our age of political correctness and sexual equality in the workplace, one particular business decided it was "too demeaning" to ask the administrative assistants to handle the coffee - despite not employing any other administrative or secretarial staff. Some businesses may assign the responsibilities that would usually go to an office manager, such as the handling and distribution of supplies. It's also not uncommon for administrative assistants to perform basic website management, accounting or travel arrangements.

Here's a short list of tasks that typically fall under the heading of administrative assistant duties:

Administrative Assistant Duties

Scheduling Meetings/Conference Calls

Planning Executives' Schedules

Setting Appointments

Assembling Presentations

Distributing Memos/Office Communications

Taking Dictation/Transcription

Ordering/Distributing Supplies

Preparing Spreadsheets and Charts

Paying Bills

Ordering Repairs/Service

Responsibility for Petty Cash

Distributing Mail

Accounting and Bookkeeping

Website Management

IT Support

Managing Travel Arrangements

Answering Telephones

Faxing

Filing

Supervising Junior Clerical Staff

Note that this list doesn't include the myriad responsibilities an administrative assistant might have outside the office. That long list of duties can include travel, package drop-off, fetching dry cleaning or gifts, and many other responsibilities that can vary by business. Despite their long list of duties, administrative assistants manage to pull off their work with a smile and a professional appearance.

Now that you've seen this overwhelming list of responsibilities, remember the administrative assistants in your workplace on Administrative Professionals' Day. This unofficial holiday is held on the Wednesday of the final full week in April. In 2010, Administrative Professionals' Day fell on April 21^st, and in 2011 it will be on April 27^th.

For more detailed information about administrative assistant duties, check the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook here.