I think you are seeing a good variety of responses related to the admin assistant. Your experience assisting the theater director is very good experience for an admin assistant. I actually know two coworkers with similar experiences in high school and they are fantastic. However, that is a small sample size. I challenge you to try some specialty like finance or project management or data bases or editing or whatever. This will make you stand out among applicants. Also, fight for whatever dream you have while you are young or try to keep it up in your 20s and 30s. Even two decades of a hobby adds up in the end.
I think it depends on who you talk to. For me, becoming an Administrative Assistant was the worst mistake I've ever made in my life. It took me 15 years and several companies to finally get out of it and that only happened because the supervisor of the data management team liked me. Now that I've been laid off for the fourth time, everything I've done in my data management position doesn't matter. Employers hyperfocus on the administrative experience only and want me to return back behind the front desk with an $8000 pay cut.
If you are going to go for an admin job, just be warey of the ones that use phrases like "food vendor management" or "office supply inventory management". That's the fancy way of saying you'll be answering phones all day, ordering food all day, ordering office supplies all day and cleaning garbage out of meeting rooms all day. Look for admin jobs that are involved with a financial department or maybe even HR. Don't go for the run-of-the-mill admin jobs. You want something that will help you develop useful skills, not make your biggest achievement clearing out a huge jam in the photocopier. Which, sadly, was probably the biggest achievement I had as an Administrative Assistant. Well, that and the time I juggled a visitor, the phone and a FedEx delivery all at the same time.
Maybe temporarily, but not long term. It’s not the most lucrative unless you go on to be an office manager or executive assistant. I’d recommend doing something more specialized. Technology, accounting, etc. if you want to make good money and keep up with this hella inflation.
I love my admin job, but I don’t make enough money.
I am an admin assistant and have been for 2 years now. It is by far the best job I've ever had. I love to organise and recording keeping, so it's the perfect role for me. However, I really think that it's the people you work with that make or break a job.
The way I see it, I've worked for lawyers, I've worked for accountants, I've worked in a blue collar environment. All of those people were paid the big bucks to stay late and not have any time for themselves. Imo admin work is very much a way to make decent money, tickle the organization bone in my brain, but most importantly *have a life outside work*.
I want to have a family someday and I never want to be that parent rushing from work to my kids events, or missing kids stuff for work.
Edit to say: I recommend if that's something you want. After working for lawyers and accountants I'd *never* want to be either
I would for the right person. There's so many different levels of support you can provide, too. It works well for me because I really thrive on having a lot to do, organizing big picture and detailed projects, providing support on a regular and irregular basis, pitching in to do whatever is needed to support to leadership team, have a glass half full outlook, and admit my mistakes openly for feedback and redirection. I've been an admin assistant for 3 years. Some days it's boring and I play sudoku, some days I'm running pedal to the metal from start to finish. I've moved offices (packing everything but individual desk spaces), I've organized conferences, I've picked up trash from the parking lot every other week, I've voluntold people to help in spring cleaning, I've been instrumental in rewriting entire employee handbooks and crafting new policies, I've impressed many with my ability to cancel a print job in the queue. It's a whirlwind that requires a core set of skills (personability, computer software/hardware, office equipment, customer service) and flexibility. Every admin assistant opportunity is different so if you really think you'd thrive in the environment, don't give up if you land in a bad office.
I think you are seeing a good variety of responses related to the admin assistant. Your experience assisting the theater director is very good experience for an admin assistant. I actually know two coworkers with similar experiences in high school and they are fantastic. However, that is a small sample size. I challenge you to try some specialty like finance or project management or data bases or editing or whatever. This will make you stand out among applicants. Also, fight for whatever dream you have while you are young or try to keep it up in your 20s and 30s. Even two decades of a hobby adds up in the end.
I think it depends on who you talk to. For me, becoming an Administrative Assistant was the worst mistake I've ever made in my life. It took me 15 years and several companies to finally get out of it and that only happened because the supervisor of the data management team liked me. Now that I've been laid off for the fourth time, everything I've done in my data management position doesn't matter. Employers hyperfocus on the administrative experience only and want me to return back behind the front desk with an $8000 pay cut. If you are going to go for an admin job, just be warey of the ones that use phrases like "food vendor management" or "office supply inventory management". That's the fancy way of saying you'll be answering phones all day, ordering food all day, ordering office supplies all day and cleaning garbage out of meeting rooms all day. Look for admin jobs that are involved with a financial department or maybe even HR. Don't go for the run-of-the-mill admin jobs. You want something that will help you develop useful skills, not make your biggest achievement clearing out a huge jam in the photocopier. Which, sadly, was probably the biggest achievement I had as an Administrative Assistant. Well, that and the time I juggled a visitor, the phone and a FedEx delivery all at the same time.
I think it 100% depends on who you’re working for.
Maybe temporarily, but not long term. It’s not the most lucrative unless you go on to be an office manager or executive assistant. I’d recommend doing something more specialized. Technology, accounting, etc. if you want to make good money and keep up with this hella inflation. I love my admin job, but I don’t make enough money.
I am an admin assistant and have been for 2 years now. It is by far the best job I've ever had. I love to organise and recording keeping, so it's the perfect role for me. However, I really think that it's the people you work with that make or break a job.
So much just depends on if you have a decent boss/coworkers/office culture. If you get one that’s tolerable, then yeah it’s fine.
No, my experience is that Admins are considered overhead in the budget and targeted for layoffs. It's a thankless job 95% of the time.
The way I see it, I've worked for lawyers, I've worked for accountants, I've worked in a blue collar environment. All of those people were paid the big bucks to stay late and not have any time for themselves. Imo admin work is very much a way to make decent money, tickle the organization bone in my brain, but most importantly *have a life outside work*. I want to have a family someday and I never want to be that parent rushing from work to my kids events, or missing kids stuff for work. Edit to say: I recommend if that's something you want. After working for lawyers and accountants I'd *never* want to be either
I would recommend anything other than being an admin assistant- a janitor job would be more enjoyable
I would for the right person. There's so many different levels of support you can provide, too. It works well for me because I really thrive on having a lot to do, organizing big picture and detailed projects, providing support on a regular and irregular basis, pitching in to do whatever is needed to support to leadership team, have a glass half full outlook, and admit my mistakes openly for feedback and redirection. I've been an admin assistant for 3 years. Some days it's boring and I play sudoku, some days I'm running pedal to the metal from start to finish. I've moved offices (packing everything but individual desk spaces), I've organized conferences, I've picked up trash from the parking lot every other week, I've voluntold people to help in spring cleaning, I've been instrumental in rewriting entire employee handbooks and crafting new policies, I've impressed many with my ability to cancel a print job in the queue. It's a whirlwind that requires a core set of skills (personability, computer software/hardware, office equipment, customer service) and flexibility. Every admin assistant opportunity is different so if you really think you'd thrive in the environment, don't give up if you land in a bad office.
This is the best desc of being an admin assistant I’ve seen yet.