When looking for a career in an office setting, it is important to know where you should begin before you plan to get in the industry. While it is full of interesting and fulfilling roles, by finding the one that suits you best, you can give yourself a great chance of finding a top career in this sector.
If you manage to work your way to the top, salaries are rewarding, and there are plenty of opportunities to work in specific sectors and niches that may well cater to your career goals.
However, before you get there, it is worth considering how to get a foot on the ladder. Some of the most popular jobs to end up in are account manager or office manager, but information on how to become an office assistant will help to get you off to the right start, regardless of what position you fancy getting in the end.
According to available figures, some 16% of the US workforce at one point was based in office and administration support, which shows just how important these roles are, and why you can put yourself in a great position by starting out as an office assistant.
It is hard to get exact numbers on a consistent basis simply because many sets of data have everything split by sector, so if you want to work in a certain area, you can find out how much easier it will be to get hired or not based on how popular these roles are.
On this basis, whatever industry you want to work in, you will not struggle to find work. While many are rightly concerned about what will happen in terms of automation and which jobs are likely to be phased out, those who are able to carry out vital admin tasks will always be in need.
Although automation will certainly make it easier to get some processes done, having a human eye overseeing operations is one of the most important tasks, and an employee who knows the needs of the company inside and out will always be in demand.
When choosing a direction for your career, it is always helpful to know that you are not limiting yourself by moving into working in an office, and in fact, you will boost your candidate profile if you can show that you are able to handle a range of tasks and work under pressure. In essence, this grants the same boons that extracurricular activities did at school – widening your scope and improving the potential for personal and professional growth.
While many people are looking for ways to improve their CV and their professional social platforms, the best thing that you can do is pick up as many skills as possible. This is especially true early on in your career, when each little difference can be enough to lift you ahead of rival candidates.
As employers often have a long list of people applying for each role, every way that you can set yourself apart is important when looking to distinguish yourself. Working your way up from office assistant or somebody who understands what is needed to be great in administration work means that you can have more of an understanding of how an organization or company works.
The wider your approach is to your work in terms of flexibility is also important these days, and is something that many employers are expecting. Although job roles will reel out a list of things that you will need to fulfil on a day-to-day basis, it will put you in good standing if you can show an ability to go above and beyond the basic job description.
As a general rule, office assistants and those who have to carry out numerous tasks on behalf of other people and their managers will end up with a nicely varied range of skills that can be put to great use in a number of sectors.
This allows you to pick and choose a lot more as you work your way through the ranks, so there is little need to worry about not being an interesting and suitable candidate if you want to change sectors later down the line.
Of course, training and retraining is an aspect that is always worth considering, and if there is an opportunity to learn new skills and move into something new to kick-start your career, then it could be something that could take you to the next level. In a competitive market where many people are going for the same role, experience as an office assistant can take you a long way.
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