An Executive Assistant is all about Skill
Executive Assistant Skills
I was not skilled at mathematics in school, and I disliked working with figures. I knew this would preclude my entering certain careers. This prompted my decision to take a course in business and secretarial training at a local college after graduation, and I became an executive assistant.
My parents were not wealthy and because I was a good student, mathematics aside, I managed to receive a scholarship from the National Secretaries Association to attend Fairleigh Dickinson College in Teaneck, New Jersey for two years. I graduated cum laude with an AA degree and begin my journey to become an executive assistant.
During the two years I was training to become an executive assistant, I had to learn, first, to dress properly and to act in a business-like manner. As a young, attractive, well-built woman, it was important to be seen as a business professional, and not as the other kind of professional! No matter what era we live in, trouncing into a room instead of walking into a room, gives a poor impression.
Respect is important to being able to get a job done and to be taken seriously. The important skills a person needs to become an executive assistant reach way beyond the mechanics of learning to type, or using business machines and computers. Executive assistants are the legs of the table. This requires loyalty, responsibility and being able to keep one’s mouth shut when necessary. Most important, probably, is the ability to subjugate oneself to the executive whom you are assisting!
My first job was an executive assistant to the general manager of a branch department store in a mall in New Jersey. It wasn't long before the realization hit me that my executive assistant responsibilities required me to effectively be the manager’s body armor, his first line of defense against unwarranted or unwanted calls and visitors. I could ward off and take care of problems and situations for him so he could concentrate on the day-to-day business of running the store and raising profits.
A big lesson learned in my first job as an executive assistant was the thin line between defending his time by keeping him locked in an ivory tower, as opposed to allowing customers or associates access to him so he could do a better job. It was my decision as to whether I should take care of the situation personally, or if he should get involved in the circumstances. The entire staff respected me as being his right arm, and that was good enough for me. I was a natural at being an exeuctive assistant and eventually wound up in New York City as the executive assistant to the vice president of one of the largest department store corporations in the country. By then, if I made a call or put in a request for something, it was as good as if it came right from the executive. The pay was always decent, and raises were never an issue.
