The term, "office assistant" is a very general term. Do you know why? It is because practically every company, organisation, or institution has a sort of headquarters which they call an office. So, does this mean to say that office assistants are basically every where?
Truth is, yes, office assistants are indeed everywhere. Be the industry in question about education, medicine, law, or finance, as long as these fields have an office, then there are office assistants. But, what exactly is an office assistant? What is an office assistant's role in the office? How can one qualify for a position in the line of office assistant jobs?
The Scoop On: Office Assistant Jobs
Aside from the fields of law, education, finance, and medicine, which are mentioned above, office assistants are also employed in the following sectors of the industry:
- Construction
- Communications
- Trade, wholesale and retail
- Manufacturing
- Transportation
What does an office assistant job entitle you to do? Here is a list of the work duties and responsibilities that are commonly associated with office assistant jobs:
- Data encoding, transcription, collection, and filing
- Perform receptionist duties, such as answering and making the necessary phone calls, sorting and sending mail, and fax out needed messages
- Perform customer service duties, such as answering customer enquiries via phone or e-mail
- Make reports and other business correspondence.
Office assistant jobs, which belong to the administration type of jobs, have two sub-divisions: the junior category and the senior category. Office assistants in the junior category do the bulk of the clerical work. Senior office assistants, on the other hand, basically also fulfill the same duties and responsibilities but perform the tougher tasks and the supervisory work.
Therefore, what qualities must a job applicant possess in order to qualify for an office assistant position? Below are the most common qualifications:
- Knowledge of basic computing software
- Knowledge of business or technical writing a must
- Ability to express oneself