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Administrative assistants.

P

puffff

Platinum Member
so a friend of mine graduated with a psychology degree, and not surprisingly, has been having difficulty finding work. he's been working at a dead end job as an administrative assistant for the past year - low pay, uninteresting work, very little chance for advancement. that's about the only real professional experience he has. i was flipping through the jobs section of the newspaper the other day and saw administrative assistant positions offering decent salaries, and told him to try applying. he responds - half seriously - that you only get that much if you wear high heels.

is he right? are administrative assistants mostly female? can a guy use it as sort of a stepping stone for moving up? your thoughts?
 
Out of all the clients i deal with, i have NEVER met a male administrative assistant... Even for women, i imagine there's really no room for advancement
 
yes, i would not say being an ADMINISTRATIVE PROFESSIONAL is just for women. A job is a job in today's world. If it is something he is doing to pay the bills until he can obtain a job in his degree field, there is nothing wrong with that!

Many times, they are women, however, i have seen men in the position too. It might be an entry level job, but if the right people see good work, there is always room to advance!
 
Too many friggin' people are going to college these days. The college degree of today is like the high school diploma of 20 years ago.
 
If you can make it up to being an executive or personal assistant, you can do pretty well for yourself. I think most people "envision" their admin assistant as being a "Girl Friday," but few are completely tied to the notion and would be willing to have a Guy Friday as long as he could get the job done well.
 
Originally posted by: PaulNEPats
Too many friggin' people are going to college these days. The college degree of today is like the high school diploma of 10 years ago.
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Not if you get a real degree. I have little pity for people getting general studies and psychology type degrees who then wonder why the hell they can't find a job.
 
Originally posted by: Sukhoi
Originally posted by: PaulNEPats
Too many friggin' people are going to college these days. The college degree of today is like the high school diploma of 10 years ago.
Click to expand...

Not if you get a real degree. I have little pity for people getting general studies and psychology type degrees who then wonder why the hell they can't find a job.
Click to expand...

i really hate statements like that, that your degree is only worthwhile if you get something technical that is immediately useful out in 'the real world.' what a load of crap. i feel sorry for people like you who only measure others by their abililty to do math problems. the people i really feel sorry for is all those engineers who complain about having history, civics, etc, as graduation requirements. i suppose being a whole and complete member of society is too much. might as well just go to ITT tech.
 
He can get in to Financne/ Accounting etc if he wants. It is a tough area to get in to but his Psychology skills are applicable and sort after.

Koing
 
Originally posted by: LolaWiz
yes, i would not say being an ADMINISTRATIVE PROFESSIONAL is just for women. A job is a job in today's world. If it is something he is doing to pay the bills until he can obtain a job in his degree field, there is nothing wrong with that!

Many times, they are women, however, i have seen men in the position too. It might be an entry level job, but if the right people see good work, there is always room to advance!
Click to expand...

traditionally its a woman's type job but yeah, a job is a job. don't expect to get paid much though, maybe $10-11 an hour.
 
Originally posted by: Sukhoi
Originally posted by: PaulNEPats
Too many friggin' people are going to college these days. The college degree of today is like the high school diploma of 10 years ago.
Click to expand...

Not if you get a real degree. I have little pity for people getting general studies and psychology type degrees who then wonder why the hell they can't find a job.
Click to expand...

That's a lousy attitude to have. So you should major in something you don't have as much passion about if it means a better job outlook? Give me a break. And I hate to break it to you, but a college degree doesn't mean much these days. Look at all the unemployed/underemployed college people out there as the basis for my statement.
 
I know of two people here that came into the company as Admins. They now are heads of two of our IT areas. (Both are female, so perhaps not entirely applicable to the OP but they worked their way up none the less).

Work as an Admin while getting Certs (for an IT type position), while volunteering/working part time for more experience in other fields etc., or while furthering education.

I know several guys that are working as Admins, while going to school. They say the work in relatively easy and the schedule reliable, making it a good choice.

Would it be a career choice... I don't know. In a larger corporation maybe, but it seems you'd need to latch yourself onto your "boss" and move with them. Most of the Admins I know here, move with their boss. (Move up the ladder, not necessairly from town to town)

 
Originally posted by: Sukhoi
Originally posted by: PaulNEPats
Too many friggin' people are going to college these days. The college degree of today is like the high school diploma of 10 years ago.
Click to expand...

Not if you get a real degree. I have little pity for people getting general studies and psychology type degrees who then wonder why the hell they can't find a job.
Click to expand...

In my experience, it seems people are more concerned with the fact that you HAVE a degree, not so much what it's for. I worked with a guy who was a religion/philosophy major. He was a programmer. Knew a girl with a degree in english literature or something similar... last I heard she was manager for a mall.
 
A career? Who would really want to top out at 50k max? One year grad school program in a field with good job prospects FTW.
 
Originally posted by: aswedc
A career? Who would really want to top out at 50k max? One year grad school program in a field with good job prospects FTW.
Click to expand...

interestingly, the ads i was looking at specified 50-75k starting. maybe thats just the new york city market (or they're looking for some drop dead gorgeous candidates)
 
Originally posted by: FoBoT
tell him to go to nursing school




just kidding
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Actually, it's become increasingly acceptable for a nurse to be male, mostly in fields where he doesn't really have to perform peri care or something similar with women. People still have a hard time with granny getting a bed bath from a man.
 
Originally posted by: fitzov
Originally posted by: FoBoT
tell him to go to nursing school




just kidding
Click to expand...


Actually, it's become increasingly acceptable for a nurse to be male, mostly in fields where he doesn't really have to perform peri care or something similar with women. People still have a hard time with granny getting a bed bath from a man.
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I'll bet granny doesn't though. lol 😉 (knowing my grandma...she wouldn't...lol)
 
Originally posted by: puffff
Originally posted by: aswedc
A career? Who would really want to top out at 50k max? One year grad school program in a field with good job prospects FTW.
Click to expand...

interestingly, the ads i was looking at specified 50-75k starting. maybe thats just the new york city market (or they're looking for some drop dead gorgeous candidates)
Click to expand...

are you serious? 50-75k for an admin. asst? are you sure you were looking at the right job? they must have mixed something up.
 
Sorry, I guess I hang around too many engineers. 🙂

If you notice I never said anything about getting a degree in an area you have no interest. That would just be stupid. But to get a degree in an area that has no immediate applicable job skills and then complain you can't get a job, is dumb. Sure you should be able to get a job but it's going to take some work.
 
Originally posted by: pontifex
are you serious? 50-75k for an admin. asst? are you sure you were looking at the right job? they must have mixed something up.
Click to expand...

It is not uncommon for admin assistants to make some seriously good money (70-90K for average cost of living area) depending on their responsibilities. For many departments and execs the secretary makes or breaks the department more than anybody.
 
Originally posted by: spidey07
Originally posted by: pontifex
are you serious? 50-75k for an admin. asst? are you sure you were looking at the right job? they must have mixed something up.
Click to expand...

It is not uncommon for admin assistants to make some seriously good money (70-90K for average cost of living area) depending on their responsibilities. For many departments and execs the secretary makes or breaks the department more than anybody.
Click to expand...

you should check the jobs around here. they pay like $10-11 an hour...
 
Originally posted by: pontifex

you should check the jobs around here. they pay like $10-11 an hour...
Click to expand...

The higher end ones won't be listed in the paper or anywhere else. Just like most jobs.
 
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