Online Executive and Admin Assistant Training

April 22, 2009 at 05:43 PM | (0) Comments

Happy Administrative Professionals Day!

Today is the day when bosses are supposed to pat their assistants on the back for a job well done. In fact, the whole week is supposed to be in recognition of administrative professionals but for us, here at ProAssisting, we’re just focusing on THE day which happens to be today! Happy Earth Day too, while we’re at it!

So please accept a “pat on the back” from us to you and just for good measure, you get a gold star too.

At the advertising agency that I work for, they throw us a breakfast and hand out $50 AMEX gift cards… very nice indeed and we all appreciate the fact that they take the time out and give a great gift to show us that they care but… we are the lucky ones.

You see, it’s the job of an assistant to remind their boss of all the important dates that busy bosses have on their calendars. And if you’re in a smaller company that doesn’t have an HR department to handle such events, the question then becomes: how do you go about reminding your boss that today is the day that they should appreciate you? Our answer to that question is: you don’t.

If you find yourself in this situation, don’t let the fact that your boss doesn’t have a clue that it’s Administrative Professional Day get you down. Take the “pat on the back” from us, the gold star up above and go about your day as any other. You know you do great work, we know you do great work and deep down inside, so does your boss.

All Posts, Organization,

The Most Powerful Assistant in The World

April 17, 2009 at 06:44 PM | (0) Comments

Obama and Love Who is the most powerful assistant in the world?

That would be Reggie Love; President Obama’s personal assistant or “Body Man” in presidential speak but a personal assistant nonetheless.

This reporting by ABC News does a good job of explaining what Love does for his job by listing some of what he carries with him to take care of his boss:

“…an array of small, everyday items, such as a toothbrush, mouthwash, cough drops, aspirin and wet naps.”

A graduate of Duke University and a varsity member of both their basketball and football programs (in addition to being on the Dallas Cowboy football team before being cut), I’m sure helped Love secure a spot working for then Sen. Obama.

What is interesting and relevant for anyone looking to be or already working as an assistant is to read all of the menial and mundane tasks that Love completes for the President of the United States contrasted with powerful politicians, heads of state and celebrities who want to be his best friend since he controls access to the most powerful man in the world.

The same holds true for any assistant. Namely, you will have to complete projects and tasks that you might feel are below your skill level or not worth your time but you need to keep in mind that with the menial tasks comes great access to information and interactions with superiors and outside contacts that will further your career path.

By not letting the small stuff get you down and keeping an eye on the big picture of your job and career path, you’ll be able to have a smile on your face when your boss asks for that wet nap.

You can learn more about Reggie and his job in this NYTimes profile done during the ‘08 campaign.

All Posts, Organization,

Plans. Always. Change.

April 14, 2009 at 06:46 PM | (0) Comments

blue-print Plans always change… you can count on it & you should plan for it. What was that quote?… oh, yeah:

“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” - Robert Burns from “To A Mouse” & used in the title of John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”

And as an assistant, or future assistant, you would be wise to remeber that quote when making plans… meeting plans, travel plans, office plans… you get the point.

If you start from the point of view that whatever you’re in the process of planning has a high probability of changing, you can organize those plans in a fashion that makes them easy to change.

Whether it’s buying a refundable plane ticket instead of non-refundable, ordering food for two or three more people than are scheduled to be in the meeting, reserving a conference room when your boss says that their office is fine but you have a feelin’ they’re going to add more people to the meeting… all of these things are setting yourself up to add, subtract or delete as needed. You’re ready for those plans to change so bring it on!

On the flip side of that coin, sometimes plans change and there is nothing humanly possible that you could have done to expect the change or have prepared for it ahead of time. Weather delay which strands your boss in a city with no hotel rooms available; car breaks down; god forbid, a death in the family… each of these situations present changes that you don’t have any control over. And in these uncontrollable instances, if you’ve organized effectively, you’ll be able to have all of the information you need at your fingertips to alternate to a brand new plan “B” in the blink of an eye.

The take away? Think of how the plans that you are making can change, prepare for those potential changes AND be as organized as possible so when a change occurs that you could have never foreseen, all the information you need to implement an effective plan “B” is at your fingertips.

Last point: Accept the fact that plans change and don’t let changing plans get you down (especially when you put in a lot of work to make those plans perfect); such is part of your job as an assistant.

All Posts, Technology,

Some Useful Links

April 07, 2009 at 06:48 PM | (0) Comments

Links Believe it or not, we are not the only website out there dedicated to career development, job searching and work/life balance. I know, crazy, right?

As we get ready to launch our program on May 5th, we’ve been interacting with and commenting on a number of different sites that we think might be helpful to you in addition to ProAssisting:

Careerealism - great resource for articles on career strategy and they embrace the new reality that we all will most likely change jobs (and potentially careers) a number of times throughout our working lives.
Lindsey Pollak - Blogger and author of “Getting from College to Career” (not an affiliate link); the title of the book says it all.
Penelope Trunk - Blogger and creator of Brazen Careerist; if you haven’t stumbled upon either and you’re looking for career/life advice, you should stumble right on over there.
AdminSecret - Great site for Admins with advice, articles and its own community.
Lastly, Newly Corporate - a fun blog written by young corporate pros who give advice, tell tales from the tranches and, in their own words, is a site for young professional by young professionals.