What Administrative Assistant Qualifications Are Employers Looking For?

In the past couple weeks I’ve been evaluation job ads that are looking for administrative assistants and evaluation the administrative assistant qualifications that employers think are important.  There is a lot of variety from job to job that will depend on the field in question but some of the skills that employers look for are consistent.  Here are the top 5 administrative assistant qualifications that I’ve found employers are looking for:70% are looking for people that are able to work with the public and provide information. This is not as easy as it sounds.  This includes having excellent written communication skills as well as verbal communication skills.  And don’t forget there is also body language to consider.  How good are you are reading people’s non-verbal signs?  Of course,  you also need to be able to handle challenging customers and you need to be able to recognize which ones are going to be the most challenging for you.55% require a good knowledge of Microsoft Word. Word is used often by administrative assistants.  Through the day they will use it to compose memos, reports, and both informal and formal documents.  They may also use it to create PDF files or newsletters.50% want all around knowledge of Windows and Microsoft Office. Windows and Microsoft Office knowledge is one of the most highly sought skills because most offices use them today.  While some offices use others this software is the most affordable and easiest to understand.50% expect administrative assistants to have excellent verbal communications. Every day administrative assistants are expect to answer the phone and greet customers and business partners that come into the office and it is imperative that they are able to relay information efficiently.45% require a good knowledge of Microsoft Excel. While Word is likely used most often by administrative assistants, Excel come in right behind it.  Creating and maintaining spreadsheets of company information is one of the essential administrative assistant qualifications because it helps managers make decisions about future business.So, do you have these qualifications? If not, it might be time to consider upgrading your education!