Administrative assistant (Administratief medewerker)
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An administrative assistant is someone who works in the administration department of an organization. An administrative employee is usually widely deployable as an all-round office worker and can work in different departments for support, depending on the company where the employee works. The specific activities of an administrative assistant can differ per company, organization or institution. Think, for example, of typing out reports, receiving customers, preparing the meeting room, drafting letters, making invoices, answering the phone, keeping track of the agenda and, for example, taking minutes. Which tasks an administrative employee performs exactly can differ per administrative employee, because the term administrative employee can be called quite broad. As an administrative assistant, you can work for various companies in all conceivable branches. Another name for administrative assistant can also be business administrative employee. As an administrative assistant, you will nowadays in many cases work with computer programs, where the processing of information will often be part of the core task. As an administrative employee, you will have to deal with information in many different ways. Think, for example, of registering working hours, sick reports and possibly working out quotations. Other activities of an administrative assistant can be archiving important information. In most cases, as an administrative assistant, you will work together with different colleagues, all of whom may be responsible for specific administrative work. This can also differ per employer and department. Administrative assistants are also sometimes referred to as centipedes.
An administrative employee is therefore employed in the office of an organization. When an administrative employee does not have to deal with customers, the name back office employee may also apply. As an administrative assistant, you can perform various activities, depending on the specific position and the profession. For example, the profession of administrative assistant may also relate to a secretary, an executive secretary or a medical secretary. For all these different professions that can be regarded as administrative assistants, there are different training courses at different levels. Other activities that can be part of the tasks of an administrative employee are sorting incoming mail items, taking minutes, forwarding incoming e-mails to the right department or, for example, receiving visitors as a desk employee. As an administrative employee, you must have a customer-friendly attitude because this is very important. An administrative assistant will usually get and possibly receive many different customers on the phone. As an administrative assistant, it can certainly be the case that you are the first contact for visitors, depending on the type of company.
SUPPORTED WORK
In many cases, the work of an administrative assistant must be seen as supporting service activities. Think, for example, of account managers, policy managers and acceptors who have made agreements with new or existing customers. The processing of these agreements will mean that administrative changes must be made. In many cases, it is the responsibility of the administrative staff to process all mutations so that the business administration is correct. In practice, it is conceivable that an administrative assistant can also be regarded as a policy manager, but this does not always have to be the case.
WORKING AS AN ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
The profession of administrative assistant, as described earlier, must be seen very broadly. In earlier days, an administrative assistant could in many cases also be regarded as a typist, because an administrative employee was responsible for word processing. Nowadays, an administrative assistant no longer uses typewriters, but computers. If an administrative employee is responsible for processing a lot of administrative data in computers, the name data typist may also apply. In some cases, the name office clerk can also be used for an administration employee.
DEBTORS ADMINISTRATION
The accounts receivable administration is an important part of the administration. Debtors are customers who have received an invoice as a result of a purchased service or product, and have not yet paid it. This does not immediately mean that the customer is late with payment, but that the invoice has not yet been paid. Most companies have a standard term on the invoice in which an invoice must be paid. There are quite a lot of companies and individuals who do not pay an invoice as a result of the first invoice. It is therefore important to immediately send a second or third reminder if an invoice has not been paid. It is the responsibility of the administrative assistant to strictly enforce payment terms.
Without proper accounts receivable administration, problems will arise in many cases, because companies and / or individuals do not pay their invoice. In such cases, external collection agencies will eventually have to be used to force companies and/or individuals to pay their invoice. Because the accounts receivable administration is an important department for many companies, companies can also use specially appointed invoicers. This is usually the case when companies are dealing with many different customers. In practice, administrative staff occur in many different ways. Consider, for example, a commercial administrative employee.
VACANCIES ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
There are generally many vacancies administrative assistant to be found. Administrative employees occur within all conceivable companies, and certainly do not have to work for large companies. Even a small company can use different employees. Think, for example, of a financial administrative employee or a secretarial employee. An administration department actually occurs in a certain way within all companies. The administrative work can differ per function. In addition, a company can also have different departments. In some cases, you will only have a support function. When you have to deal with the financial administration, you also have to deal with confidential information. The financial situation of an organization is of course confidential.
WHAT DOES AN ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT DO:
TRAINING TO BECOME AN ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Those who want to follow a training to become an administrative assistant can choose from various training options. In addition to the usual schools, there are sufficient external training institutes for the training of administrative assistant. But there are also sufficient training opportunities through MBO, such as the MBO training business administration employee. During the administrative assistant training, you will learn, among other things, to conduct administration, organize administration, draw up invoices and organize the accounting. But of course these are only a few parts of your profession as an administrative assistant. In addition, there is a lot of attention for working with computers and the various programs that will be worked with. In addition, there are also plenty of external training institutes where you can follow a course. Accounting is also important as an independent entrepreneur.
COMPANIES WHERE AN ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT CAN BE EMPLOYED
As an administrative assistant, you can work in all conceivable branches in different ways. Think, for example, of manufacturers, webshops, small businesses or large hotels. Almost all companies and institutions have to deal with administrative employees. In addition to the business world, as an administrative employee you can also work for the government as a civil servant. Another example is health care. In addition, it is conceivable that an administrative employee works as an entrepreneur. In that case, an administrative assistant usually works as a virtual assistant for various clients. Think, for example, of helping smaller entrepreneurs with their administration and possibly other services, such as answering the phone. As described earlier, the profession of administrative assistant occurs in practice in many different ways.
COMPETENCES ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
As an administrative assistant, it is important that you have sufficient professional knowledge with regard to administration in general. The profession of administrative assistant involves more than just entering figures. Consider, for example, checking and managing the administration and secretarial actions. You also support colleagues if necessary. Because in many cases you will consult with various colleagues and / or customers, you will also have to be well-versed in communication. Generally important words are precise, independence, analytical, motivation, control, vigilance, performance and stress resistance.
LABOUR MARKET PERSPECTIVE AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AS AN ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Finding administrative assistant vacancies and self-employed assignments will not be a problem with the right training as an administrative assistant. Small and large companies and other institutions usually have enough vacancies available for administrative staff. However, it is important that you have the right attitude as an administrative assistant. Growing as an administrative assistant is not possible without further training. Those who want to grow will therefore have to follow extra training, so that you may be able to obtain a higher position or grow to another position. Some possible follow-up positions as an administrative assistant can be the positions of team leader, department manager or the position office manager. As described earlier, the career opportunities are strongly dependent on the level of education, the work experience and your own competencies.
TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT AND SALARY OF ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
There are no specific employment conditions for this profession, because you can work at many different types of companies. An administrative assistant with an MBO education will usually earn a salary between 1700 and 2500 euros gross per month, depending on age and responsibilities. An administrative assistant working as an independent entrepreneur will usually offer her or his services for an hourly fee.
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