Even traditional administrative assistants have found themselves turned into virtual assistants over the past year. How do you merge these talents for 2021?
Soft skills are still very much in demand, as indeed points out here. But excellent written communication and time management skills can only go so far when the team can’t connect with a client on their scheduled zoom meeting. Top technical competencies center around microsoft office suite, powerpoint, wordpress, and other traditional communication distribution software. These skills are expected. But one-way communication isn’t the issue right now, as we’ve all experienced. Admins who create real magic are connecting colleagues for seamless digital collaboration and remote work. This phenomenon has caused new priorities to emerge for employers seeking administrative assistants.
Tech skills for automation, project management, collaboration, and more
How do office professionals do so much these days, especially working from home? The secret is tech and, specifically, automation and ai. If you’re not in on that secret, you’re facing an uphill battle with your job search. Every single administrative task can be enhanced with smart tech these days, from voice recognition software for note-taking to email follow-up automation to customer relationship management (crm). Focus on your top strengths and determine how you can make those strengths shine even more with some tech assistance. The american society of administrative professionals offers tips on where to start here.
Conflict resolution and problem-solving skills
This past year has been fraught with inter-office challenges. And while those challenges were once collaboratively tackled in the office, working from home has made it essential for administrative assistants to be lone problem-solvers. For this reason, it’s important to brush up on and highlight within your resume skills in conflict resolution, problem-solving, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence.
Data management skills
We live in a data-driven economy. As a society, we generate 7.5 septillion gigabytes of data every single day. About 55% of the massive amounts of data each business collects goes unused because they don’t know how or don’t have time to do anything with it. That data is digital, especially after 2020 when anything left in filing cabinets is now a remnant of the past. Whatever data entry and management skills you had before, it’s time to boost them. Experts predict that thanks to automation and ai, repetitive data entry tasks are being eliminated, allowing administrative professionals to dive into more advanced data management work.
Take clues from the job descriptions you’re finding. Many will mention tech, data management, and problem-solving skills, either directly or indirectly. Follow those trends to learn new skills for 2021. Whether you want it to be or not, your job will be at least partially virtual and uber-digital for the foreseeable future.
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