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In addition to all the other great replies, I would suggest you check into pursuing the Certified Administrative Professional designation. Achieving this certification shows employers you are serious about your career and helps you stand out among other job applicants. The website for more info is www.iaap-hq.org. Good luck!
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Renee Sharpe on
6/10/2010 8:54:35 AM
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Dear Anonymous,
Since Excel is a highly used tool as an Administrative Assistant, my advise to you would be to take a course at a local communitty college or self study program. In fact, I would become very familiar with the entire Office Suite program as Admins today must be computer savy. I would remove specific labeling as legal research or legal documents and emphasize more general research and document creation. I am sure that employers may hesitate as it may seem as you are too specialized as an Admin. Many employers want Admins that can do generally anything. Of course, with any new employment there will be a learning curve, but by stressing your general skills and your accomplishments, showing your people skills and communication talents, you can win over any interviewer. Good Luck!
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Patricia Motta on
6/9/2010 1:47:52 PM
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As an Administrative Assistant in a university, I review literally hundreds of applications for staff support a year. When listing your qualifications you might want to describe your responsibilities instead of using terms like legal pleadings and legal research. Your software experience is not helping you. Lexis-Nexis and Westlaw are not commonly used in higher education. Email and budget experience are a must and therefore you should list your email duties and definitely take courses in excel. I use that program everyday and am expected to use formulas, tabs, filters, sorts, etc. My suggestion is to start at a lower level, office assistant or secretary, and work your way up. . Normally an Admin Asst is hired from within the system. DETAIL in a resume is extremely important.
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Linda Hoff on
6/9/2010 9:41:47 AM
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The transition to administrative assistant from legal assistant should not be too hard. It really is a matter of structuring your resume to showcase your talents. I suggest you use a bullet format rather than a long narrative to help keep the attention of the person reviewing your resume for possible interview. Do list your most recent employment and title and then under that, list your bullet points,
Answer and process incoming and outgoing telephone calls
Maintain calendar appointments for two executives
Draft and type correspondence for two executives
Maintain paper and electronic files
Computer skills to include (enter what you have used here. I suggest you get some Excel exposure if possible)
By using this type of format the prospective employer can get past "titles" and focus on the skills you possess and how they may fit into the organization to which you are applying. Good luck. You can do this!
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Anonymous on
6/9/2010 9:17:58 AM
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The best I can tell you is talk to your local community college. It is common that Word, Excel, and maybe Access will be part of their Office Technology curriculum. Publisher, you can ask, but you may need to check around or go to a book store and get the Publisher book. Barnes and Nobles does have that book.
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Lloyd Becker on
6/9/2010 1:32:12 AM
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I recommend going to your local (temp agency or library) and get some excel tutorials (or find some online) as well as PowerPoint. Those will really help to round you out.
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Anonymous on
6/8/2010 2:52:16 PM
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I would suggest you have more than one resume. One based on your legal strengths and another emphasizing your office experience. You might sign up with one or more employment agencies as they have "down and dirty" software training programs which are the quickest way to learn the most commonly used office software and they are the most likely to know your local job market and how to approach it.
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Anonymous on
6/8/2010 2:39:08 PM
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The reason may be because there is a huge difference in pay between the two industries.
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Anonymous on
6/8/2010 2:14:01 PM
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I currently work as an Administrative Assistant, Sr. at a Big Ten university. Right now there is a hiring freeze on all administrative positions. This means that any open positions generally go to current university employees or employees that have had their positions recently riffed in another departments or at other campus. This may not be the best time to look to transition to an academic setting.
However, the best thing you can do is learn as many new software skills you can. Some useful software would be the Microsoft Office Suite, database management, web design, desktop publishing and any in-house software (if you know a current employee willing to train you). If you live in a university town, they probably offer free or reduced cost seminar or workshop classes for some of the more popular software used on campus and at local businesses. Good luck in your pursuit!
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Anonymous on
6/8/2010 2:10:35 PM
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