Administrative Assistant's Update

7 Administrative Assistant's UPDATE Credit: Syda Productions/Shutterstock Continued from previous page ca as the fi rst result. Associations can be a great resource for you. They are a good fi rst step. Contact them, and talk to some of their people, and attend one of their meetings. Pretty soon you'll be meeting lots of people who are experts in the fi eld.) Brainstorm with other admins One of the truly wonderful things about admins is that they are great at knowledge sharing. If you can't fi nd something, you can usually ask another admin to help you and chances are they'll know where it is. It's the same thing with train- ing. If you're stuck on your ques- tion to fi nd out more information about your chosen specialty, trying bringing it up the next time you're having lunch with the other admins. "I want to learn more about travel planning, but I'm not sure where to get information." In this scenario, what happens next? You know—fi rst one admin pipes up with "I have a friend who's amazing at planning her boss's travel…." And then the next one says, "Yeah, I know someone who belongs to a travel planning associa- tion…" And so on, and so on. If you don't know a group of sup- portive admins who would help you brainstorm, guess what? There's an amazing forum out there with people who are only too happy to jump in with all kinds of knowledge. It's Facebook. You can post something like, "I want to learn more about trav- el planning, but I'm not sure where to get information" on your timeline and just sit back—you'll have more suggestions than you know what to do with. (Not on Facebook? You really should be. Social media will be an important element in this process, because it will help you network, stay on top of the latest news, and collect resources. Of course, if the reason you're not on Facebook is because you're on other social media that you prefer, like Instagram or LinkedIn, then go with what you're comfortable with, of course.) Just do it These days, no one's going to crown you "the queen of event planning," so don't wait for that to happen. Instead, just jump in and fi nd op- portunities to ply your trade. Talk to your boss about your new- found interest. If she's a supportive boss, she will likely keep it in the back of her mind and the next time she's in a meeting at which another manager mentions an upcoming meeting, she can bring your name up as someone who would like to help. If your boss isn't that support- ive, then ask around within your company. Find out about upcoming meetings and talk to the people who are already doing it. Stay after work and help them out, if that's what they need. It will be time well spent. Volun- teer, if necessary—fi nd a local orga- nization that could use your kind of specialized skills—at least until you get more established in the fi eld. Your resume After you've networked, trained, volunteered and done some work in your chosen fi eld, make sure you create a version of your resume that highlights your new specialty. Keep track of all the research, reading and training you do and the dates you do it—jot all that down on your resume. Create a new paragraph at the top of your resume that is focussed on your knowledge and expertise in this specialty area. Now, when that job opportunity comes along, the one requiring knowledge and expertise in your chosen fi eld, your resume will posi- tion you perfectly for it. Imagine trying to go up against someone for a job who has been focussing on just that area. In this case, you're that person. Becoming a specialist: recap √ Find an area of your work that you really enjoy and de- velop your specialty around that. √ Get the necessary training so you become an expert in that area. √ Develop knowledge-sharing opportunities, such as Lunch 'N Learn sessions. √ Stay involved in your sub- ject area by doing ongoing research on it. √ Find the other people who enjoy doing what you enjoy, and stay in touch with them. √ Use Facebook and other social media to help ensure that you stay on top of the very latest news in the fi eld. √ Jump in and fi nd opportuni- ties to work in your fi eld. √ Document everything you've done and keep your resume updated with that information. Credit: Syda Productions/Shutterstock √ Use Facebook and other social media to help ensure that you stay on top of the very latest news in the fi eld. √ Jump in and fi nd opportuni- ties to work in your fi eld. √ Document everything nization that could use your kind of specialized skills—at least until you in your chosen fi eld, make sure you create a version of your resume that you've done and keep your resume updated with that information.

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