How to Start being an Administrative Assistant out of highschool?
Asked by BulletProof
im still in hs. & i plan on being an administrative assistant. Do i have to go to college? Where do i get the training at? How long is the Training?

Best Answer:
You don't need a college degree whatsoever. Being an admin. assistant is something "any idiot" can do. Honestly. While you are in HS, take a typing class to improve your typing and office skills. Have knowledge in using fax machines, scanners. Do you want to work in a doctor's office or government building? There is no training at all for this job. They only want you to graduate from high school and be able to multi task and prioritize.

You wouldn't want to really go into a career without checking the Bureau of Labor Statistics. So here you are: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos151.htm Good luck!
Answered by tigrismiles

Look into majoring in Business Management/Business Administration at your local community college. A degree is not required, but it would help with your salary request. I've been an admin asst for 12 years. I started out working at a local hospital with a certificate in Medical Transcription.
Answered by TSH

There's no real formal training for this job. If you go to college and major in business so you can get an admin job, you are going to end up with piles of debt, a low paying job, and no experience. College is important to some employers for this kind of position, but not many - experience counts for everything. Your best bet is to go to a temp agency shortly before you graduate high school and talk to someone there. They will give you tests on typing, computer programs, etc, and a lot of them offer online courses and tutorials you can take independently so you may learn and improve whatever skills you have. Then they will ask you some questions about what kind of an office you would prefer, and if you would like longer or shorter term positions. If you temp for a year or two, either you will be offered a permanent position at one of the companies you've worked for, or you will be well prepared with a year or more experience to go out and find an admin job on your own. One of the best reasons to go to a temp agency is that if something goes wrong at your assignment, you can leave easily, so long as you have kept the staffing agency aware of your problems. Additionally, you will get the opportunity to sample many different kinds of offices and styles of management to find out what works best for you, and what field you would ultimately like to go into (I discovered I love construction and civil service - another temp I knew decided on medical billing). Good luck!
Answered by zeureeka

You don't need any training if you go to college. Sometimes you can go to a trade school that offers medical coding and learning how to call insurance companies-but you can always learn that on the job. You just need to have knowledge of different office equipment-fax,scanner,printer, computer, Excel, and more. You need to be very quick, detail oriented, mature, friendly, and know how to prioritize. How old are you now? You can start applying at local doctors offices at the age of 17. It's hard because they really only hire someone that has worked in this field for 3 years or more, but you can mention all of the office skills you might have.
Answered by Richard