While many people dream of landing a high-paying job as soon as they finish college, it’s common to start your career working as an administrative assistant. It may seem like the kind of job that won’t get you far, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Working as an admin enables you to gain plenty of experience and build valuable connections. If you spend some time using every opportunity to expand your horizons, you can leverage all that you’ve built and learned to get a promotion.
Here are a few tips on how to move up the ranks as an admin.
Learn As Much As You Can
Working as an administrative assistant, you’ve got the opportunity to gain more insight into the company and its business processes than most other entry-level roles. Read all the important documents that land on your desk, such as memos and reports, and use them as valuable sources of information that you can learn from.
When collaborating with different departments, you can ask them about their projects and responsibilities. This can help you determine which role in the company you’d like to advance to and what kind of experience you need to be able to do so.
Show What You’re Capable Of
As an administrative assistant, you’ll work alongside various higher-ranking roles. This gives you an opportunity to build relationships with them and have them open new doors for you. Learn about the projects others are working on and offer to lend a hand. Take on tasks that will make their jobs easier and get you noticed by all your superiors.
Giving others a hand with various projects will enable you to gain different kinds of experience and improve your resume. This way, you’ll get to show everyone in the company what you’re capable of.
Consult With a Manager
While you may be working hard on gaining new skills and improving them, you might need the perspective of someone more experienced to get an accurate picture of your performance. Consulting with a manager can help you identify what you’re good at and determine the areas where you need to improve.
To move up the ranks, you need to show that you’re willing to learn and take up new responsibilities. Working closely with a manager to come up with a personal development plan and showing progress along the way will let your superiors know that you’ve got the potential to take on a higher-ranking role.
Let It Be Known
When you’ve gained enough experience to progress your career, you should let it be known that you’re looking to get a promotion. Set up a meeting with your boss and talk to them about the position you’d like to take on.
It’s important to be specific and present what you can bring to the table. Elaborate on how you can help the company grow and you might persuade your boss to promote you to a higher-ranking role.
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