Message #4675

[sungoddesslv]

Coincidentally, this same conversation is on the IAAP discussion board.  Here is what IAAP staff wrote about it:



"Many companies are reporting that it's very hard to find experienced administrative personnel who are highly computer-literate, who have above-average communications skills (writing and verbal); who are business- and customer-service savvy; who have top-notch organizational abilities; who are able to work independently without much supervision; and who have the flexibility to adapt to change and effectively handle day-to-day business situations.



One problem is that in the past 20 years or so, too few of the younger generations have entered into "secretarial" careers, mainly because it was often perceived as a low-level clerical "typist" position with little chance for advancement or higher-than-average-income levels.



Educational institutions are just now catching up their curriculums to offer more "office administration/office management" type courses teaching more management-level skills rather than the old-fashioned "secretarial" courses teaching mainly shorthand and clerical skills.



In the mass corporate downsizings of the 90s, it was often the secretaries, administrative assistants, and other office staff who took up the slack of the duties formerly done by middle managers (who were layed off en mass). Our profession as a whole proved that we could handle the "information management" roles of today's high-tech offices. But members of the profession are aging (average age of IAAP members: 45), and few of the younger generations are currently prepared to take the place of the experienced administrative professionals."