In any profession, having the right qualifications represents something of a prerequisite, both for a smooth entry and, ultimately, a successful career in your chosen field.
The job market has become increasingly cutthroat in the wake of a global pandemic and nationwide rise in unemployment, and anything you can do to get ahead and stand out right now is, frankly, worth your time. Accruing qualifications and expertise is one of the most surefire ways to define yourself as the most viable candidate for the role you’re coveting.
Let’s drill down into the specifics; if you are looking to secure a new role as an Executive Assistant, or you’re looking for opportunities to progress your career, then adding knowledge, skills and certification to your CV is going to stand you in the best possible shape moving forward. And when it comes down for the interview stage of the process, it’s best to come prepared by looking up some leadership interview questions or any other common interview questions with and their corresponding answers.
Those preparatory tips aside, if you’re wondering what courses an executive assistant should take, then you’ve come to the right place; here are 5 essential qualifications.
LEVEL 5 EXECUTIVE ASSISTANCE
The Institute of Executive Assistants and Administrators offers a number of courses for executive assistants, with Level 5 the highest qualification available. This provides Accredited qualification of a Certified Executive Assistant of the IEAA, and is regarded as one of the top signifiers of your professional credentials.
The course covers all of the key skills required to be a successful Executive Assistant, including office management, advanced administration skills and even how best to conduct training, when your expertise is so all encompassing that it needs passing on to others. Obtaining this qualification will give you a great advantage over other job applicants in an ever more competitive market, as this level of qualification is prestigious and highly regarded by employees.
LEVEL 4 EXECUTIVE PA
The IEAA also offers a Level 4 Executive PA qualification that is the next level down from the Level 5 but still carries plenty of weight within the profession. This provides the student with a Certified Executive PA qualification and is another impressive qualification to have on your CV to help you progress up the career ladder as an Executive Assistant.
MICROSOFT TRAINING
The role of an Executive Assistant also requires a good level of proficiency in using Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint, with Microsoft still the dominant operating system for administrative tasks. Therefore, it is pretty much obligatory to be conversant and competent in these programs, preferably backed up by a formal qualification.
To bolster your CV, you can complete online training that is available directly through Microsoft, or you can find alternative online courses from third parties; be warned, however, that these might not carry quite the same weight as those taken directly at the source. You should be able to find a good selection of free courses available online if money is tight, however. Indeed, gaining qualifications in Microsoft applications does not need to be expensive.
With a huge number of businesses currently set up to work from home, or working remotely for at least some of the time, another useful Microsoft application is Microsoft Teams, which enables teams to have online meetings, open dialogues and access plenty of other useful collaboration facilities, too.
A training course on using Microsoft Teams, then, would also be particularly useful in the current climate. Since it’s expected that more roles will be based at home permanently in the future, even as the COVID-19 restrictions start to lift, you’re going to need to be more nimble and dexterous than ever to adapt. This might help you with that; check out this handy advice on 5 ways to make working from home easy with apps.
TIME MANAGEMENT
Though soft skills are generally best acquired through a mixture of experience and approaching every day with an open mind, there are, in fact, also courses you can take online to learn some of the key competency aspects of an executive assistant role. Best of all, many of these courses are free!
A hugely important element of being a capable Executive Personal Assistant is having excellent time management skills. As well as organising your own schedule, you are responsible for managing the schedule of the Executive that you are assisting, which can be a challenging task when time’s always tight and you’re constantly having to juggle priorities.
Completing a time management course will provide you with some insights into how to best prioritise meetings, deadlines and other essential activities, and also share some useful tips on how to manage your own work/life balance, too.
Doing such a course will help you pick up some techniques on structuring the day most efficiently for optimal productivity. According to recruitment experts Reed, such courses cover a surprisingly varied and in depth subject matter. As a student on a time management course, you can expect to cover:
- How to sequence your workload to make best use of your time.
- Learn about boosting workplace productivity through the application of key time-management techniques.
- Identify the six laws and fundamental principles of time management.
- Receive insights into managing meetings more effectively (we all know what a bug bear unnecessary meetings have become since working from home).
- Setting daily goals tactically, and planning each working day with precision to improve work performance.
- Breaking down your workload into manageable tasks to reduce work-related stress.
LEADERSHIP & FOLLOWERSHIP
Though the very nature of the Executive Assistant role requires a certain amount of being led, you’ll also find that the higher you climb the career ladder, the more you’ll have to do your own leading as well. This is because Executive Assistants are in the upper echelons of the administrative role, and one of their responsibilities is to pass knowledge on through training, both to other assistants and to the company’s staff in general.
Knowing how to balance leadership and followership is therefore key to making it in this role, and fortunately, there are specific courses to help with the nuances and demands of doing just that.
If you’ve come here because you’re thinking about changing roles within your company, or even changing companies, then do check out these 5 things to consider if you’re thinking of a career change before you hand in your notice, sign any new contracts or offend your boss so comprehensively that they’ll never have you back. You won’t regret it!