Professional Image.

This chapter has helped me recognize that I need to strengthen the following personal and work characteristics so that I portray a positive professional image.

• I need to be more comfortable and confident with my skills and abilities. I'm not one to boast and brag about what I can do well. I think I need to work on that and be secure in the fact I know how to do things that other people do not.
• Positive attitude is sometimes difficult for me with hassles of everyday life. Keeping a positive attitude is essential and also something that is sometimes very hard for me to do.
• My organization could be improved. This chapter even got me thinking about time management skills or, my lack there of. There are often so many things I want to get done and I'm lucky if I finish half of them. I want to be more orderly and realistic when I plan my life.
• My daily jewelry wear is also another issue I think I will have to work on. I really like the decoration, but I understand that it is not appropriate in an office setting.
• Finally, the know how to introduce one person to another is something else I believe I need to work on. Or maybe in general, I need to work on having a more personable attitude.

If I Were an Administrative Assistant.

I don't know much about what an Administrative Assisstant actually does. I'm not trying to say I didn't read the chapter, it's just that book learning and real world learning are vastly different. From what I understand, an administrative assistant excels in communication and the technology used to make the world go around and has and excellent sense of organization.
An Administrative assistant needs to be able to effectively communicate with any person they encounter. The world is changing, mixing itself up even more, if you will. The administrative assistant needs to know how to interact with people from all social and economic backgrounds. The administrative assistant is expected to be able to perform small tasks such as ordering supplies to larger tasks such as overseeing other subordinate administrative assistants. Without the skill of communication, nothing would be accomplished.
An administrative assistant needs to be at the forefront of the technological world. Besides being an effective form of communication at great distances, technology allows the administrative assistant to create documents and conduct fact finding research on the internet. Technology also allows administrative assistants more flexibility in maintaining organization.
Organization seems to be the most important aspect of the administrative assistants job. If the day can't be organized correctly, if the files aren't alphabetized, if Joe Swanson doesn't know he's expecting a phone call from a very important CEO at 2 p.m. on Monday, then the whole office could shut down. The ability to plan where things are and when things will be happening is the biggest part of what the administrative assistants job includes.
The changing world is creating the diverse administrative assistant. The assistant who knows change is the essence of life and embraces this fact.