Career Doctor - August 1997

The Career Doctor
The Career Doctor is
Arnold Tilden, Ed.D., NCC of
Tilden & Associates Consultants

Dear Career Doctor:

I am a secretary of five years earning approximately $18,000 a year. I’m happy with the work I do and have been praised for my ability. Recently, I met a few friends that do basically the same work as I do: field telephone calls, perform office tasks, create and manage documents with Microsoft Office, etc. Yet they are called Administrative Assistants, and all three earn over $22,000. What am I doing wrong? Can I change jobs or even just change titles, and get $5,000 more a year?

— Aspiring Administrative Assistant

Dear Aspiring:

Your observation about friends who do comparable work and make more money is hardly startling. Much of it has to do with how a person packages and markets his or her skills. There are significant differences due to geography and industry. Some of it has to do with luck. Let’s assume that geography and industry are a given, and we can’t do much about luck. Therefore, we’ll focus on personal marketing, which entails showcasing yourself through your resume and cover letters.

The first step is to determine the skills in demand for the growing industries in your geographic market. Step two requires assessing your skills so you can feature those that are in demand. A good way to start the process is by studying classified ads, preferably on a Sunday. Write down the desired qualifications listed by top employers, and record the frequency with which they are listed. If you study the advertisements for administrative assistants, it is likely you will come up with a qualifications list that looks like this: experienced, well organized, good with details, effective communicator, team player, and computer proficient. If these qualifications are consistent with what you do well, they are key themes to highlight in your resume and cover letters.

There are many helpful written resources on resumes and cover letters available in libraries and bookstores. Microsoft Word even has a resume template which you can personalize i.e. "Well organized, effective communicator, who is computer proficient and excellent with details seeks challenging position in a team setting." Since you are working with Microsoft Office, you may have the opportunity to access the Internet and visit this excellent site provided by the University of Waterloo at http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infocecs/CRC/Career_Planning_Info.html

Use your cover letter to customize your background as closely as possible to the qualifications listed by the employer. For example, you might emphasize that you have the five years experience requested or that you are experienced in the software they list. The least beneficial thing you can do is send a form cover letter. Career Doctor knows employers who toss these without reading as a matter of principle.

If you discover inconsistencies between what’s in demand and what you do well, you need to either (A) acquire the skills, or (B) develop a plan to move to a different career field.

One way to begin acquiring the skills you need is to visit, http://www.teem.com/hburg/p0000101.htm, which has a listing of local institutions that provide continuing education. Of course, comparable information is available in hard copy by calling the admissions office of the institutions offering the instruction you need. The Harrisburg area is fortunate to have institutions like Temple (Career Doctor’s alma mater always gets first billing), Penn State, Harrisburg Area Community College, the Academy of Medical Arts and Business, Thompson Institute, ITT as well as Dickinson, Elizabethtown, Lebanon Valley and Messiah colleges.

If you sense that you are in the wrong field, then you can work with a counselor or pursue some self-help exercises which are available on the web at the same University of Waterloo site listed above.

Checking the classified and comparing the buzzwords advertised with your skills is a helpful exercise even if you never launch a job search. If you do decide to conduct a job search, it’s always wise to meet with your current employer beforehand and ask if there are opportunities for advancement which would have greater financial rewards associated with them. Who knows, she or he may be prepared to lay out a plan to help you advance and earn that additional $5,000. Go get ‘em, and please keep me posted.

— Signed the Career Doctor

If you would like the Career Doctor to answer your question: just send it along to The Career Doctor, c/o MODE, P.O. Box 5566, Harrisburg, PA 17110, or E-mail it to: TheStaff@MODEweekly.com, with a subject line of: Career Doctor Question.