Administrative Assistant's Update

FEBRUARY 2018 4 "we have seen a high demand for ad- min professionals who are adaptable and who can get involved in projects spanning various departments... Now you [admins] are involved in a whole lot of other things: account- ing, budgeting, working with costing, spreadsheets, planning for events and looking at vendor contracts. All those things fall into the admin pocket." Hunnam-Jones's observation holds true for Serbout, whose job requires her to perform numerous finance-re- lated tasks in collaboration with other city departments. Last year, Serbout worked with counterparts in the health services de- partment to assist on a census project. She had to make sure that relevant project costs incurred by census offi- cials in the clerk's office were charged back to health services, including pay- ment for any outside contractors. Meanwhile, demand continues to grow for self-employed virtual assis- tants who, in addition to travel plan- ning, social media and email man- agement, have the ability to manage budgets, payroll and accounts. Gina Asuncion Bernier, a virtual assistant since 2015, decided to equip herself with a combination of must- have skills – ad- ministration, social media and finances – to promote her young business. These days, her responsibilities include invoices and expenses, bookkeeping, budgets, accounts payable and receivable. "It's my least favourite job role," she says candidly of her accounting- related tasks. "But everyone has a budget and people they need to pay. It really is imperative you have those skills." By definition, she notes, "as an ad- min, you are a jack-of-all-trades. As work changes and the scope of work changes you have to be flexible." Bernier's professional expertise has enabled her to pursue volunteer work, including as treasurer of the Barrie Simcoe County chapter of the Associa- tion of Administrative Professionals. By contrast, some admins begin their professional careers with finan- cial knowledge acquired at school. Maureen Armstrong, executive assistant to the CEO and leadership team at New Path Youth and Family Services in Barrie, Ont., earned a diploma in finance and accounting from Seneca College in 1980. Over her ca- reer with a number of employers, she drew on expertise in accounting and admin to carry out responsibilities for accounts payable and receivable, month-end bank rec- onciliation and audit preparation. Even though her current role has less emphasis on finance, she says "they [colleagues] still come to me and ask questions and pick my brains." Armstrong, president of the Barrie Simcoe County branch of the As- sociation of Administrative Profes- sionals, says that in a fast-changing economy, employers are looking for multi-skilled admins. "The more you can put in your portfolio, the better opportunity you can have," she says. OfficeTeam's Hunnam-Jones agrees. "Admins who pride themselves on their profession and want to be considered adaptable and flexible need to take that step of expanding their skill set and get some financial acumen." Admins edge: finance skills Continued from page 1 Finance skills bring higher salaries By Staff Recruitment experts say that admins with accounting skills command a salary premium in the marketplace. OfficeTeam's Dianne Hunnam-Jones estimates that admins with finance-related skills earn three to five per cent more than those with traditional support skills. "Definitely, the more skills you gain, the more you can demand," she says. "Admins can continue to develop their skills. It is about breaking the shackles of thinking you are a traditional administrator." "It is very important to set yourself apart," says Erich Johnson, a certi - fied staffing consultant with Randstad Canada. This year, he predicts, admins need to develop comfort in learning new technologies. "It may be a challenge but you have to push yourself and get comfort- able with the uncomfortable," he urges. Here are a few tips from the pros on how – and where – to acquire relevant training in finance and accounting: Evelyn Serbout: Born and educated in the Philippines, she worked as an admin professional in Saudi Arabia and Dubai before moving to Cana- da in 1997. As a volunteer, she is director, vice-president and member-at- Gina Asuncion Bernier Continued on next page Maureen Armstrong

• Cover