Who here has his/her very own secretary/administrative assistant?

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And what sorts of things do you make that person do for you?

― quincie, Thursday, 28 August 2003 14:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Is this a thread about personal assistants or "Personal Assistants"?

Becasue I have neither. I just wanted a clarification

― ModJ, Thursday, 28 August 2003 15:03 (twenty-two years ago)

I CANNOT READ THIS THREAD AS I WANT AN ASSISTANT MORE THAN ANYTHING AND I DON'T EVEN HAVE A JOB. WAAAAAAAH :``(

― Mark C (Mark C), Thursday, 28 August 2003 15:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Lucky this thread isn't very long then, non?

― ModJ, Thursday, 28 August 2003 15:06 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.lionsgateinfo.com/InfoSite/epk/secretary/images/pic4_72dpi.jpg

― ModJ, Thursday, 28 August 2003 15:07 (twenty-two years ago)

personnel assistants. but if you had one, modJ, what would you do with it?

x-post

― quincie, Thursday, 28 August 2003 15:07 (twenty-two years ago)

I have one. No wait. I don't. I thought I was someone else for a minute.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 28 August 2003 15:07 (twenty-two years ago)

so THAT's what you'd have one do, modJ?

― quincie, Thursday, 28 August 2003 15:09 (twenty-two years ago)

I occasionally get work experience students pushed at me and told to give them something useful to do. It's a nightmare to be honest as their eager-bunny attitude seriously conflicts with my ILX'n'MP3s lifestyle.

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 28 August 2003 15:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Can you send the stoodents out to get you a sammich, at least?

― quincie, Thursday, 28 August 2003 15:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I have an assistant. He does the cleaning.

― Matt (Matt), Thursday, 28 August 2003 15:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I have work experience people too. And ours are always foreign which adds another layer of frustration to the daily grind of finding stuff for them to do, explaining how to do it...

... I don't want my own assistant, because I am rubbish at delegating and nobody can a do a job as well as I can do it myself. God knows what will happen when I have to give up my job to someone else 1 day per week to do my masters...

― Archel (Archel), Thursday, 28 August 2003 15:22 (twenty-two years ago)

personnel assistants. but if you had one, modJ, what would you do with it?

I'm really looking for a 40's gumshoe secretary thing. Like, someone who will totally bail my ass out at the last minute and do a belt of scotch afterwards. Y'know. Tension type shit, dollface.

― ModJ, Thursday, 28 August 2003 15:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Either that or train her to do tricks x-post

― ModJ, Thursday, 28 August 2003 15:40 (twenty-two years ago)

I have an assistant and an intern to look over.. the intern bugs me the most because I can tell he just doesn't want to do anything. My assistant is great, and we're both quitting our jobs next week. WAHAHAHA.

― Mandee, Thursday, 28 August 2003 15:47 (twenty-two years ago)

As a film industry professional (sometimes) I get stuck with PAs -- production assistants. Usually they are college kids or some shit like that. NYU kids who think they're going to direct; that sort of thing.

The last shoot I was on I had two kids working under me -- they were 26 and 29 years old.

I am 23.

You can see how wierd it was for me.

― ModJ, Thursday, 28 August 2003 15:50 (twenty-two years ago)

I do, and less than I should - pretty much only the things I don't know how to do.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 28 August 2003 15:52 (twenty-two years ago)

(oh, but my secretary is shared with other people)

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 28 August 2003 15:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, I'm 23, too, and my assistant is 42. I don't think it's fair; she has years of experience and is a great employee. But the big boss is very judgemental of those without college degrees.

― Mandee, Thursday, 28 August 2003 15:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, wierd, right? It's not even really having a degree on my end -- it's just REFUSING to be a PA myself, it means that I apply for real jobs and get them for some reason...

― ModJ, Thursday, 28 August 2003 15:58 (twenty-two years ago)

So do you people with assistants get them crap for Secretaries' Day or Administrative Professionals' Day or whatever it is called these Days?

― quincie, Thursday, 28 August 2003 15:59 (twenty-two years ago)

what i dont get is, right, that person that is 42 and has all that experience, why doesnt she lie about the college degree, just say she has one. obviously if you're 21 they're going to check because there's nothing else really to go on, but if you're 42 they're going to check on your experience first surely? i reckon, once you have 2+ years of experience, just put whatever degree and college you like down

― gareth (gareth), Thursday, 28 August 2003 16:01 (twenty-two years ago)

ModJ, how do you get these real jobs? Do you have the relevant experience? I hate the TV/film industry :(

― Mark C (Mark C), Thursday, 28 August 2003 16:04 (twenty-two years ago)

So do you people with assistants get them crap for Secretaries' Day or Administrative Professionals' Day or whatever it is called these Days?

I bought mine a copy of the film "Secretary" actually.

― Ally-zay (mlescaut), Thursday, 28 August 2003 16:06 (twenty-two years ago)

ModJ, how do you get these real jobs? Do you have the relevant experience? I hate the TV/film industry :(

I don't always get them. I do cold calls. I apply at Mandy. I scour craigslist. I get jobs from people I've worked with before -- it's all nepotisim anyway. Friends I went to school with help me out, and I do the same for them.

What do you do?

― ModJ, Thursday, 28 August 2003 16:12 (twenty-two years ago)

What's with the new name Allycat?

― ModJ, Thursday, 28 August 2003 16:12 (twenty-two years ago)

-- I bought mine a copy of the film "Secretary" actually

No way! That is fucking fantastic. Will you be my boss?

― quincie, Thursday, 28 August 2003 16:13 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm not really sure what I'm meant to do with the assistant I sort of have but yeah, ok.

(note: I'm also an executive personal assistant. Who has an administrative assistant. If someone would care to explain this...)

― Allycat (mlescaut), Thursday, 28 August 2003 16:20 (twenty-two years ago)

She's a patsy for the higher ups. So are you. What's so complicated?

― ModJ, Thursday, 28 August 2003 16:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Why so many levels?

― Ally-zay (mlescaut), Thursday, 28 August 2003 16:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Because of the Masons, natch.

― ModJ, Thursday, 28 August 2003 16:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Well I don't care, I'm quitting this job anyway, they can keep their confusing multiple-CFO system and many layered assistant schedule.

― Ally-zay (mlescaut), Thursday, 28 August 2003 16:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Embrace the change honey.

*welcome to another Ally/Jimmy thread hijacking, btw*

― ModJ, Thursday, 28 August 2003 16:46 (twenty-two years ago)

when i was a grad student i had undergrad research assistants; when i was promo goddess i had a series of really *thick* XTC-fried minions, the diva of which would just agree to anything a club booker said (duh, ever heard of negotiating!); now i have a part time admin who files things and does, well, admin-y things. i have also done all of these jobs myself at one time or another.

― Orbit (Orbit), Thursday, 28 August 2003 16:51 (twenty-two years ago)

i share one with my boss. which means that i don't get fuck-all of my work done and have to do my own correspondence and filing half the time. this is one of themajor reasons why i am not happy with the current job situation.

and yes, i'm 10 years younger than the secretary and it can be embarrassing for me.

― Tad (llamasfur), Friday, 29 August 2003 03:26 (twenty-two years ago)

I shared Tad's sad fate until I got wise.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Friday, 29 August 2003 06:54 (twenty-two years ago)

We have shared PA-type administrative assiistant type person here. They open letters, do the boring tastks etc etc. I only wish we has the power to make them do really outlandish thigns - but we don't.

― Johnney B (Johnney B), Friday, 29 August 2003 14:29 (twenty-two years ago)

I have a part time assistant (2.5 days a week) and she is a god send. She does all the stuff I used to hate doing with a cheery smile. If I am ever desperate for anyone to do some grunt work I usually find a student i can pay to do it.

(Envelope stuffing is beneath my assistant in my opinion).

― Pete (Pete), Friday, 29 August 2003 14:38 (twenty-two years ago)

It's a good trick: be such a damn good assistant that soon your boss is embarrassed to give you menial tasks because you are clearly beyond them.

― Archel (Archel), Friday, 29 August 2003 14:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, I agree Gareth - she should just lie. I know some other people in the office have. I could have lied, too, as they never asked to see my transcripts or actual degree. I should have claimed to be a Vassar girl.

― Mandee, Friday, 29 August 2003 14:45 (twenty-two years ago)

i do. i lie in bed all day & they bring me stuff.

― duane (24 hour troubleshooter), Saturday, 30 August 2003 00:30 (twenty-two years ago)

I have my own secretary - her name is Alison, and she is absolutely brilliant - very organized and totally unflappable. She does all the usual admin stuff plus she makes great coffee.

She has three children of primary school age, so I'm very flexible about her working hours. If one of the kids is sick or whatever, I'm more than happy for her to take work home to do instead of coming into the office, and she works flexi hours in the school holidays. Mine is a small company though, so it's probably easier to work this way here than it would be in a large multi-national I guess.

― C J (C J), Sunday, 31 August 2003 12:01 (twenty-two years ago)

i don't have one, i am one.

― The Lady Ms Lurex (lucylurex), Sunday, 31 August 2003 12:32 (twenty-two years ago)

four years pass...

I do [...]
-- gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, August 28, 2003 4:52 PM (4 years ago) Bookmark Link

― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Saturday, 20 October 2007 17:49 (eighteen years ago)

See the 'ILE quoted out of context' thread, plz.

― Aimless, Saturday, 20 October 2007 18:10 (eighteen years ago)

So I hear that it's only in the US that one uses the term "administrative assistant" (or "admin") and the rest of the English-speaking world says "secretary."

My friend works in Chicago for a company for an England-based company, and the Englishers call the admins secretaries, which can be grating.

― Jesse, Saturday, 20 October 2007 18:24 (eighteen years ago)

nah not always.

― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Saturday, 20 October 2007 18:25 (eighteen years ago)

though it's kind of a semantic thing. ie give a fuck. i was a 'departmental secretary' for a time.

― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Saturday, 20 October 2007 18:26 (eighteen years ago)

There has been talk about changing Condi Rice's title to Administrative Assistant of State.

― Jesse, Saturday, 20 October 2007 18:28 (eighteen years ago)

i have a paralegal. she rules.

― gabbneb, Saturday, 20 October 2007 18:30 (eighteen years ago)

works for other people too tho

― gabbneb, Saturday, 20 October 2007 18:31 (eighteen years ago)

paralegals work hard!

― Mr. Que, Saturday, 20 October 2007 18:35 (eighteen years ago)

otm

― gabbneb, Saturday, 20 October 2007 18:36 (eighteen years ago)

(most of them, at least)

― gabbneb, Saturday, 20 October 2007 18:36 (eighteen years ago)

I'm sure your paralegal appreciates that you think of him/her along the same lines as an admin. assistant, gabbneb.

Bunch of miserable sods, paralegals.

― quincie, Saturday, 20 October 2007 18:38 (eighteen years ago)

yeah, i would not want to be one, but i appreciate what they do. they are bad ass

― Mr. Que, Saturday, 20 October 2007 18:38 (eighteen years ago)

the professional ones are the baddest

― gabbneb, Saturday, 20 October 2007 18:41 (eighteen years ago)

In England, the term secretary was never devalued to refer to a glorified menial who typed and answered the phone, as it was for a time in teh USA. When secretaries began to be given more and more responsibility, it was felt that 'secretary' (in the sense of a typing lackey) was beneath their new-found stature, so the term administrative assistant was coined.

― Aimless, Saturday, 20 October 2007 18:41 (eighteen years ago)

Does paralegal mean the same thing in England as in the US? I'm still trying to figure out what exactly it means in practice in the US. Strictly speaking though the job description entails doing a lot of what a lawyer does with the exception of things that require directly and independently providing legal advice or service. So that would entail everything from drafting various documents, intake interviews, investigation work, research, etc. This is mostly from info I got from NALA (Nat'l. Assoc. of Legal Assistants.

They differentiate between Paralegals and Legal Secretaries, as the legal secretary would be an assistant to the paralegal.

What I seem to be finding however is that a lot of times the realm of the paralegal is fluid and they wind up doing a lot of admin stuff, which is sort of annoying.

― Jesse, Saturday, 20 October 2007 23:06 (eighteen years ago)

BTW - I guess I'm a fucking admin. But I'm also the only non-lawyer at our firm (there are 2 partners, 1 associate, and a dog) so I wear a lot of fucking hats (admin, paralegal, billing guy). But there is some significant growth on the horizon and I need to position myself to move up rather than having them hire a more experienced paralegal and keep me where I am.

Sorry, life story there....

― Jesse, Saturday, 20 October 2007 23:09 (eighteen years ago)

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