Administrative Assistant

The Administrative Assistant Certificate Program prepares students for a career as a secretary or an administrative assistant. An Administrative Assistant Certificate is awarded upon satisfactory completion of all program requirements. A minimum of 16 hours per week of attendance is required. Students must enroll in two core courses. Computer applications and office skills, plus a lab component through the Computer/Internet Center at the Cypress Campus. The core courses consist of four levels. Each level is six weeks. A student may complete the entire program in 24 weeks or two trimesters for a total of 384 hours. Training length may vary depending on existing skills. Specialty courses for students with limited English skills build vocabulary related to office occupations in preparation for this program. Contact the ESL Department at (714) 808-4638.
Employment Opportunities
As we enter an age of advanced technology, office professionals are required to evolve with the current technology to maintain marketable skills. Office automation and organizational restructuring have led secretaries and administrative assistants to assume a wider range of new responsibilities previously completed by upper management and other professional staff. Secretaries and administrative assistants are responsible for a variety of administrative and clerical duties necessary to run a company efficiently. In offices nationwide, they serve as an information manager, schedule meetings and appointments, organize and maintain paper and electronic files, manage projects, conduct research, and provide information via the telephone, postal mail and e-mail. They also increasingly use personal computers to create spreadsheets, compose correspondence, reports and documents as well as presentations using graphics.
Employment Outlook in California
For current occupation outlook information, visit the following links: EDD – Labor Market Information http://www.calmis.cahwnet.gov/ Bureau of Labor Statistics – Occupational Outlook Handbook http://www.bls.gov/oco/home.htm
Courses
Keyboarding Introduction to Computers Windows XP Microsoft Word Microsoft Excel Microsoft PowerPoint Telephone Techniqies Filing	Business Mathematics Communication and Problem Solving Spelling Proofreading Internet E-mail Employment Skills