All Jobs Require Managing Information

Not just for secretaries anymore: organizing, categorizing, naming conventions, and facility in combing data quickly. No one who wants to have a living wage can escape the need to develop information management skills.

What skills were once thought of as “secretarial work”, are now a requirement for all professions, regardless of position. From receptionist to CEO,  the skills taught in office support programs are applicable to every professional job that requires any type of work on the computer.

Almost all community colleges have an “Administrative Office Professional”, “Executive Assistance”, “Office Professional” and other programs that feature skills around collecting and keeping information. But the internet and social media have changed every job or career you could choose.

How could that be?!

These programs’ material forms foundation of how all businesses and organizations work. When you haven't developed these skills, it shows in your interviews, your collaboration skills, and your work performance. Unless your a lucky trust fund kid, this stuff matters.

• Communication and Customer Service Skills

• File and Record Organization

• Reading and Writing Spreadsheets, Word Processing

• Researching and reporting: writing, presentations, discussion

So, do yourself a favor and make sure you know the essentials.  Read this article or use this worksheet to think about what job skills you have and may not be aware of.

If you haven’t started getting some basics in your current job, most colleges have a short-term credential that can be completed in a term or semester that give you a leg up on your other job applicants.

About the Author: Jenny Jones has an MS in Math and an MBA. She’s acted as the chief analyst at InfoSurf Consulting since 2018 and she loves helping people empower themselves, particularly through life-long learning. She knows from her own experience that if someone can, anyone can.