Administrative assistant to management assistant
An administrative assistant already meets 50% of what the management assistant role asks for. The move turns on 6 required skills not yet in the profile.
52.4/ 100
1 How much of what a management assistant is expected to do is already part of an administrative assistant’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the management assistant role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A management assistant role treats 12 of its required skills as things an administrative assistant already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- company policies
- coordinate events
- disseminate internal communications
- disseminate messages to people
- draft corporate emails
- fix meetings
What stands in the way is 6 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 15 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A management assistant role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an administrative assistant background worth leading with.
- already held maintain statutory books information skills
- already held manage personnel agenda management skills
- already held draft corporate emails communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held disseminate internal communications communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held disseminate messages to people management skills
- already held perform business research information skills
All 15 carried skills, including the 12 the management assistant role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 26 missing skills fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn liaise with board members required
- still to learn build business relationships required
- still to learn support managers required
- still to learn use different communication channels required
- still to learn write work-related reports required
- optional, not held draft press releases optional
- optional, not held translate language concepts optional
- optional, not held write meeting reports optional
- still to learn perform clerical duties required
- optional, not held perform cost accounting activities optional
- optional, not held use free typing techniques optional
- optional, not held accounting department processes optional
- optional, not held financial department processes optional
- optional, not held legal department processes optional
- optional, not held marketing department processes optional
- optional, not held operations department processes optional
- optional, not held human resources department processes optional
- optional, not held management department processes optional
- optional, not held personnel management optional
- optional, not held public relations optional
- optional, not held sales department processes optional
- optional, not held apply statistical analysis techniques optional
- optional, not held maintain register of shareholders optional
- optional, not held revise drafts made by managers optional
- optional, not held track key performance indicators optional
- optional, not held assist visitors optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a management assistant role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 liaise with board members practise this
- 02 build business relationships practise this
- 03 perform clerical duties practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 15 skills that carry over
- already held company policies knowledge
- already held coordinate events skill
- already held disseminate internal communications skill
- already held disseminate messages to people skill
- already held draft corporate emails skill
- already held fix meetings skill
- already held liaise with managers skill
- already held maintain internal communication systems skill
- already held perform business research skill
- already held process commissioned instructions skill
- already held use office systems skill
- already held use spreadsheets software skill
- already held maintain statutory books skill
- already held manage personnel agenda skill
- already held speak different languages skill
20 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held accounting department processes optional
- optional, not held financial department processes optional
- optional, not held legal department processes optional
- optional, not held marketing department processes optional
- optional, not held operations department processes optional
- optional, not held apply statistical analysis techniques optional
- optional, not held assist visitors optional
- optional, not held draft press releases optional
- optional, not held human resources department processes optional
- optional, not held maintain register of shareholders optional
- optional, not held management department processes optional
- optional, not held perform cost accounting activities optional
- optional, not held personnel management optional
- optional, not held public relations optional
- optional, not held revise drafts made by managers optional
- optional, not held sales department processes optional
- optional, not held track key performance indicators optional
- optional, not held translate language concepts optional
- optional, not held use free typing techniques optional
- optional, not held write meeting reports optional
26 held skills the management assistant role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role accounting techniques knowledge
- not needed by the target role business communication knowledge
- not needed by the target role create import-export commercial documentation skill
- not needed by the target role deliver correspondence skill
- not needed by the target role disseminate general corporate information skill
- not needed by the target role ensure proper document management skill
- not needed by the target role file documents skill
- not needed by the target role fill out forms skill
- not needed by the target role handle mail skill
- not needed by the target role handle petty cash skill
- not needed by the target role issue sales invoices skill
- not needed by the target role keep task records skill
- not needed by the target role maintain inventory of office supplies skill
- not needed by the target role manage digital documents skill
- not needed by the target role monitor staff absences skill
- not needed by the target role organise business documents skill
- not needed by the target role organise facilities for office personnel skill
- not needed by the target role organise travel arrangements for staff skill
- not needed by the target role perform office routine activities skill
- not needed by the target role plan schedule skill
- not needed by the target role prepare presentation material skill
- not needed by the target role provide customer follow-up services skill
- not needed by the target role respect data protection principles skill
- not needed by the target role transcription methods knowledge
- not needed by the target role use microsoft office skill
- not needed by the target role use personal organization software skill
10 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- optional, not held accounting department processes optional
- optional, not held financial department processes optional
- optional, not held legal department processes optional
- optional, not held marketing department processes optional
- optional, not held operations department processes optional
- optional, not held human resources department processes optional
- optional, not held management department processes optional
- optional, not held personnel management optional
- optional, not held public relations optional
- optional, not held sales department processes optional
Other moves recorded from administrative assistant
- secretary 71% covered · moderate
- office clerk 53% covered · moderate
- executive assistant 49% covered · substantial
- foreign language correspondence clerk 44% covered · moderate
- file clerk 40% covered · substantial
- receptionist 33% covered · substantial
- supply chain assistant 32% covered · substantial
- billing clerk 29% covered · substantial
Common questions about this move
Can an administrative assistant become a management assistant?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. An administrative assistant already covers 50% of what a management assistant is expected to do: 15 skills carry over, 12 of which the management assistant role treats as required.
What skills does an administrative assistant need to become a management assistant?
6 required skills are missing, plus 20 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is liaise with board members.
How hard is the move from administrative assistant to management assistant?
Its learning distance is 52.4 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.