Administrative Office Program
Today's Office Careers
Businesses and organizations, small and large, from Lansing to Beijing, are engaged in a fast-paced, competitive, and dynamic race for survival and profit. Today's marketplace demands workers who are highly skilled, creative, and able to adapt quickly to new technology and procedures.
As technology continues to change the modern workplace, the role of today's office worker will continue to evolve. The office professional will continue to assume a wider range of responsibilities once reserved for managerial staff. Many office professionals now provide training and orientation for new staff, conduct Internet research, and operate and troubleshoot office technologies. However, despite these many changes and technological advances, the core responsibilities have remained much the same: performing and coordinating an office's administrative activities and storing, retrieving, and integrating information for staff and clients.
High school graduates who have basic office skills may qualify for entry-level positions. However, employers increasingly require extensive knowledge of software applications, such as word processing, spreadsheets and database management. Office professionals need skills in keyboarding, written and oral communication, interpersonal skills, organizational or management ability, and the ability to work independently. As technology evolves, education, retraining, and continuing education will remain essential. Today's office needs workers who are adaptable, versatile and ready to take on the challenges of new and ever-changing technologies.
