Office Occupations
IMS's job title of "Office Occupations" prepares a student to successfully work in an office setting. Although there are many different types of office occupations, in this program, we focus on the general skills that would be required for any office occupation. However, for the purposes of this class, "Office Occupations" is divided into three sub-categories for greater focus and mastery of skills: admininstrative assistant, legal administrative assistant, and medical administrative assistant. A description of each is listed below as well as links provided to the task sheets for each.
Administrative Assistant
Administrative Assistants are multi-faceted assistants to teams, managers and executives. They are responsible for assisting their immediate manager or group for a variety of tasks. Tasks include creating reports, spreadsheets and databases. Administrative assistants are also responsible for travel arrangements, monitoring department budgets, office equipment maintenance and research. Administrative assistants with bachelor's degrees will become more in demand as technology continues to evolve. Salaries vary a great deal, however, reflecting differences in skill, experience, and level of responsibility. Certification in this field usually is rewarded by a higher salary.
Medical Administrative Assistant
Medical assistants perform administrative and clinical tasks to keep the offices of physicians, podiatrists, chiropractors, and other health practitioners running smoothly. The duties of medical assistants vary from office to office, depending on the location and size of the practice and the practitioner's specialty. Some specific tasks may include: updating and filing patients' medical records, filling out insurance forms, and arranging for hospital admissions and laboratory services. They also may perform tasks less specific to medical settings, such as answering telephones, greeting patients, handling correspondence, scheduling appointments, and handling billing and bookkeeping. Employment is projected to grow much faster than average, ranking medical assistants among the fastest growing occupations over the 2008–18 decade. Job opportunities should be excellent, particularly for those with formal training or experience, and certification. Certification indicates that a medical assistant meets certain standards of knowledge. It may also help to distinguish an experienced or formally trained assistant from an entry-level assistant, which may lead to a higher salary or more employment opportunities.
Legal Administrative Assistant
Although lawyers assume ultimate responsibility for legal work, they often delegate many of their tasks to their administrative assistants. In fact, legal administrative assistants are continuing to assume new responsibilities in legal offices and perform many of the same tasks as lawyers. Nevertheless, they are explicitly prohibited from carrying out duties considered to be within the scope of practice of law, such as setting legal fees, giving legal advice, and presenting cases in court. One of the most important tasks performed by this job title is helping lawyers prepare for closings, hearings, trials, and corporate meetings. The legal administrative assistant might investigate the facts of cases and ensure that all relevant information is considered. They also identify appropriate laws, judicial decisions, legal articles, and other materials that are relevant to assigned cases. After they analyze and organize the information, legal administrative assistants may prepare written reports that attorneys use in determining how cases should be handled. If attorneys decide to file lawsuits on behalf of clients, legal administrative assistants may help prepare the legal arguments, draft pleadings and motions to be filed with the court, obtain affidavits, and assist attorneys during trials. They also organize and track files of all important case documents and make them available and easily accessible to attorneys; help draft contracts, mortgages, and separation agreements; assist in preparing tax returns; establish trust funds; plan estates; coordinate the activities of other law office employees; and maintain financial office records. Despite projected much faster than average employment growth, competition for jobs is expected to continue as many people seek to go into this profession; experienced, formally trained paralegals should have the best employment opportunities.