You can find technical assistants working in various industries – to name a few, they may work in banking, healthcare or manufacturing. Their role consists of a combination of technical support and administrative assistance. They may work to support an inside team or individual, or work with a business’s clients. They normally work under supervision of a team leader and their daily responsibilities will require interactions with the staff and maybe even customers. Regardless of who you are, with a little bit of work, your future as a technical assistant can be bright and as far as job prospects go, the sky is the limit.
Definition of a Technical Assistant
There are technical assistants in almost every field, including healthcare, education, engineering, science, the arts, computer science and more. The specific duties will vary by industry, but most techs will work in some form of administrative capacity in order to support other professionals that are working in the field.
- Job Skills – Good attention to detail, ability to be able to work alone and with a team, good organization skills, and excellent communication skills.
- Job Outlook – This will vary by field. For example, 18% for all clinical and medical laboratory techs.
- Educational Requirement – High school diploma or equivalent. For those that are looking to gain specific positions, a bachelor’s degree may be required.
- Median Salary – This is also going to vary by field. For example, all clinical and medical laboratory technicians will be around $38,970.
How to Improve Your Job Prospects as a Technical Assistant
If you’re having a hard time landing a job as a technical assistant and need your luck to change, it’s time to stop what you have been doing, dip deep and make some changes – in the end, you may be surprised with the results.
Create a Resume – The resume you create needs to be focused on your future job as a technical assistant. The resume will need to highlight the details that are relevant to a technical assistant. Take time to study the description of the job, and when you apply, address the manager’s needs. Don’t waste the employers time by including information in your application that isn’t going to interest them. When you’re describing your background, use relevant phrases and words.
Clear the Calendar – Keep your calendar clear in case an interview pops up. If you are currently working full-time, and searching for another job, make sure the current employer knows this. If you have some vacation days you have been saving up, you can use those for an interviews that may pop up.
Start Researching – Now is the time to brush up on your technical assistant skills. Get up to date on the current announcements and news. By doing this, during your interview, you will appear as if you re diligent and informed – not to mention the fact that this form of knowledge may make for a great conversation during the interview and that can go a long way as it can give you a nice “one up” over your competition. So go ahead, look at news websites, blogs, and trade magazines because knowledge really is power.
Conclusion
In the end, we recommend sitting down and writing down a list of the top 20-25 companies you would like to work for. After you have created the list, go ahead and email them, even if they don’t seem to be hiring. If your resume is catchy enough, you may be surprised when the company emails you back about the job.