New app inspires PAs to be more career confident

In support of the International Year of the Secretary and Administrative Assistant, (IYOTSA) Pitman Training has developed a new free app intended to help encourage confidence in the workplace and challenge negative perceptions in a bid to help support professionals become more proud of their career.

Recent research carried out by job listing site Monster highlights that there is a disconnect between what UK bosses believe their employees are doing and what staff perceive. This revelation could not be more prevalent for professionals working in the secretarial and administrative sector, as many of those operating in this field remain typecast thanks to outdated preconceptions of the job role and tasks carried out by admin assistants in years past. As a result many are left feeling underrated, as they fail to be acknowledged for the actual duties they carry out on a daily basis.

The aim of the social media campaign is to encourage assistants and other professionals to set the record straight and positively reinforce what it is they actually do by confirming their job title and producing an elevator-pitch-style role description to clarify and expand further via a “Career Selfie”.

Claire Lister, Managing Director at Pitman Training says: “The Career Selfie app provides an online platform for assistants and other professionals to state proudly what their job title is and the responsibilities and tasks that go with it.

“This will ultimately help change the stereotypes that shoehorn workers into unrealistic job perceptions,” she continues. “The aim is to enable us all to become more aware and appreciative of what certain jobs and professions entail.”

Once you complete your Career Selfie, it will be uploaded on to a virtual wall so that others can see and acknowledge what it is you actually do.

For more information, visit mycareerselfie.com.