How To Become A Corporate Assistant: What It Is and Career Path

What is a corporate assistant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Anne McConnell Ph.D.

Not everybody in a corporation can be a high-powered C-suite executive making billion-dollar acquisitions and attending meetings with titans of industry. Without someone to manage schedules or answer the phone, the basic operations of the company would never get done. That someone is usually the corporate assistant.

The corporate assistant is sometimes called an executive or administrative assistant. They are often the first point of contact for potential clients who contact the company via email or phone, so the corporate assistant uses their excellent interpersonal skills to act as the face of the company. Corporate assistants also take care of essential organizational tasks like managing the payroll and performing data entry.

To become a corporate assistant, sometimes a person will need a bachelor's degree. For other positions, a high school or associate's degree with experience in data entry and customer service is enough. Without the assistance of the corporate assistant, the day-to-day operations of many companies would grind to a halt.

What general advice would you give to a corporate assistant?

Anne McConnell Ph.D.

Professor, West Virginia State University

I would say it's important to be very attentive to the way you communicate with your employers, managers, and co-workers. Even sending an e-mail can be an opportunity to demonstrate your professionalism and communication skills. Some people think that no one knows how to write anymore, or how to communicate in a professional way. I don't think that's true. But we don't always think about how our writing can be a tool to communicate our competence and seriousness. If you know how to write and communicate professionally-which college grads do-then make sure to demonstrate that in the workplace.

ScoreCorporate AssistantUS Average

Salary

3.1

Avg. Salary $39,658

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.0

Growth rate -8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.73%

Asian 3.83%

Black or African American 9.26%

Hispanic or Latino 16.22%

Unknown 3.87%

White 66.09%

Gender

female 75.48%

male 24.52%

Age - 52

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 52

Stress level

6.0

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.4

Complexity level is basic

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a corporate assistant

Explore corporate assistant education requirements

Most common corporate assistant degrees

Bachelor's

63.7 %

Associate

16.4 %

High School Diploma

6.9 %

Start to develop specific corporate assistant skills

Skills	Percentages
Data Entry	18.31%
Payroll	9.96%
Office Equipment	6.80%
Travel Arrangements	6.39%
Financial Reports	5.38%

Complete relevant corporate assistant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New corporate assistants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a corporate assistant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real corporate assistant resumes.

Research corporate assistant duties and responsibilities

Assist in drafting and revision of reports & presentations that include formatting documents, managing data and preparing PowerPoint presentations.
Manage and develop the daily clinical schedule for the in-patient rehabilitation staff taking into consideration Medicare guidelines and staffing ratios.
Obtain boardroom and corporate presentation experience, creating and presenting PowerPoint sales pitches to connect strategic partnerships.
Prepare discharges, enter all updates into OASAS system and review patient information to verify patients eligibility to receive transportation reimbursement.

Prepare your corporate assistant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your corporate assistant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a corporate assistant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable corporate assistant resume templates

Build a professional corporate assistant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your corporate assistant resume.