My last job I had in which I found through looking through job descriptions was at the OSU College of Business as an Event Assistant. I already knew friends in this position which allowed me to fact check a lot of the job duties in the description if I had questions about them. The biggest thing I notice now about the description (see end of blog post for job description) was that they included a lot of tasks that the person in the position rarely did. For example, I did not need many of the basic office skills and programs because I was working just during events, not during the preparation days where materials were being created and marketing materials were being sent out.
I learned that the reason for this disconnect was that the job description did not encapsulate the new vision for the position which was solely events based and not as secretarial. Because they had no clue what this updated job would look like, they kept aspects of the old job description just in case those skills were needed. This threw me off, but I was able to use my friends already in the position as guidance.
By constantly updating job descriptions, applicants have a clearer view of what the position will entail. Since the College of Business is always iterating their engagement programs and events, it is hard to always be up to date with this job information. I wished there would have been someone who was strictly assigned to the task of updating the events related job descriptions in the College of Business so that I did not have to go through so much confusion in the initial application process.
Job Description:
“Assistants to the event manager will support the efforts of the Career Success Center and the College of Business through administrative and event-related activities.
- Support student professional development through events and programming of This Week in Business.
- Prepare necessary documents for career workshops and events.
- Organize and maintain office records, and perform general clerical duties including scheduling appointments, responding to phone, email and in-person queries.
- Update internal databases including Salesforce.
- Organize and facilitate professional development events.
- Partner with all staff in coordinating, marketing, and participating in events including career fairs, networking events, employer information sessions and classes, and more.
- Data entry.
- Partner with Student Engagement staff in coordination and marketing of events, including those within the College of Business Living-Learning Community.
Basic office skills (answering telephone, scheduling appointments, filing, etc.).
- Computer experience with Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point and Outlook.
- Highly responsible, self-starter, able to work with little supervision.
- Strong organizational and communication skills including attention to detail and time management skills.
- Able to maintain confidentiality.
- Ability to represent the Career Success Center with maturity and professionalism.
- Applicants should be able to be available each term.
- Ability to work collaboratively as a member of a team.
- Dependable and reliable with a positive attitude.
- Have a flexible schedule, outside of class hours.”