When you are an assistant, it can be very tempting to put your employer’s needs entirely over your own. To some extent, this is your job, since your role as a virtual assistant is basically to help keep things running on schedule, pay bills and generally smooth the way for your employer and his or her business. However, if you completely eliminate your professional needs from the equation, a job that starts out as a great opportunity can start to feel like a real dead end.

In order to keep the “spark” in your  job, you need to make sure that you are working toward your goals as well as those of your employer. And you should also make sure that your employer is working toward your goals too. You can accomplish this harmonious relationship by talking to your employer about how you can better help the company and yourself in the process.

Request a meeting with your employer when he or she has some time to talk. You can present it as a performance review if you like, since these types of reviews are often the point at which goals for the future are discussed. With your employer, review what your role in the company is and how that role might grow to expand the productivity of the company as well as yourself. Often, that expansion might require training, extra hours or additional education – all of which your employer may be willing to fund and which will make you more marketable and more valuable to the company.

Before the meeting, decide what you want to accomplish. Do you want more hours? More responsibility? More education? A higher salary? Determine how to best present your needs so that your meeting these goals actually furthers the progress of the company. Then, ask your boss to help you identify the company’s goals and how you can further them. Together, the two of you should be able to identify ways in which you can grow while at the same time supporting the growth of the company that requires your main focus.

I have a friend (we'll call her "Sheila") who recently lost her job. And as much as I love Sheila, I have to say that it was 100 percent her own fault. Now, you may be thinking to yourself "Wow, she probably slacked off at work or called in sick all the time. I don't have to read the rest of this article because I never do that." However, Sheila was the perfect employee. She was always early; she gave 110 percent, and she hardly ever called out sick. So what did she do? She took a stupid picture. And furthermore, she wasn't even the one who took the picture, she just happened to be in the picture in an compromising situation.

So now you are probably totally confused, but I bet you are starting to get an inkling of what happened. That's right: it has something to do with Facebook. She went to a party and she took a really dumb picture which her friend happened to caption "Sheila's boss is a horse's a**." Bad move. Sheila didn't post the picture; her friend did. And then she tagged Sheila. And the photo was not private. Not surprisingly, a few days later it circulated in the office and Sheila lost her job.

So here's the thing: it's not entirely fair. Sheila can have whatever opinion she wants about her boss, and she wasn't partying when she was supposed to be working. And worse, she didn't post the picture! But ultimately, it led to a problem that resulted in the loss of her job. This is a worst-case example of what can happen when social networking goes too far, so make sure that your friends understand what types of things are okay with you to post online and what things should remain "undercover" or, at a minimum, marked "PRIVATE, KEEP OUT!" Otherwise you could end up in the same lousy situation that my friend Sheila did and be out of a job.
 

When you read the title of this blog, you probably thought to yourself, "I should not have to help her appreciate me! I don't even think that office would run without me! And you're probably right; it probably wouldn't. However, appreciation and necessity are seldom the same thing, and you can be entirely integral to office operations without necessarily being appreciated.

Another common response to the idea that you should be helping your employer appreciate you is that if you have to point out what you should be appreciated for, then you don't want the appreciation. While this is a natural and often instinctive response, think carefully. Do you really not care if you are appreciated for your hard work? Would it really not make any difference in your mindset or your enthusiasm if you got the occasional "thanks, great job!" from your employer? If it would not, then by all means, stop reading right now. Most people, however, will find that they benefit from a greater degree of appreciation regardless of its origination.

When you are trying to "help" your boss appreciate you, the best thing to do is make sure that they are aware of the things that you are doing. For example, it may not really have occurred to your employer that it is you who are responsible for keeping their calendar organized, keeping the coffee pot full or coordinating their 8,000 meetings. While you should not start nagging or reminding them directly about how hard you are working, it can be a very useful tool to start recording your efforts. This serves two purposes: the record is practically useful when it comes to annual evaluations, but it also helps make your contributions clearer. I worked for an employer once who saw my lists that I was keeping and actually asked that he receive an email containing such a summary at the beginning of each day. It helped him know what was going on in his own schedule and, at the same time, let him know where my attention was focused!

While appreciation may not rain down on you like a storm the second you start subtly taking measures to increase your employer's awareness of your hard work, you will soon find that your efforts will pay off. Remember to be patient and that ultimately, your own appreciation and pride in a job well done is its own reward!
 

As an assistant, one of your jobs is likely to be screening calls for your manager. This will entail not only determining who gets through, but also courteously deflecting callers who will not be speaking to your manager at the time of their call. You will need to be able to take clear messages that enable your employer to understand exactly what the caller wanted later when you give them the information.

1.    Make a list of "Every Time" Callers
There are some people that will always need to be let through. You need a firm list from your manager that gives you the full names and titles of people who should always be put through. Generally these people will be family members and school officials if there are school-age children in the family.

2.    Establish a firm line for callers who will be screened
You need a clear, polite, firm way to tell people who will not be getting through that they need to leave a message. One of the best options is to tell them that your manager is in a meeting or out on a job, but that they will return the call later. Then you can simply take the message.

3.    Set a time for when callers can expect a return call
Work with your manager to determine what type of timeline you can give callers who are screened. For example, will they receive a call back within the business day? 24 hours? A week? Many callers will become belligerent if you cannot give them an idea of when they will receive a call back, and you will get more return and repeat calls if you cannot tell them roughly when to expect a call back.

Screening calls is not difficult, but you do have to be firm with callers. Having an established set of rules for yourself will help you do your job effectively.   Does anyone have other suggestions to add?
 

When it comes to the business calendars, I keep them all online. You do not really have a choice anymore, since fewer and fewer people actually carry their own personal calendars with them. While I have been an administrative assistant long enough to remember the days of a paper calendar fondly (and wish that my current employer would keep one in his back pocket instead of just calling me to pull it up online!) I have bowed to the inevitable and now keep all of our business calendars online.

However, I admit, I have a "dirty" little secret. It is one of those 18-month calendars that you get from the office supply store with 3 days on each page. It's about an inch thick, and I love it. Honestly, I don't think that I could keep track of everything without it. The virtual calendars are great, but my master calendar is still on paper, and I've found that everything runs smoother when I can just thumb through and find any information I need right away.

I still transfer all of the info to the online calendars, but this is my completely private master calendar. It lets me see how every little thing I know about the workday and my own personal life will work together to keep me productive (or not), and it also lets me put in notes about things to check on that I don't actually want on the official calendar.

For example, a few weeks ago the boss was having a serious tiff with his former wife. Of course, this was none of my business. However, it will impact his work schedule since they share custody of their kids and were squabbling over when he would see them for the holidays. I know he takes days with the kids off entirely, so I marked down on the calendar to check in with him in about two weeks to find out when he will be off. Given the stressful nature of their relationship, I know from experience he'll forget to tell me ahead of time - if he even knows until the last minute. That's the sort of thing a good assistant keeps up with, but never lets you know she's paying attention to.

My paper calendar is like my "little black book." It's got all my trade secrets and contact information that I want to keep quiet inside.  I'll never put it online, and, except for here, I'll never tell...