Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services

Business Operations Support and Assistant Services

Prepares you to perform the duties of administrative assistants and/or secretaries and stenographers. Covers business communications, principles of business law, word processing and data entry, office machines operation and maintenance, office procedures, public relations, secretarial accounting, filing systems and records management, and report preparation.

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Inside the major

Programs within this field

Colleges may offer this field under 9 more specific program names. The program you choose affects the courses you take.

Administrative Assistant and Secretarial Science, General: Prepares you to perform the duties of administrative assistants and/or secretaries and stenographers. Covers business communications, principles of business law, word processing and data entry, office machines operation and maintenance, office procedures, public relations, secretarial accounting, filing systems and records management, and report preparation.
Executive Assistant/Executive Secretary: Prepares you to perform the duties of special assistants and/or personal secretaries for business executives and top management. Covers business communications, principles of business law, public relations, scheduling and travel management, secretarial accounting, filing systems and records management, conference and meeting recording, report preparation, office equipment and procedures, office supervisory skills, and professional standards and legal requirements.
Receptionist: Prepares you to perform frontline public relations duties for a business, organization, or answering service. Covers telephone answering techniques, responding to information requests, keeping caller and/or visitor records, placing business calls, operating telephone switchboards and/or other communications equipment, relaying incoming and interoffice calls, schedule maintenance, and public relations skills.
Business/Office Automation/Technology/Data Entry: Prepares you to support business information operations by using computer equipment to enter, process, and retrieve data for a wide variety of administrative purposes. Covers using basic business software and hardware, business computer networking, principles of desktop publishing, preparing mass mailings, compiling and editing spreadsheets, list maintenance, preparing tables and graphs, receipt control, and preparing business performance reports.
General Office Occupations and Clerical Services: Prepares you to provide basic administrative support under the supervision of office managers, administrative assistants, secretaries, and other office personnel. Covers typing, keyboarding, filing, general business correspondence, office equipment operation, and communications skills.
Parts, Warehousing, and Inventory Management Operations: Prepares you to provide administrative, technical, and managerial support in the operation of warehouses, control of inventory, parts identification, and the performance of counter services for customers. Covers record-keeping, equipment operation, database entry, supply logistics, shop operations and math, and customer and supplier relations.
Traffic, Customs, and Transportation Clerk/Technician: Prepares you to perform duties associated with managing revenue-based customs, traffic, or transportation services, such as control of domestic and international traffic, toll roads and waterways, and to assist in the dispatch and control of fleet-based traffic for businesses and public services. Covers record-keeping; preparation of customs and transportation documentation; operation of communications equipment; basic transportation operations management; tariffs, rates and fares; revenue collection and change-making; and interpretation of customs or transportation regulations and related legislation, policies, and procedures.
Customer Service Support/Call Center/Teleservice Operation: Prepares you to assist customers with inquiries and problems in frontline call centers, help desks, teleservice centers, and online. Covers user interfaces and user behavior, principles of hardware and software systems operation, customer interaction skills, telephone and e-mailing skills, data entry, and database and Internet searching and retrieval.
Business Operations Support and Secretarial Services, Other: Administrative and secretarial services not listed above.

Where it can lead

Careers this field can lead to

Explore related careers, starting with the closest connections and the occupations hiring the most people.

Shrinking

Customer Service Representatives

Median pay: $44,770
Hiring change through 2035: −5.3%
Job openings a year: 289,500

To get hiredHigh school diploma or equivalent

Explore this career Shrinking

Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive

Median pay: $47,540
Hiring change through 2035: −6.0%
Job openings a year: 163,900

To get hiredHigh school diploma or equivalent

Explore this career Growing slowly

First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers

Median pay: $69,500
Hiring change through 2035: 0.1%
Job openings a year: 127,400

To get hiredHigh school diploma or equivalent

Explore this career Shrinking

Office Clerks, General

Median pay: $45,010
Hiring change through 2035: −6.0%
Job openings a year: 249,000

To get hiredHigh school diploma or equivalent

Explore this career Shrinking

Receptionists and Information Clerks

Median pay: $38,010
Hiring change through 2035: −1.7%
Job openings a year: 105,100

To get hiredHigh school diploma or equivalent

Explore this career Growing with the economy

Business Operations Specialists, All Other

Median pay: $83,050
Hiring change through 2035: 3.9%
Job openings a year: 98,700

To get hiredBachelor's degree

Explore this career Holding steady

Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants

Median pay: $76,590
Hiring change through 2035: 0.0%
Job openings a year: 43,300

To get hiredHigh school diploma or equivalent

Explore this career Shrinking

Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks

Median pay: $59,650
Hiring change through 2035: −1.3%
Job openings a year: 32,600

To get hiredHigh school diploma or equivalent

Explore this career Shrinking

Order Clerks

Median pay: $46,170
Hiring change through 2035: −17.5%
Job openings a year: 6,300

To get hiredSome college, no degree

Explore this career Growing

Cargo and Freight Agents

Median pay: $52,260
Hiring change through 2035: 6.2%
Job openings a year: 9,000

To get hiredHigh school diploma or equivalent

Explore this career Shrinking

Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks

Median pay: $49,230
Hiring change through 2035: −1.9%
Job openings a year: 17,500

To get hiredHigh school diploma or equivalent

Explore this career Shrinking

Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping

Median pay: $50,610
Hiring change through 2035: −6.2%
Job openings a year: 7,900

To get hiredAssociate's degree

Explore this career

All work is projected to grow 3.5% between 2025 and 2035; read every hiring-change figure against it.

Working style

How and where the work happens

Related careers can feel very different from one another. Compare the specific occupations to understand the work each one involves.

0%of related openings involve substantial in-person or active work

Few of the careers connected to this field are measured as substantially in-person or active work. Compare the specific occupations to see how much time each one involves with people, equipment, and movement.

College options

How admission works

See which colleges admit first-year students to this field and which ask for a later application. Colleges are ordered by degrees awarded; sort by any numbered column.

College	Degrees a year	Admit rate	Program admission	Average annual cost after aid
Valdosta State University GA	22	83%	Open major Valdosta's undergraduate business programs use the university application and state no separate competitive program admission requirement.	$12,000
The University of Tampa FL	16	41%	Apply after enrollment Students first meet UT undergraduate admission and declare a Sykes major, then complete business foundations and the required GPA for progression to upper-level business courses; no numeric cutoff is stated.	$32,000
Northwest Missouri State University MO	2	86%	Apply after enrollment Current Northwest students apply to Booth after meeting its bar. One route requires 45-80 credits, a 2.50 GPA, and C or better in specified prerequisite courses.	$14,000

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