Be a Kickass Assistant: How to Get from a Grunt Job to a Great Career [Paperback]

Heather Beckel (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0446678147 | ISBN-13: 978-0446678148 | Publication Date: May 1, 2002 | Edition: 1st

A practical guide to strutting your stuff from cubicle to corner office. Drawing on her experience as personal and executive assistant to George Stephanopolous during Clinton's campaign and first term, Heather Beckel cuts to the chase on how to dazzle now to get ahead later.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

In addition to serving as George Stephanopoulos' personal and executive assistant, Heather Beckel also spent three years as Director of Corporate Communications for Polo Ralph Lauren.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Business Plus; 1st edition (May 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446678147
• ISBN-13: 978-0446678148
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #320,030 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great if you are a personal assistant - not so great for an administrative assistant, October 24, 2006

By 

C. D. Pause (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Be a Kickass Assistant: How to Get from a Grunt Job to a Great Career (Paperback)

This book is very good if you are going to be working as a personal assistant or for a very high level executive. If you are an Administrative Assistant for anything other than the White House, a Hollywood star, or a top level executive at a Fortune 500 company, this book doesn't really relate to you. I've worked as an Admin Asst for a large public company, a small manufacturing firm and a high school. Almost none of the suggestions applied to me. It was easy reading but really only applied to very high level or personal assistants. Also, the author related how what she learned allowed her to move up the corporate ladder and even go into business for herself. For someone who is looking to work as an Admin Asst for their foreseeable career, this book doesn't give you anymore information than you already know. Not a bad book, but keep in mind who it's geared toward.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grab this opportunity with both hands!, March 31, 2005

By 

C. M. Parker (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Be a Kickass Assistant: How to Get from a Grunt Job to a Great Career (Paperback)

I have been working as an assistant for the last twelve years and I felt that I needed to review the "core essentials" of my profession and pick up any techniques that I might have missed or forgotten along the way.

This is an excellent book for anyone who wishes to take stock of their career and review the essentials of what they actually do for a living. The approach of covering everything from first day, first job and career progression is excellent - no matter how much career history an assistant brings to a new job, until she manages to establish in her boss' mind that the new assistant is compentent, the new assistant might as well be a raw rookie.

For the record, the book contains a fair amount of information that will not be particularly useful for readers outside the USA (time zones, telephone numbers, etc). So, unless your boss does a lot of business travelling to the US, the parent company is US based, or the company has a lot of US based clients - these sections are not particularly useful.

I, too, bought the e-book and I would recommend that if time is on your side, buy this book in hardcopy format as it just cries out for a collection of post-it notes, annotations and needs its spine broken in a photocopier.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for all assistants!, June 30, 2005

By 

Susan "Danielcrew" (United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Be a Kickass Assistant: How to Get from a Grunt Job to a Great Career (Paperback)

I have read lots of books designed to give tips to administrative assistants. They are all so mundane and elementary. Not so with this book!

Heather gives you fun stories to relate to the things she is trying to teach you. Her insights into the details of managing a high-level boss are awesome! She discussed details I had never thought of and opened my mind to new ideas at work.

I highly recommend this book for assistants looking to fine-tune their organizational skills. You will not only learn how to be a great assistant but how to springboard into a new career. Get this book! - Bob's Wife, Susan