You run the place. The paycheck disagrees.

Career change for administrative professionals

By Jon Miksis, founder of Make the Leap · Data updated July 2026

Administrative professionals are the only segment in our data whose number one pain is not burnout - it is being underpaid. Half name it outright. You are the person who actually knows how everything works, holds the calendar, the vendors, the institutional memory - and the org chart prices that as overhead.

Admins also report among the highest AI concern in our data, and unlike some professions the concern is rational: scheduling, inbox triage, and document handling are automating fast. The move is not to out-type the software. It is to convert what you already do - operations, judgment, coordination under pressure - into roles and businesses that price it properly.

What our data shows about administrative professionals

1,316
administrative professionals in our assessment data
59%
are 15+ years into their careers
52%
name feeling underpaid as a current pain
11%
say AI threatens their current work

The most common pains this group names: feeling underpaid (52%), not using their strengths (39%), no room to grow (39%), burnout (37%), a lack of meaning (37%).

Career paths for administrative professionals: where the data points

Path themes come from admins' own answers - including the operators quietly running entire departments under an assistant title.

Starting an independent business36%
Program and operations roles32%
Other specialist paths29%
Mission-driven and nonprofit work25%
Consulting or fractional work21%
Writing and content work20%

The strongest path theme for admins in our data is independent business: virtual assistant practices at real rates, professional organizing, bookkeeping, event and travel operations. Ops coordination and client-success roles follow. The skills transfer; the pricing model is what changes.

What administrative professionals in our data earn today

Current household income bands this group reports - useful for calibrating what a transition has to protect:

Under $40k
24%
$40-60k
36%
$60-90k
26%
$90-120k
9%
$120-175k
4%
$175-250k
1%

Start this week

Three income-safe first moves. None require quitting, announcing, or being ready:

  1. 1

    Write the shadow org chart resume: budgets you actually touch, vendors you manage, systems you own, decisions routed through you. Title it operations, because it is.

  2. 2

    Reprice yourself: look up operations coordinator and senior EA ranges in your metro. Underpaid is a fact you verify, then act on.

  3. 3

    Automate one of your own recurring tasks with an AI tool this month. Being the person who automated the work is the strongest possible answer to the AI question.

Honest answers

What jobs can admins move into that pay better?

Our data's strongest themes: operations coordination and management, client success, executive support at premium tiers, and independent practices (VA businesses, organizing, bookkeeping, events) where experienced admins commonly charge two to three times their hourly equivalent.

Will AI replace administrative jobs?

It is already absorbing the routine layer. Admins in our data are right to take it seriously. What defends: judgment work (prioritization, stakeholder handling, vendor negotiation) and owning outcomes rather than tasks. Titles that say 'operations' age better than titles that say 'assistant.'

How do I prove I can do more than admin work?

You almost certainly already have - undocumented. The projects you rescued, the systems you built, the budget you actually manage. Our assessment turns your own answers into that inventory, which becomes the resume and the pitch.

Can I really start a business from admin experience?

It is the most common independent path in our admin data. The market pays real rates for reliable operations help; the hard part is pricing like a business instead of an employee. Start with one client at proper rates before leaving anything.

How do I move from executive assistant to chief of staff?

The path is real and increasingly formalized. Start doing chief-of-staff work inside the EA title: own a meeting cadence end to end, run one cross-team project, write the decision memos. Then make the invisible visible - the title follows the evidence, sometimes at your current company, often at the next one.

How do I move from admin into HR?

Most admins already touch HR's edges: onboarding, records, scheduling interviews. Volunteer for those slices deliberately, then apply to HR coordinator roles where your operations discipline is the differentiator. A certificate can help, but it usually follows the first HR role rather than unlocking it.

What is the career path after executive assistant?

The strongest ladders in practice: senior or C-suite EA at premium rates, chief of staff, operations manager, project coordinator, and independent practices serving executives. Which one fits depends on whether you are optimizing for ownership, money, or freedom - which is exactly what our assessment measures.

See what the data says about you.

The free assessment reads your actual answers - your strengths, constraints, and the pattern keeping you stuck - and gives you personalized paths in about 10 minutes.

Take the free Career Leap

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Numbers on this page were computed on 2026-07-08 from 15,903 completed Make the Leap career assessments. Percentages use the respondents who answered each question; path themes are counted once per person from their personalized assessment paths. Full dataset and methodology: our research hub.