Jennifer Livingston Main

Cal Poly - B.A. English, 2003; French minor

Other degrees/certificates:

M.A. English, 2006; technical communications emphasis

Current city/state:

San Luis Obispo, CA

Employer:

Lindamood-Bell

Professional Website:

www.lindamoodbell.com

Job Title:

Executive Assistant to the CEO

How Long in Current Position:

4 years

Brief description of position duties/responsibilities:

Assist the CEO in running the company. Includes day to day duties such as scheduling as well as bigger projects such as enforcing the company's intellectual property rights with outside agencies.

What specific qualities/abilities, skills are necessary for this position:

The ability to work with people at all levels of the company as well as clients, the ability to communicate clearly and efficiently, as well as the ability to adapt quickly to a wide variety of new tasks and responsibilities are necessary for my position. You also have to be extremely organized.

While at Cal Poly, what resources did you take advantage of that have helped you in your current position:

Technical communications classes, working at the library/computer lab and the writing lab, and participating in study abroad.

What advice would you give to someone interested in your profession?

Working for a CEO is a good way to learn a lot about business straight from the decision makers. It allows you to learn about many different jobs, but you have to be willing to be flexible and you have to be able to handle being under a lot of pressure because you are working with the top executives of the company every day and you are often the face of the CEO, communicating his/her decisions and making sure they are carried out.

Is there anything you'd like to personally add about how you found your way to your current career since graduating from Cal Poly as an English major?  Any memorable epiphanies that marked major turning points on which path you chose?

I started working for the company as a summer job in grad school and worked my way up from a clerk.  I didn't set out to be an executive assistant and, like most people, I am still trying to figure out what I want to do in the long run.

Contact:

jlivmain@gmail.com