The CAOT curriculum offers students the opportunity to earn a wide variety of certificates and an Associate in Arts degree. It is a fact that if you continue to earn more certificates and broaden your skills, you can expect to receive the highest starting pay. Here is a quote from Thomas Staffing, a leading staffing services company in Southern California: 

Our graduates are in demand!!

Please visit http://www.bls.gov/opub/working/home.htm to see a fascinating slide show entitled Working in the 21^st Century.  It is a portrait of the U.S. workforce at the beginning of the New Millennium. It includes a set of charts and related information about subjects ranging from education levels to retirement plans.  

Continue in the slide show to http://www.bls.gov/opub/working/page8a.htm and see "Workers with computer skills are in demand." Statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics document the job market for students trained in computer skills with projections to the year 2008. "Of the 10 fastest growing occupations, the top 5 are computer-related. Three of the top 10 are health-related: personal care and home health aides, medical assistants, and physician assistants." Computer support specialists is projected to have a 102% growth rate.

Continue through the slide show to http://www.bls.gov/opub/working/page9b.htm. "These 10 occupations are projected to add a total of about 5 million jobs during the 1998-2008 period, nearly one-fourth of the projected job growth over the decade. Occupations with the most job growth tend to have a large number of workers already. Six of the 10 occupations—retail salespersons, cashiers, general managers and top executives, truck drivers, general office clerks, and registered nurses—each employed at least 2 million workers in 1998." The 10 projected occupations include Office clerks, General at a projected growth rate of 463,000 and Computer support specialists at 439,000. Proceed to http://www.bls.gov/opub/working/page14b.htm where you will see statistics about jobs in the temporary help industry." The number of jobs in the temporary help industry grew sharply for much of the 1980s and 1990s." "Workers employed by temporary help firms work in a range of occupations, including computer systems analysts, engineers, clerical workers, janitors, and construction laborers."

Visit the home page for the Bureau of Labor and Statistics is http://www.bls.gov/opub/home.htm and browse around. Go to http://www.bls.gov/oco/home.htm for the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2002-03 Edition.

Do a search for Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, and you will see this: "Secretaries and administrative assistants are responsible for a variety of administrative and clerical duties necessary to run an organization efficiently. They serve as an information manager for an office, schedule meetings and appointments, organize and maintain paper and electronic files, manage projects, conduct research, and provide information via the telephone, postal mail, and e-mail. They also may prepare correspondence and handle travel arrangements. . . Secretaries and administrative assistants are aided in these tasks by a variety of office equipment, such as facsimile machines, photocopiers, and telephone systems. In addition, secretaries and administrative assistants increasingly use personal computers to create spreadsheets, compose correspondence, manage databases, and create reports and documents via desktop publishing, and using digital graphics—all tasks previously handled by managers and other professionals. At the same time, these other office workers have assumed many tasks traditionally assigned to secretaries and administrative assistants, such as word processing and answering the telephone . . . Some secretaries and administrative assistants, such as legal and medical secretaries, perform highly specialized work requiring knowledge of technical terminology and procedures. For instance, legal secretaries prepare correspondence and legal papers such as summonses, complaints, motions, responses, and subpoenas under the supervision of an attorney or paralegal. They also may review legal journals and assist in other ways with legal research, such as verifying quotes and citations in legal briefs. Medical secretaries transcribe dictation, prepare correspondence, and assist physicians or medical scientists with reports, speeches, articles, and conference proceedings. They also record simple medical histories, arrange for patients to be hospitalized, and order supplies. Most medical secretaries need to be familiar with insurance rules, billing practices, and hospital or laboratory procedures. Other technical secretaries who assist engineers or scientists may prepare correspondence, maintain the technical library, and gather and edit materials for scientific papers.

Employment: Secretaries and administrative assistants held about 3.9 million jobs in 2000, ranking among the largest occupations in the U.S. economy. The following tabulation shows the distribution of employment by secretarial specialty.

Training: "High school graduates who have basic office skills may qualify for entry-level secretarial positions. However, employers increasingly require extensive knowledge of software applications, such as word processing, spreadsheets, and database management. Secretaries and administrative assistants should be proficient in keyboarding and good at spelling, punctuation, grammar, and oral communication. Because secretaries and administrative assistants must be tactful in their dealings with people, employers also look for good interpersonal skills. Discretion, good judgment, organizational or management ability, initiative, and the ability to work independently are especially important for higher-level administrative positions.

"Secretaries and administrative assistants acquire skills in various ways. Training ranges from high school vocational education programs that teach office skills and keyboarding to 1- and 2-year programs in office administration offered by business schools, vocational-technical institutes, and community colleges."

Do a search for Office Clerks, General, and you will see this:

Training: "Employers usually require a high school diploma, and some require typing, basic computer skills, and other general office skills. Familiarity with computer word-processing software and applications is becoming increasingly important. Training for this occupation is available through business education programs offered in high schools, community and junior colleges, and postsecondary vocational schools. Courses in word processing, other computer applications, and office practices are particularly helpful."