SOMBA K’E/YELLOWKNIFE
As an administrative assistant who is passionate about her job, Michelle MacDonald is keen to dispel the myths about her chosen career path.

Administrative assistant, Michelle MacDonald, answers the phone at Office Compliments where she has worked for the past two years. MacDonald said she loves her job because it gives her the opportunity to interact with so many people. - Cody Punter/NNSL photo

“You have to do a lot of stuff," she said. "You don't just sit at your desk and answer phones.”

Indeed, MacDonald is adamant that administrative assistants provide the core for any successful company.

“If you don't have a good team to support you, things are going to fall apart,” she said.

MacDonald, who describes herself as a “people person,” said she loves what she does because she loves to help others.

“It's more than just a paycheck.”

She said she was first drawn to the world of administration when she was in high school more than a decade ago. For some reason, she seemed to always to gravitate toward extra-curricular groups that needed someone to help with administrative work. When she finished high school she decided to pursue studies in the field.

“Ten years later, I'm still in the field so, obviously, it's the right career for me,” she said.

Since moving to Yellowknife two years ago, MacDonald has been working for local business, Office Compliments, where she now has taken on a more executive role. Most recently she became responsible for running a three-day administrative assistants course, which Office Compliments launched in March.

MacDonald said teaching the courses, which have all been full and now have waiting lists, has been extremely rewarding.

“There's just something about the thrill of helping people,” she said. “That satisfaction makes you want to do it again.”

But MacDonald hasn't always loved being in her line of work. Over they years she has had to work various temporary jobs just to help pay the bills.

“You end up doing jobs that no one else wants to do, like making coffee or filing for eight hours a day,” she said.

Although MacDonald is relieved she doesn't have to do that anymore, she said each job she has had has been a valuable experience.

“You have to go through the trenches before you can find what you're passionate about,” she said.

Now that she is settled in Yellowknife, MacDonald's has applied her passion for helping others to the community. She currently volunteers for four groups in Yellowknife, including the Long John Jamboree, Habitat for Humanity, the Elk's Club and Aurora Chorealis. In two of those cases, MacDonald has been instrumental in helping the organizations improve their marketing and communications.

“All those things keep coming back to the core of my skills,” she said.

It is exactly that kind of versatility and diversity that the job affords her which makes MacDonald love what she does.