[wolverine876]

> That's THE entry level office job.

It's more of a dead-end job, in offices that still use administrative assistants (many fewer), and it was women back when they couldn't get better jobs. The entry level job for being a CEO, attorney, software developer, etc. isn't administrative assistant!

[Mikeb85]

My mother became an accountant by being a secretary (administrative assistant) first. Her path went from secretary -> doing data entry -> employer paying for her to take accounting classes at night -> becoming a certified accountant. I know many other similar stories.

> The entry level job for being a CEO

Very few people are CEOs, it's not relevant when talking about jobs that uneducated people can do with potential upwards mobility

> attorney

A female assistant going from secretary -> paralegal -> attorney is definitely a thing.

> software developer

Is a rather specialised job in the grand scheme of things.

The point is, there IS NO entry level white collar work available to uneducated males. And all white collar work offers potential socioeconomic mobility.

[Raidion]

It's not really. I've seen multiple admin assistants go to something in the HR Associate level. Once you're at the HR associate level, you have the whole HR/Talent org career ladder available to you.

It's not always the case, but if someone is organized, professional, and helpful, there are a lot of roles that will fit them and smart organizations move them around internally and hire a new assistant.