Secretaries work for all sorts of organisations, and job descriptions vary greatly, but generally, secretaries support one or more people, giving them time to concentrate on management, their professional duties or other tasks. The work is usually office-based and includes dealing with the post, drafting letters, filing, making and receiving telephone calls, taking minutes of meetings, word-processing and other computer-related activity. The role of professional secretary has gone through major changes because of the impact of technology. More executives perform their own tasks and the need for secretaries has diminished. Secretaries now take on more demanding challenges and are more responsible than in the past. The job market favours secretaries who are bilingual or trilingual, both in employment practices and in higher wages.


Top Tips for a Career in a Secretarial / Administrational Role
1. Start as a receptionist, whose basic job functions are to handle a multi-line phone, help out other staff members on miscellaneous projects, greet guests and order supplies. Depending on the particular job, they will probably require some data entry or typing skills, and may require some knowledge of word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software.

2. Move to the entry-level secretary, a job that requires basic secretarial skills. This position usually requires a limited but useful knowledge of commonly used software. The entry-level secretary will probably support another secretary, administrative assistant or office manager, rather than directly support an executive. If it is a small business, the entry-level secretary will have to be multi-functional and capable of handling many tasks at one time. There are no absolute educational requirements laid down for training as a secretary, although most employers would expect a high level of ability in English and accurate number skills. Entry to secretarial courses often requires a minimum of some GCSE grade subjects, while others look for "A" levels or equivalent.

3. Graduate to the administrative assistant position. This will require above-average typing or keyboarding skills, a strong working knowledge of English, good communication skills and the ability to take instruction. Administrative assistants will be dealing with the public and taking on more responsibilities that directly assist management staff. Administrative assistants must be comfortable with decision-making.

4. Advance to a senior secretary or office management position. Those who learn about the operations side of the business may move to office management. Those with exceptional word processing or data processing skills may move into training.

5. Assert yourself by receiving specialized training to be a legal secretary, paralegal or medical secretary.

Tips & Warnings
(i) Stay current by learning upgrades to software that your company uses regularly.

(ii) Join an organization for professional secretaries like the Institute of Qualified Private Secretaries.

(iii) Pay scales vary widely, Depending on the size of the organisation and the seniority of your position. In general, salaries range from about �15,000 to �22,000 but top jobs in prestigious companies in London can pay over �30,000. Salaries of secretaries vary widely in different parts of the country.

How to Become an Executive Secretary
In order to become an executive secretary, you must either have education in the field or experience and training as a secretary. This position offers a higher salary and typically handles more complicated duties than the standard clerical tasks of a secretary. Working in this field can be accomplished in several different ways.

1. Determine an area you'd like to work. Options include medical, legal or business fields.

2. Start with secretarial training programs offered in local colleges. Most secretarial courses take one or two years full-time or may be studied on a modular scheme whilst working. You would normally aim to develop keyboard and word processing skills, combined with knowledge of secretarial software packages. Audio typing and shorthand may also be offered. If you wish to become an executive secretary or PA, you should follow as high a level of general education as possible, paying particular attention to English language, grammar, punctuation and sentence construction It is possible to take a degree in secretarial studies or secretarial administration and some universities and colleges offer postgraduate secretarial training. Almost all colleges of further education, and many specialist schools in the private sector, offer a range of secretarial qualifications, including the:

Pitman advanced diploma in administration and secretarial procedures.

Oxford, Cambridge and the Royal Society for Arts (OCR) diploma and higher diploma in administration and secretarial procedures.

London Chamber of Commerce and Industry Examination Board (LCCIEB) executive secretary's diploma and private secretary's diploma.

4. Work on specific skills required for the position by taking courses or working in a job to master a particular talent. Skills include business maths, file and records maintenance and skills related to team building, time management and supervision. Software proficiency related to e-mail, spreadsheets and word processing is also crucial.

5. Become experienced in administrative tasks at the executive level. These tasks include travel arrangements, meeting scheduling, complex reports or presentations, research and supervising other clerical employees.

Alternative Suggestions
You may be interested in focusing on a particular type of work by training as a farm, legal or medical secretary. With suitable language skills, you could become a secretary linguist. Other ideas might include civil servant, human resources manager, local government administrator or hospitality manager. You could also teach secretarial skills as a college lecturer.

Further Sources of Information
Council for Administration: www.cfa.uk.com
Institute of Qualified Private Secretaries: www.iqps.org
London Chamber of Commerce and Industry Examination Board: www.lccieb.com
Pitman Qualifications: www.city-and-guilds.co.uk
OCR: www.ocr.org.uk


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