Secretaries: Job Description, Education, Skills and Duties, Earnings and Outlook
Submitted by: paula
Job Overview Secretaries are often knows as administrative assistants. The job that they perform varies widely according to the type of business the employer is into. In most setting however, secretaries tasks involve organizing schedules and documents managing information and records as well as answering queries on phone calls, doing appointments and handling correspondence, sorting communication letters and doing travel arrangements. Depending on how big the firm is, the secretary's time spent may be longer or shorter. At present, there are approximately around 4.1 million employed secretaries in different types of offices and industries within the United States.
Education, Knowledge and Trainings Required
There is basically no specific undergraduate course that is required to become a secretary. It is already enogh to possess at least a high school diploma to get in the job. However, courses like English, Business, Computer, Keyboarding, and Communications will be helpful in fulfilling the duties as a secretary. Certifications are optional and therefore not required. CPS, stands for certified profesional secretary or certified professional adminstrative secretary is the title that can be obtained after passing the certification examination being administered or given by the International Association of Administrative Professionals.
Skills and Abilities
Secretaries must have a very good interpersonal and communciation skills. They should be polite to different sets of people as well as firm in making and relaying decision from the bosses. Organization skills are needed as they will be handling tons of documents to sort, and appointments of the executives and clients everyday. Skills in basic computer operation, use of simple software or programs, as well as good skills in typing are needed in when it comes to tasks involving formal communication and those related to documentation.
According to the International Asssociations of Administrative Professionals, the winning skills of most of the secretaries are as follows: online purchasing, desktop publishing, PC troubleshooting, writing, editing notes, negotiation and mediation, project management, event planning and coordination, mass mailing coordination, website maintenance, and lastly, travel planning.
Duties
Regular duties of secretaries are as follows: arranging or sorting mails and delivering them to the recipient office staff, managing files and documents, taking dictations from the bosses, composing or keying business or communication letters, managing appointments and schedules of meetings, and answering office phone calls. Secretaries' work may also include transmitting information as well as processing documents coming from the office staff to outside offices and different organizations. They do simple operations of office machines just like photocopying machines, cutters, computers, fax machines, and switchboard, to name a few, and act as liason officers monitoring the function and arranging for the repair of those whenever needed. They also monitor the office supplies adequacy and arrange for the procurement of those whenever needed.
Earnings and Job Outlook
It is predicted that the employment outlook for secretaries will grow slowly than the average until the year 2014. The salaries have variations depending on the region, state, specialty, as well as the employer. The range of salary for most of the secretaries is from 28,000 to more than 43,000 U.S. dollars on a yearly basis.
Paula Hiz is a researcher and a human resource specialist who helps newly graduates, job applicants and post graduate professionals be aware of their job opportunities and available trainings for skills and practice upgrading.
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Word Count: 543 Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2010 Time: 6:29 AM
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