Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

Summary

Secretaries and administrative assistants support an office by performing clerical functions.

Quick Facts: Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
2010 Median Pay	$34,660 per year $16.66 per hour
Entry-Level Education	High school diploma or equivalent
Work Experience in a Related Occupation	See How to Become One
On-the-job Training	See How to Become One
Number of Jobs, 2010	4,010,200
Job Outlook, 2010-20	12% (About as fast as average)
Employment Change, 2010-20	492,900

What Secretaries and Administrative Assistants Do

Secretaries and administrative assistants perform routine clerical and organizational tasks. They organize files, draft messages, schedule appointments, and support other staff.

Work Environment

Although secretaries and administrative assistants work in nearly every industry, many are concentrated in schools, hospitals, government agencies, and legal and medical offices. Most work in comfortable office settings. Virtual assistants typically work from a home office.

How to Become a Secretary or Administrative Assistant

High school graduates with basic office and computer skills usually qualify for entry-level secretarial and administrative assistant positions.

Pay

The median annual wage for secretaries and administrative assistants was $34,660 in May 2010.

Job Outlook

Overall employment of secretaries and administrative assistants is expected to grow 12 percent from 2010 to 2020, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Among specialties, medical secretaries is the only occupation that is expected to have much-faster-than-average employment growth. This is driven by the rapid growth of the healthcare industry. Overall, the majority of job openings will result from the need to replace workers who leave these occupations.

Similar Occupations

Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of secretaries and administrative assistants with similar occupations.

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Contacts for More Information

Learn more about secretaries and administrative assistants by contacting these additional resources.

What Secretaries and Administrative Assistants Do

Secretaries and administrative assistants create and maintain filing systems.

Secretaries and administrative assistants perform routine clerical and organizational tasks. They organize files, draft messages, schedule appointments, and support other staff.

Duties

Secretaries and administrative assistants typically do the following:

• Maintain paper and electronic filing systems for records and messages
• Route and distribute incoming mail and email
• Answer routine letters and email
• Reply and attach files to incoming messages
• Correct spelling and grammar to ensure accuracy
• Operate fax machines, videoconferencing and phone systems, and other office equipment
• Use computers for spreadsheet, word processing, database management, and other applications
• Complete forms in accordance with company procedures

Secretaries and administrative assistants perform a variety of clerical and organizational tasks that are necessary to run an organization efficiently. They use computer software to create spreadsheets, compose messages, manage databases, and produce presentations, reports, and documents. They also may negotiate with vendors, buy supplies, manage stockrooms or corporate libraries, and get data from various sources. Specific job duties vary by experience, job title, and specialty.

The following are types of secretaries and administrative assistants:

Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants provide high-level administrative support for an office and for top executives of an organization. They often handle more complex responsibilities, such as reviewing incoming documents, conducting research, preparing reports, and arranging meetings. They may supervise clerical staff.

Legal secretaries do specialized work requiring knowledge of legal terminology and procedures. Legal secretaries prepare messages and legal papers, such as summonses, complaints, motions, responses, and subpoenas under the supervision of an attorney or a paralegal. They also may review legal journals and help with legal research—for example, by verifying quotes and citations in legal briefs.

Medical secretaries transcribe dictation, prepare messages, and help physicians or medical scientists with reports, speeches, articles, and conference proceedings. They also take simple medical histories, arrange for patients to be hospitalized, and order supplies. Medical secretaries need to be familiar with medical terminology, insurance rules, billing practices, medical records, and hospital or laboratory procedures.

Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive is the largest subcategory of secretaries and administrative assistants. They handle an office’s administrative activities in almost every sector of the economy, including schools, government agencies, and private corporations. Secretaries in schools are often responsible for handling most of the communications among parents, the community, teachers, and school administrators. They schedule appointments, keep track of students' records, and handle matters that do not require the principal's attention.

Virtual assistants work from a home office. They use the Internet, email, and fax machines to communicate with clients. Although their assignments often vary from short term to long term, their typical duties are similar to those of other secretaries and administrative assistants. Working from a remote location allows virtual assistants to support multiple clients in different industries at the same time.

Work Environment

Secretaries and administrative assistants increasingly use computers at work.

Secretaries and administrative assistants held about 4 million jobs in 2010. The industries that employed the most secretaries and administrative assistants in 2010 were: 

Although secretaries and administrative assistants work in nearly every industry, many are concentrated in schools, hospitals, government agencies, and legal and medical offices. Most work full time in comfortable office settings. Virtual assistants typically work from a home office.

How to Become a Secretary or Administrative Assistant

Secretaries and administrative assistants support managers.

High school graduates who have basic office and computer skills usually qualify for entry-level secretarial and administrative assistant positions.

Education and Training

High school graduates can get basic office, computer, and English grammar skills in various ways: through high school vocational education programs, vocational–technical schools, or community colleges. Many temporary placement agencies also provide formal training in computer and office skills.

Employers of more specialized positions, including medical and legal secretaries, often require applicants to have some knowledge of industry-specific terminology and practices. Community colleges and vocational-technical schools usually offer instruction in these areas.

Certification

Though not required, certification can demonstrate competency to employers. Legal secretaries have a few certification options. For example, those with 1 year of experience in the legal field, or who have concluded an approved training course and who want to be certified as a legal support professional, can acquire the Accredited Legal Secretary (ALS) designation through a testing process administered by NALS. NALS offers two additional designations: Professional Legal Secretary (PLS), considered an advanced certification for legal support professionals, and a designation for proficiency as a paralegal.

Legal Secretaries International confers the Certified Legal Secretary Specialist (CLSS) designation in areas such as intellectual property, criminal law, civil litigation, probate, and business law to those who have 5 years of legal experience and pass an examination. In some instances, certain requirements may be waived.

Advancement

Secretaries and administrative assistants generally advance through promotion to other administrative positions with more responsibilities. Qualified administrative assistants who broaden their knowledge of a company's operations and enhance their skills may be promoted to senior or executive secretary or administrative assistant, clerical supervisor, or office manager. With additional training, many legal secretaries become paralegals. For more information, see the profile on paralegals and legal assistants. Once hired, most secretaries and administrative assistants tend to get more advanced skills through on-the-job instruction.

Important Qualities

Computer skills. Secretaries and administrative assistants use computers for email, word processing, spreadsheets, and database management. Therefore, having good computer skills is very important.

Interpersonal skills. Secretaries and administrative assistants work with many different individuals each day. Being pleasant and attentive contributes to a positive work environment and client experience.

Organizational skills. Whether filing papers or filling out forms, secretaries and administrative assistants must make sure that files, folders, and schedules are in proper order so an office can run efficiently.

Writing skills. Secretaries frequently write memos and email when communicating with managers, employees, and customers. Therefore, they must have good grammar, ensure accuracy, and maintain a professional tone.

Pay

The median annual wage for secretaries and administrative assistants was $34,660 in May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $21,730, and the top 10 percent earned more than $55,960. 

The median annual wages for different types of secretaries and administrative assistants in May 2010 were the following:

• $43,520 for executive secretaries
• $41,500 for legal secretaries
• $30,530 for medical secretaries
• $30,830 for secretaries, except legal, medical, and executive

Although secretaries and administrative assistants work in nearly every industry, many are concentrated in schools, hospitals, government agencies, and legal and medical offices. Most work full time in comfortable office settings.

Job Outlook

Overall employment of secretaries and administrative assistants is expected to grow 12 percent from 2010 to 2020, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Employment growth, however, will differ by occupational specialty.

Employment of executive secretaries and administrative assistants is projected to grow 13 percent from 2010 to 2020, about as fast as the average for all occupations, as these workers continue to provide high-level support for executives.

Employment of medical secretaries is projected to grow 41 percent from 2010 to 2020, much faster than the average for all occupations. Employment growth will be driven by rapid growth of the healthcare and social assistance industries. An anticipated increase in the use of medical services by an aging population will require many additional medical secretaries.

Employment of legal secretaries is expected to grow 4 percent from 2010 to 2020, slower than the average for all occupations. This slow employment growth is due primarily to the slower-than-average growth of the legal industry overall.

Employment of secretaries, except legal, medical, and executive, is expected to grow 6 percent from 2010 to 2020, slower than the average for all occupations. Although developments in office technology are certain to continue, many secretarial and administrative duties are of a personal, interactive nature and are not easily automated. Responsibilities such as planning meetings, working with clients, and instructing staff require tact and communication skills. Because technology cannot currently substitute for these interpersonal skills, secretaries and administrative assistants will continue to play a key role in most organizations.

Job Prospects

In addition to jobs coming from employment growth, numerous job openings will arise from the need to replace secretaries and administrative assistants who transfer to other occupations or retire. Job opportunities should be best for applicants with extensive knowledge of computer software applications. Applicants with a bachelor's degree are expected to be in great demand and will act as managerial assistants who perform more complex tasks.

Contacts for More Information

For more information on careers in secretarial and administrative work, visit

Association of Executive and Administrative Professionals

International Association of Administrative Professionals

For more information on legal secretaries and administrative assistants, visit

Legal Secretaries International Inc

NALS

For more information on virtual assistants, visit

International Virtual Assistants Association