This article is about the occupation of an assistant. For the position of leadership, see Secretary (title). For the position known as secretary that operates within the cabinet of a government's executive branch, see Cabinet (government). For other uses, see Secretary (disambiguation).
Some high-level administrative professionals, support staffpersonnel[10][11], or those that work in "General Administrative, Clerical, and Office Services,"[12] as well as those in an entry-level position that requires specialized knowledge preferably or explicitly acquired through a higher education university degree in a field pertinent to the organization's industry are specialized secretaries or specialized administrative specialists in the general sense while others can be further sub-categorized into many other titles. Depending on a company's organizational structure, the most senior administrative professional (with managerial authority) may be referred to as an Office Manager or Chief of Staff,[13] though chiefs of staff tend to have additional responsibilities; administrative professional that work directly under a senior executive or c-suite executive are generally referred to as executive assistants.[13]
Personal Assistants (PA), as well as Executive Assistants (EA) and Special Assistants (SA),[14] generally work directly with an individual executive. Personal assistants tend to have duties that assist the executive in both their personal and professional lives while executive assistants and special assistants tend to focus on assisting the executive solely in their professional capacity.[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] They may also be in charge of sending and receiving correspondence, as well as greeting clients and customers.[23]
Secretary at work, photo taken in 2007 by Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Thousand Oaks, California.Office mailroom and kitchenette, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, March 2007, Thousand Oaks, CA
A secretary or administrative professional also known as a personal assistant (PA), program assistant, or administrative assistant, can have many administrative duties. The title "secretary" is not used as often today as in decades past,[6] and responsibilities have evolved in response to the technological age, requiring knowledge in software such as the Microsoft Office suite of applications. The duties may vary according to the nature and size of the company or organization, and in the most generic or original sense, might include managing budgets, bookkeeping, attending telephone calls, handling visitors, maintaining websites, travel arrangements, event planning, mailroom operations, and preparing expense reports. Secretaries might also manage all the administrative details of running a high-level conference or meeting and be responsible for arranging the catering for a lunch meeting. Often executives will ask their assistant to take the minutes at meetings and prepare meeting documents for review.[27] In addition to the minutes, the secretary may be responsible for keeping all of the official records of a company or organization.[25] A senior level secretary is also regarded as an "office manager". There is a diverse array of work experiences attainable within the administrative support field, in multiple sectors such as the private sector, public sector, and voluntary sector, ranging between internship, entry-level, associate, junior, mid-senior, and senior level pay bands with positions in nearly every industry, especially among white-collar careers and to a lesser extent among grey-collar jobs. Their work contributions are celebrated on Administrative Professionals Day.[28][29][30]
Clerical office supervisor and employee at work. (1992)Office clerk at work. (1992)
In a place of employment, many job descriptions and job titles overlap. However, while administrative assistant is a generic term, not necessarily implying directly working for a superior, a secretary in most cases is usually the key person for all administrative tasks, and often referred to as the "gate keeper". Other titles describing jobs similar to or overlapping those of the traditional secretary, most especially at mid-career or senior level roles, are Office Coordinator, Executive Assistant, Special Assistant, and generically as Administrative Professional, with the titles of Office Manager and Chief of Staff[13] being used for the most senior administrative professional with managerial authority, depending on the company's organizational chart.[48][62][63][64][15][49][50][51][52][53][54][9][65][66][67][68][69][24][25][26][18][19][20][21][22][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][16][17][70][71][72]
This should be distinguished from the Company secretary, a senior role within a company responsible for compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements; it should also be distinguished from the title Secretary (title) as used by cabinet members of a government as well as senior or executive leadership in political parties. In other situations, a secretary is an officer of a society or organization who deals with correspondence, admits new members, and organizes official meetings and events.[24]
A data entry clerk
In previous decades, especially in the 20th century and before, at the most basic level a secretary was usually an audio typist, amanuensis, and/or gofer with a small number of administrative roles. A good command of the prevailing office language and the ability to type is essential. At higher grades and with more experience they begin to take on additional roles and spend more of their time maintaining physical and electronic files, being a data entry clerk, dealing with the post, photocopying, emailing clients, ordering stationery and answering telephones.[90] A more skilled executive assistant may be required to type at high speeds using technical or foreign languages, organize diaries, itineraries and meetings and carry out administrative duties which may include accountancy or financial accounting. A secretary / executive assistant may also control access to a manager, thus becoming an influential and trusted aide. Executive assistants are available for contact during off hours by new electronic communication methods for consultations.[90]
The work of a receptionist or front desk assistant is usually performed in a waiting area such as a lobby or front office desk of an organization or business; the title is attributed to the person who is employed by an organization to receive or greet any visitors, patients, or clients and answer telephone calls.[91]
Security Receptionist, Watchman, and/or Security Guard on duty at a security post at the entrance to a residential complex in Whampoa Garden, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
A security receptionist, is a person who performs duties that combine some or most of the work of a traditional receptionist, plus duties that pertain to identity verification, the issuance of visitors' passes, and observing/reporting any unusual or suspicious persons or activities; and in other cases serving as an observant watchman or a trained and full-fledged security guard conducting private policing duties alongside their receptionist duties as part of their security work.[81][82][83]
The work of an executive assistant (sometimes called a management assistant) differs a great deal from that of an administrative assistant. In many organizations, an executive assistant is a high-ranking position in the administrative hierarchy. Executive assistants work for a company officer or executive (at both private and public institutions), and possess the authority to make crucial decisions affecting the direction of such organizations. As such, executive assistants play a role in decision-making and policy setting. The executive assistant performs the usual roles of managing correspondence, preparing research, and communication, often with one or more administrative assistants or scheduling assistants who report to him or her. The executive assistant also acts as the "gatekeeper", understanding in varying degree the requirements of the executive, and with an ability through this understanding to decide which scheduled events, meetings, teleconferences, or e-mails are most appropriate for allocation of the executive's time. An executive assistant may, from time to time, act as proxy for the executives, representing him/her/them in meetings or communications and project managing the production of reports or other deliverables in the absence of the executive. An executive assistant differs from an administrative assistant (a job which is often part of the career path of an executive assistant) in that they are expected to possess a higher degree of business acumen, be able to manage projects, as well as have the ability to influence others on behalf of the executive. In the past, executive assistants were required to have a high school diploma only, but increasingly jobs are requiring a bachelor's degree[95] of any field of study or when complying with educational requirements within their given industry, may require specialized knowledge in a specific fields of study through a bachelor's degree pertinent to the employer's industry or division's role within the organization.[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] The functions of a personal assistant may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit of more than one; they tend to have duties that assist the executive in both their personal and professional lives..[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]The largest difference between a generalized secretary and skilled executive assistants is that the executive assistant is required to be able to interact extensively with the general public, vendors, customers, and any other person or group that the executive is responsible to interact with. As the level that the executive interacts with increases so does the level of skill required in the executive assistant that works with the executive. Those executive assistants that work with corporate officers must be capable of emulating the style, corporate philosophy, and corporate persona of the executive for which they work. In the modern workplace the advancement of the executive assistants is codependent on the success of the executive and the ability of both to make the job performance of the team seamless whereas the job place evaluation is reflective of each other's performance executive secretary for now.[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]
Within a military setting, for example in the U.S. Department of Defense, the title of military assistant (MA) or executive assistant (EA) is typically held by Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps colonels, lieutenant colonels, and senior majors and Navy captains, commanders and senior lieutenant commanders who are in direct support of the Secretary of Defense, Deputy Secretary of Defense and other civilian defense officials down to the level of a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, as well as general officers or flag officers. The Secretary of Defense also has a lieutenant general or vice admiral as his/her senior military assistant. Like their civilian counterparts, EAs are also a resource in decision-making, policy setting, and will have leadership oversight of the entire military and civilian staff supporting the civilian official, general officer, or flag officer. EAs are often interchangeable with other senior military officers of equivalent rank holding the title of chief of staff in other service organizations headed by a flag officer or general officer. In the case of unified combatant commands and service major commands, the chief of staff is often a general officer or flag officer, typically at the 1-star or 2-star level, but should not be confused with the 4-star officers holding the title of Chief of Staff of the Army or Chief of Staff of the Air Force.[96]
Education, training, and entering the profession
21st century
In the United States, a variety of skills and adaptability to new situations is necessary. As such, a four-year bachelor's degree is often preferred and a two-year associate degree is usually a requirement, in any field of study unless specified by employers to comply with education requirements within their given industry, although work experience can substitute education if the position does not require specialized knowledge in a specific field of study pertinent to the employer's industry or division's role within the organization. Another option taken with or without higher education is to get a professional certification from a national association that self-regulates the secretarial and administrative assistance industry, in which a professional certification may substitute higher education if the person does not have a bachelor's degree or an associate degree, or in order to substitute work experience for a person with a higher education degree but with limited experience in an administrative support role. Many of these job titles today in the 21st century found among Millennial, Gen Z, and younger Gen X adults, require specialized education and skills mostly acquired through a bachelor's degree (e.g. BA, BS, BBA) level of education and in some cases a master's degree (e.g. MA, MS, MBA, MSM/MiM, MPP, MPA, MPH, MLIS) or doctoral degree (e.g. JD, PhD, PhD-Candidate/All but Dissertation-ABD) level of education including even education specifically in a field pertinent to the organization's industry or division's purview because many in these positions today actively participate in the work of their employer such as having a hands-on involvement on the production of deliverables or conduct other professional duties similar to that of the executives they assist unlike the secretaries of decades past.[34][31][32][33][1][2][3][18][19][20][21][22][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][16][17][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57]
The entry requirements for the profession of secretary in the 19th and 20th centuries were low: having shorthand and typing skills were the only skills required for the position. After finishing high school or after reaching the allowed age for workforce entry, if needed it was possible take courses lasting several weeks, to learn how to write shorthand and typing, which advanced entry into a shorthand or writing pool secretary position; these schools or private schools offering courses in typing, for example, existed as early as the 1880s.[97]
Origin
Der Gemeindeschreiber (the town clerk), painting by Albert Anker, 1874
From the Renaissance until the late 19th century, men involved in the daily correspondence and the activities of the powerful had assumed the title of secretary.
With time, like many titles, the term was applied to more and varied functions, leading to compound titles to specify various secretarial work better, like general secretary or financial secretary. Just "secretary" remained in use either as an abbreviation when clear in the context or for relatively modest positions such as administrative assistant of the officer(s) in charge, either individually or as member of a secretariat. As such less influential posts became more feminine and common with the multiplication of bureaucracies in the public and private sectors, new words were also coined to describe them, such as personal assistant.
In the 1840s and 1850s, commercial schools were emerging to train male and female students the skills needed to work in a clerical position.[98] In 1870, Sir Isaac Pitman founded a school where students could qualify as shorthand writers to "professional and commercial men". Originally, this school was only for male students. In 1871, there were more than 150 such schools operating in the United States, a number that grew to as many as 500 by the 1890s.[99]
In the 1880s, with the invention of the typewriter, more women began to enter the field and during the upcoming years, especially since World War I, the role of secretary has been primarily associated with women. By the 1930s, fewer men were entering the field of secretaries. In an effort to promote professionalism among United States secretaries, the National Secretaries Association was created in 1942. Today, this organization is known as the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP). The organization developed the first standardized test for office workers called the Certified Professional Secretaries Examination (CPS). It was first administered in 1951.
By the mid-20th century, the need for secretaries was great and offices and organizations featured large secretarial pools. In some cases the demand was great enough to spur secretaries being recruited from overseas; in particular, there was often a steady demand for young British women to come to the U.S. and fill temporary or permanent secretarial positions.[100] Several organizations were created to assist secretaries from foreign lands, including the Society of International Secretaries and the Association of British Secretaries in America.[101]
In 1952, Mary Barrett, president of the National Secretaries Association, C. King Woodbridge, president of Dictaphone Corporation, and American businessman Harry F. Klemfuss created a special Secretary's Day holiday, to recognize the hard work of the staff in the office. The holiday caught on, and during the fourth week of April is now celebrated in offices all over the world.
Secretary typist in 1951
In the 20th century, with the spread of the typewriter, shorthand saw competition from steno-typing. Typing thus became the prerogative of women, widows or relatively well-educated young girls, originally from the middle class or the petty bourgeoisie, then from working-class backgrounds with the rise of the profession between the two world wars, which saw the women seize these innovations.[102][103] Working in the mailroom as a mail clerk, mailroom clerk, shipping and receiving clerk, or in dated parlance, mailboy, was a stereotypical male gender oriented entry-level job in an organization, and working one's way up the corporate ladder "from the mailroom" is a common idiom.[104]
Mail Clerks and Mailboys working in a Mailroom at Naval Station Puget Sound- Naval Training Station, Seattle, Washington (United States) circa 1918
Secretary's Day was later renamed and expanded into Administrative Professional's Week to highlight the increased responsibility of today's secretary and other administrative workers in the professional service, and to avoid embarrassment to those who believe that "secretary" refers only to women or to unskilled workers as was typical in the 20th Century.
Until recent years, the profession of secretary in the original sense was often subject, in the collective imagination, to stereotypes and pejorative connotations. Indeed, secretarial work was easily associated with low-value, thankless, and badly paid tasks, such as serving coffee to superiors, making photocopies or filing menial documents. In addition, most of the profession was once exercised almost exclusively by women as a pink-collar job where in some societies a practitioner of this field was referred to as an office lady, except for certain roles like mailboy or mail clerk which were more so exercised by men as a grey-collar job - or in some cases a blue-collar job -, with both once being considered part of the unskilled labor force in previous decades, but in the 21st century many employers began re-classifying many professional service entry-level white-collar jobs, including ones historically held by men in decades past, as secretary, administrative assistant, mail clerk, file clerk, or program assistant roles.[102][103]
A Japanese woman in work uniform (c.2000s) generally referred to as an office lady in accordance with Japanese organizational culture.
Employers have long preferred unmarried women, a notion that resonated with governments and unions when jobs were scarce in tough economic times. During the 1930s in the United States, both a number of states and the federal government attempted to legislate married women out of the labor market, finding support from unions promoting "family wages"—a wage equal to a married woman husband had enough income to support both a household chore wife and a flock of children.[105] The job of office lady in Japan, and to a certain extent Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, to this day refers to an office worker in Japan, always female, who performs generally pink-collar tasks such as old-school secretarial or clerical work, in a full-time permanent staff capacity, with relatively little opportunity for promotion, and in most cases a tacit expectation that they leave their jobs once they get married.[106][107] In the United States, all legislative initiatives that wanted to create a legal basis for such discrimination ultimately failed. But even without a legal basis, employers tried to exclude married women from employment. In a 1940 survey, 40 percent of 485 US companies surveyed said they had clear policies barring married women from working for them.[108] The reason given was that married women would soon leave their positions anyway, and if they stayed in their positions, because of their domestic and family responsibilities, they would not give their paid work the attention that an unmarried woman would. Many of the women working in the office therefore lied about their marital status.[109] Until the mid-1970s, when women's career opportunities began to expand, shorthand and typing skills offered them the chance to find a job with those skills, even if they had completed education that would have given them other jobs had it not been for gender discrimination.[110][111]
Etymology
The term is derived from the Latin word secernere, "to distinguish" or "to set apart", the passive participle (secretum) meaning "having been set apart", with the eventual connotation of something private or confidential, as with the English word secret. A secretarius was a person, therefore, overseeing business confidentially, usually for a powerful individual (a king, pope, etc.). As the duties of a modern secretary often still include the handling of confidential information, the literal meaning of their title still holds true.[112]
1234Staff report (April 21, 2011). "Two-sport athlete charged with DWI". Duke Chronicle. Archived from the original on March 1, 2013. Retrieved August 16, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
↑Bika, Nikoletta (November 6, 2015). "Program Coordinator job description". Recruiting Resources: How to Recruit and Hire Better. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
↑Weiss, J (1981). "Educating for clerical work: The nineteenth-century private commercial school". Journal of Social History. 14 (3): 416. doi:10.1353/jsh/14.3.407.
↑Rensin, D. (2003). The mailroom: Hollywood history from the bottom up. Ballantine Books.
↑Lynn Peril: Swimming in the Steno Pool. Kapitel Single Secs, Married Secs, and the Looping Shadow of the Office Wife. Ebook-Position 2515.
↑Cherry, Kittredge (1987). "Office Flowers Bloom: Work Outside the Home". Womansword: What Japanese Words Say about Women (paperback) (First mass market edition, 1991ed.). Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd. p.103. ISBN4-7700-1655-7.
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Spotlight on You the Secretary. Independence, MO: National Association of Parliamentarians. 1993. ISBN1-884048-25-0.
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