Secretaries and Administrative Assistants Career Video

Summary

Secretaries and administrative assistants play crucial roles in various organizations, handling tasks such as preparing documents, organizing files, scheduling appointments, and supporting staff. They work in settings like schools, healthcare facilities, and government offices. Specific roles include executive, legal, and medical secretaries, each with unique responsibilities. Key qualities include being well-organized, resourceful, persistent, and detail-oriented. Most positions require a high school education and basic office skills, with specialized training for legal and medical secretaries. Executive secretaries need several years of experience.

Takeaways

• 📚 Secretaries and administrative assistants are essential in various organizations, including educational, healthcare, government, and private sectors.
• 🔍 They perform a diverse range of tasks such as document preparation, spreadsheet management, file organization, appointment scheduling, and staff support.
• 🛒 Additional responsibilities may include supply procurement, event planning, and stockroom management.
• 📞 They often handle phone calls and direct them as needed, serving as a communication hub within the organization.
• 🏫 In schools, they facilitate communication among parents, students, and school administration.
• 💼 Executive secretaries have more complex duties, working closely with top executives, requiring research, report writing, and maintaining confidentiality and integrity.
• 👩‍⚖️ Legal secretaries assist in preparing legal documents and conducting legal research under the supervision of attorneys or paralegals.
• 🩺 Medical secretaries transcribe dictation, prepare medical reports, and manage patient communications and insurance processing.
• 🏠 Most work full-time in office settings, but some administrative assistants may work remotely for service companies.
• 🎓 A high school education is typically required, with additional training for legal and medical secretaries to learn specific industry terminology.
• 📈 Executive secretaries often need several years of related work experience to qualify for their positions.
• 🏫 Community colleges commonly offer programs or courses to develop the necessary skills for secretaries and administrative assistants.

Q & A

What are some key qualities that secretaries and administrative assistants need to possess?

Secretaries and administrative assistants need to be well-organized, resourceful, persistent, detail-oriented, and have a strong drive to make things work.

What types of organizations typically employ secretaries and administrative assistants?

Secretaries and administrative assistants are typically employed in schools, healthcare facilities, government offices, and private companies.

What are some of the general tasks that secretaries perform?

Secretaries prepare documents and spreadsheets, organize files, schedule appointments, support other staff, buy supplies, plan events, manage stockrooms, answer phone calls, and direct them appropriately.

What specific duties might a school secretary handle?

A school secretary handles communications among parents, students, and school administration.

What are the main responsibilities of an executive secretary?

Executive secretaries work for top executives and handle complex responsibilities, including research, writing reports, managing clerical staff, and maintaining confidentiality and integrity.

What specialized tasks do legal secretaries perform?

Legal secretaries prepare legal documents, help with legal research under the supervision of an attorney or paralegal, and manage other legal administrative tasks.

What are the primary duties of medical secretaries?

Medical secretaries transcribe dictation, prepare reports or articles for doctors or medical scientists, handle communications with patients, and process insurance payments.

Where do most secretaries and administrative assistants work?

Most secretaries and administrative assistants work full-time in offices, but some work for administrative service companies from their own homes.

What educational background is typically required for secretaries and administrative assistants?

Jobs typically require a high school education, basic office, computer, and English grammar skills.

What additional training might be needed for legal and medical secretaries?

Legal and medical secretaries need additional training to learn industry-specific terminology, which can be obtained through programs or courses offered by most community colleges.

What experience is typically required for executive secretaries?

Executive secretaries usually require several years of related work experience.