Career as an Executive Secretary

EXECUTIVE SECRETARIES ARE THE BACK¬BONE of any successful organization. You would be hard-pressed to find any productive and accomplished members of a management team who do not have an efficient, well-organized, highly competent executive secretary backing them up. Often working in the background, but always making their presence felt, executive secretaries, also known nowadays as executive assistants, personal assistants, or administrative professionals, are taking on more responsibility than ever before. Today the job goes way beyond answering phones and taking memos. For instance, with the advent of computers, the duties of the executive secretary have expanded to encompass being an information and communications manager, in addition to the other important tasks these administrative powerhouses handle every day. In the contemporary management world, executive secretaries often have their own staffs, putting these organizational specialists in the dual role of being in charge of people while also being the confidant and right-hand assistant to high-ranking officials in business, government, and nonprofit organizations. Though executive secretaries do have help, they have to be skilled in every aspect of their job in order to step in and pick up the slack when things get hectic. This job definitely requires someone who knows something about everything and is willing to learn new things quickly when required. "Can't be done" are not words that are ever uttered by a top-notch executive secretary. You are expected to find ways to make things happen. That is what makes you so valuable in this job. You are the person no one can do without. Executive secretaries know everything there is to know about the companies, agencies or organizations they work for and they are totally dedicated to the success of these entities. Their input is not only respected but sought out. It is often the executive secretary in an organization who can spot a problem brewing and solve it before it develops into a full-blown crisis. Many executive secretaries are given wide-ranging authority and even hire and fire personnel working for them. Often overlooked when discussing this job is the sensitive nature of the work done by an executive secretary. People holding this job must be exceptionally trustworthy, as they handle extremely confidential documents, view financial statements seen by only a privileged few, attend private meetings, read personal correspondence, and have access to information that is not in the public domain. The job title does not come close to describing all the tasks done by an executive secretary. From arranging appointments and scheduling trips to collecting and analyzing important data and preparing reports about it, executive secretaries keep organizations throughout the country running smoothly day to day. Executive secretaries not only work with the personnel within an organization, they also interact with external contacts, including consultants, vendors, clients, and customers. As executive secretaries prove what they can do, they are often given greater authority and their role within an organization grows, even to the point of being a decision maker on certain matters. This is not a job you approach without experience. It requires proven clerical, administrative, and management skills. While the responsibilities of an executive secretary may vary from company to company and organization to organization, one thing remains the same - people will be depending on you and you will have to deliver to stay in this fast-paced job.