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- Provide administrative support for all types of organisations
- You'll need an excellent telephone manner with skills in IT and administration
- You could become a personal assistant or office manager
As a secretary you could work in the public or private sectors or for a charity.
DAY-TO-DAY DUTIES
- Being the first point of contact for visitors, phone calls and emails
- Arranging meetings and taking minutes
- Diary management
- Making travel arrangements
- Producing letters, reports, spreadsheets and invoices
- Updating records on IT systems
- Photocopying, printing and filing
- Handling confidential information
DAY-TO-DAY ENVIRONMENT
You'll usually work in an office, 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. You could also work part-time or get temporary work.
You'll need
This role would be ideal for someone with an excellent telephone manner, skills in IT and administration, the ability to use your initiative and solve problems, organisational and time management skills.
There are no set requirements, but GCSEs in English and maths could help you get a job. You may also find it useful to take a course in administration or secretarial skills. Colleges offer full-time and part-time courses, including awards, certificates and diplomas. Useful subjects include business administration, typing, audio transcription, computer skills and shorthand.
You could apply directly if you've got relevant skills and experience from working in an office.
You could also do a temping job to get into this kind of role. Temporary jobs can help you to build up your experience and could lead to permanent employment.
Volunteering, for example with a charity, could help you to get some relevant experience. It's a good way of developing IT and office skills that are valued by employers.
A common way to become a secretary is to do a business administrator advanced apprenticeship or you could start as an administration assistant and work towards this role.
CAREER PROSPECTS
With experience, you could become a personal assistant (PA) or office manager. You could also move into human resources work, or train as a legal or medical secretary.