Job Description:

An Office Secretary maintains the smooth running of an office through a variety of administrative and clerical duties. They handle office schedules, coordinate meetings and visits, organize files, answer phones and perform a huge array of other essential tasks. Office Secretaries generally work directly for organization or office management, and depending on their experience may also supervise other clerical staff.

To keep an office running smoothly and efficiently, Office Secretaries perform many tasks. We analyzed several job listings to identify these core Office Secretary duties and responsibilities.

Answer Telephones

Office Secretaries are the office gatekeepers – they answer the phone, take messages or refer calls to appropriate staff member.

Maintain Calendar and Plan Meetings

Office Secretaries schedule appointments and update event calendars. They also arrange meetings and coordinate conference room schedules. In advance of meetings, they assemble background materials and set up the meeting space. They attend meetings and prepare minutes or summaries of the meeting outcomes.

Handle Mail

Incoming and outgoing mail and faxes all go through the Office Secretary. They open, review, sort and distribute the mail to the appropriate recipients. Office Secretaries also maintain email lists, and distribute information to staff.

Qualification:

Qualifications & Training

At a minimum, a secretary should have a high school diploma. Computer, word processing and spreadsheet classes in high school and community college also help secretaries become qualified.

For those seeking to work in law offices or other legal settings, coursework should expose candidates to legal terminology and procedures. Prospective medical secretaries likely will have classes dealing with medical terms and health insurance billing. Executive secretaries, who often work for corporate officers and may have greater responsibilities with staff or preparing documents, likely will need a bachelor’s degree or at least college classes.

Training typically lasts a few weeks in more general office settings, or for multiple months in professional or industry-specific settings.

Other Notes:

Working Hours

As a general rule, secretaries work full-time, though some employers may use part-time ones.

Secretaries typically work on weekdays. In schools and law offices, secretaries typically have days off for holidays. School secretaries may have multiple weeks for holidays related to Christmas and, except for year-round schools, have several weeks for summer vacation. Law offices tend to be closed on days that courts or government offices are closed.

In most settings, secretaries work daytime hours, such as 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Some medical secretaries may have evening or weekend work, as their physicians’ offices attempt to accommodate patients’ schedules.