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A secretary is a person whose work consists of maintaining files, operating telephones, typing letters and other clerical functions. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit of more than one such. 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.

A secretary (sometimes called administrative assistant) has many administrative duties. Traditionally, these duties were mostly related to correspondence, such as the typing out of letters, maintaining files of paper documents, etc. The advent of word processing has significantly reduced the time that such duties require, with the result that many new tasks have come under the purview of the secretary. These might include managing budgets and doing bookkeeping, maintaining websites, and making travel arrangements. Secretaries might manage all the administrative details of running a high-level conference or arrange the catering for a typical lunch meeting. Often executives will ask their assistant to take the minutes at meetings and prepare meeting documents for review. They may also do personnel paperwork which used to be thought of as a Human Relations function; this might also include understanding the complex rules regarding Visa and Immigration.

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A young Russian secretary from Borisoglebsk

The job of administrative assistant requires a variety of skills and adaptability to new situations. As such a four-year degree (Bachelors of Arts) is often preferred and a two-year degree is usually a requirement.

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. A secretarius was a person, therefore, overseeing business confidentially, usually for a powerful individual (a king, pope, etc).

Office secretary

Origins

Since the Renaissance until the late 19th century, men involved in the daily correspondence and the activities of the mighty 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, financial secretary or Secretary of state. 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.

Modern developments

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 the 1880s, with the invention of the typewriter, more women began to enter the field, and 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 amongst 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.

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. It has been renamed "Administrative Professional's Week" to highlight the increased responsibility of today's secretary and other administrative workers, and to avoid embarrassment to those who believe that "secretary" refers only to women or to unskilled workers.

A number of annual awards competitions seek to recognise the importance of secretaries within organisations, including The Best Secretary on Tyneside Award organised by Pitman Training in the North East of England.

Contemporary employment

In a business many job descriptions overlap. However, while administrative assistant is a generic term, not necessarily implying directly working for a superior, a secretary is usually a personal assistant to a manager or executive. Other titles describing jobs similar to or overlapping those of the traditional secretary are office coordinator, executive assistant, office manager and administrative professional.

At the most basic level a secretary may need only a good command of the prevailing office language and the ability to type, and may spend a large part of his or her time filing and fetching papers (or the equivalent regarding electronic files and database information) or answering telephones.

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. 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.

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 others performance executive secretary for now.

Medical secretary

A medical secretary provides secretarial support in clinics, and support physicians and other medical personnel. Duties include typing medical notes, letters and other reports, scheduling patients for office visits, checking patients in and processing payment and insurance payments, and assisting patients with various resources for care offered. Other duties include answering telephones and relaying messages to doctors and other staff. Duties depend on instructions and pre-established guidelines from medical staff.^[1]

In the United States, the job usually requires a minimum of a high school diploma or its equivalent in addition to 0–10 years of related experience.^[1] The average annual salary for a medical secretary is $31,620.^[1] Medical assistants are well-paid and generally have opportunities for advancement.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ ^a ^b ^c salary.com - Medical Secretary

Hoffert, Sylvia. "Private Secretaries in Early-Twentieth-Century America," Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas, 7 (Spring 2010), 45–65.
Sabino, Rosimeri Ferraz; Marchelli, Paulo Sérgio The debate theorical-methodological in field of secretariat: diversities and singularities. Cadernos EBAPE.BR, 2009, vol.7, n. 4, ISSN 1679-3951.
Sabino, Rosimeri Ferraz; ROCHA, Fabio Gomes. Secretariado: do escriba ao webwriter. Rio de Janeiro: Brasport, 2004.
Sabino, Rosimeri Ferraz. Intraempreendedorismo: a contribuição das funções de assessorias nas empresas. IN: Cavalcanti, Marly (Org.) O Trabalho e o Empreendedorismo no Século XXI - Mythos versus Logo. São Paulo: Ottoni Editora, 2010.

External links

American Society of Administrative Professionals

[salary-1] salary.com - Medical Secretary

[1]

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 ==Office secretary==
 ===Origins===
-Since the [[Renaissance]] until the late 19th century, men involved in the daily correspondence and the activities of the mighty had assumed the title of secretary (or in other cases, "[[prostituit").
+Since the [[Renaissance]] until the late 19th century, men involved in the daily correspondence and the activities of the mighty 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]], [[financial secretary]] or [[Secretary of state]]. 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]].