Who is a secretary or personal assistant and what do they do? The tasks of a secretary or personal assistant include administrative and organisational activities for a senior executive in the management of a department or company.
What are the activities of the secretary or personal assistant job? Taking care of the administrative agenda and planning the work schedule of the senior executive – taking care of his/her correspondence, also in foreign languages – shorthand writing, word processing or desktop publishing, taking minutes of meetings and preparing necessary support documents – organising visits and staff meetings at the senior executive’s office – keeping records of tasks and their deadlines – possibly also managing other secretarial staff – filing correspondence and other important documents, rules, regulations, statutes and decrees, and looking up information in them as need requires – carrying out operational tasks (e.g., finding accommodation, buying travel tickets, magazines, etc.) – taking care of the environment of the office of the senior executive and the secretary.
Where is it done and under what conditions? In an office or similar space, where the work environment is fairly comfortable; but work tends to come in waves based on the manager’s requirements and is not easy to control.
What tools/equipment do the secretary use? Primarily computer technology, telephone, fax machine, dictaphone, and a photo-copier.
What do you need to succeed? You need to have completed secondary education with a school-leaving certificate. More important than education, however, are the applicant’s actual administrative and clerical skills – typing, handling computer technology, the use of word processors, knowledge of grammar, of proper correspondence formats, and of the rules of correspondence. Concentration is also required, as well as good memory, patience, reliability, punctuality and precision, a cultivated appearance and conduct and some organisational skill.