Secretary
An administrative professional,'' or in dated parlance, a secretary; also known as an administrative assistant , executive assistant , program assistant, staff assistant, general clerk - clerical worker, data entry specialist, office assistant, administrative support specialist, or other similar title is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication, business administration, public administration, office management, mailroom operations, property management, receptionist, and/or organizational skills. In the modern era, they also tend to actively participate in the professional service work of the organization, such as having a hands-on involvement on the production of deliverables, other work products, and conducting other similar professional duties.
Some high-level administrative professionals, support staff 'personnel, or those that work in "General Administrative, Clerical, and Office Services," as well as those in an entry-level position that requires specialized knowledge preferably or explicitly acquired through a higher education university degree in a field pertinent to the organization's industry are specialized secretaries or specialized administrative specialists in the general sense while others can be further sub-categorized into many other titles. Depending on a company's organizational structure, the most senior administrative professional may be referred to as an Office Manager or Chief of Staff, though chiefs of staff tend to have additional responsibilities; administrative professional that work directly under a senior executive or c-suite executive are generally referred to as executive assistants.File:President_Barack_Obama_listens_to_Senior_Advisor_David_Axelrod_in_the_outer_Oval_Office_on_June_26,_2009.jpg|thumb|Katie Johnson, who served as Secretary to the President of the United States under U.S. President Barack Obama, holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Wellesley College and a Juris Doctor degree in law from Harvard Law School of Harvard University.
Personal Assistants, as well as Executive Assistants and Special Assistants', generally work directly with an individual executive. Personal assistants tend to have duties that assist the executive in both their personal and professional lives while executive assistants and special assistants tend to focus on assisting the executive solely in their professional capacity. They may also be in charge of sending and receiving correspondence, as well as greeting clients and customers.
This role should not be confused with the role of an executive secretary, cabinet secretary such as cabinet members who hold the title of "secretary", or company secretary, all which differ from an administrative assistant.
Duties and functions
A secretary or administrative professional also known as a personal assistant, program assistant, or administrative assistant, can have many administrative duties. The title "secretary" is not used as often today as in decades past, and responsibilities have evolved in response to the technological age, requiring knowledge in software such as the Microsoft Office suite of applications. The duties may vary according to the nature and size of the company or organization, and in the most generic or original sense, might include managing budgets, bookkeeping, attending telephone calls, handling visitors, maintaining websites, travel arrangements, event planning, mailroom operations, and preparing expense reports. Secretaries might also manage all the administrative details of running a high-level conference or meeting and be responsible for arranging the catering for a lunch meeting. Often executiveswill ask their assistant to take the minutes at meetings and prepare meeting documents for review. In addition to the minutes, the secretary may be responsible for keeping all of the official records of a company or organization. A senior level secretary is also regarded as an "office manager". There is a diverse array of work experiences attainable within the administrative support field, in multiple sectors such as the private sector, public sector, and voluntary sector, ranging between internship, entry-level, associate, junior, mid-senior, and senior level pay bands with positions in nearly every industry, especially among white-collar careers. Their work contributions are celebrated on Administrative Professionals Day. File:Reggie_Love_and_Dr._Jeffrey_Kuhlman_in_Cadillac_One.jpg|thumb|Reggie Love, who served as U.S. President Barack Obama's Personal Aide, holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science and public policy from Duke University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.Today in the 21st Century, many secretaries, administrative assistants, and program assistants or those that work in the "General Administrative, Clerical, and Office Services," have in effect joined the ranks of the professional service, unlike the secretaries of the 20th Century who were categorized under the low-skilled and unskilled labor force. Today, they conduct research, briefings, write memoranda, conduct copyediting/copywriting duties, handle project management, program evaluation, stakeholder management, office management, mailroom operations, property management, receptionist, customer service duties, devise and maintain office systems including data management and filing, carry out background research and present findings, produce documents like white papers and gray literature, carry out specific projects, take on some of the manager's responsibilities, get involved in decision-making processes, handle public relations tasks, and/or logistics and procurement along with a wide range of other duties related to their specific industry. Secretaries in some fields may be required to have extensive professional knowledge. Accordingly, duties for these assistants may be more specialized.
File:AR6295-T Special Assistant to the President, Frank D. Reeves.jpg|thumb|Frank D. Reeves, who served as Special Assistant to the President under U.S. President John F. Kennedy, held a bachelor's degree from Howard University and a post-graduate degree in law from Howard University School of Law. Specialized secretaries at higher levels and program assistants/program coordinators/project assistants who today make up the bulk of administrative professionals, but even more so higher level administrative professionals such as special assistants and chiefs of staff have a lot more duties and require higher education than what secretaries of decades past needed to enter the profession. For example, legal administrative assistants also known as legal secretaries may need to have a thorough understanding of legal terminology and procedural law, paralegals in addition would need to acquire legal research skills, know how to analyze and summarize depositions, prepare and answer interrogatories, conduct document review, and draft procedural motions and other routine legal briefs; legislative assistants would need to be educated in political science, experience in government relations, or other adjacent fields of study and know how to monitor pending legislation, conducting research, legislative analysis, legislative research, legal research, policy analysis, drafting legislation, giving advice and counsel, and making recommendations; communications assistants assist with communications and public relations matters, editorial assistants work with editorial boards, while medical assistants and medical scribes would need to be well-versed in the health sciences, health policy, public health, dealing with health insurance companies, and reading medical reports; research assistants would need education or experience in the field in which the subject-matter expert they assist works in; law clerks and to a lesser extent clerks of the court would need to hold a post-graduate professional doctoral degree in law known as a Juris Doctor and be or have the ability to become a practicing lawyer that has been admitted to the bar. These positions often require higher education or even post-graduate education such as bachelor's, master's, or professional doctoral degrees to practice.
In a place of employment, many job descriptions and job titles overlap. However, while administrative assistant is a generic term, not necessarily implying directly working for a superior, a secretary in most cases is usually the key person for all administrative tasks, and often referred to as the "gate keeper". Other titles describing jobs similar to or overlapping those of the traditional secretary, most especially at mid-career or senior level roles, are Office Coordinator, Executive Assistant, Special Assistant, and generically as Administrative Professional, with the titles of Office Manager and Chief of Staff being used for the most senior administrative professional with managerial authority, depending on the company's organizational chart.
- List of administrative professional and support staff positions and job titles: secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, staff assistant, special assistant, office assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, administrative specialist, administrative coordinator, office coordinator, administrative analyst, general clerk - clerk - clerical worker, military assistant, military aid, office secretary, program assistant, program analyst, program clerk, project assistant, project administrator, program associate, program support specialist, program coordinator, support staff specialist, team assistant, management analyst, business assistant, management assistant, operations assistant, operations specialist, data entry specialist, receptionist, front desk assistant, file clerk, data entry clerk, mail clerk, mailroom clerk, client services specialist, guest services specialist, personal aid, body man, body women, valet, personal secretary, gofer, family office assistant, private executive assistant, or personal assistant.
In previous decades, especially in the 20th century and before, at the most basic level a secretary was usually an audio typist, amanuensis, and/or gofer with a small number of administrative roles. A good command of the prevailing office language and the ability to type is essential. At higher grades and with more experience they begin to take on additional roles and spend more of their time maintaining physical and electronic files, being a data entry clerk, dealing with the post, photocopying, emailing clients, ordering stationery and 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 or financial accounting. 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.File:HamptonInnFrontDesk.jpg|left|thumb|Front desk assistant at a Hampton Inn hotel in New York, USA
File:Receptionists.jpg|thumb|Receptionist of EA DICE in Stockholm, Sweden
The work of a receptionist or front desk assistant is usually performed in a waiting area such as a lobby or front office desk of an organization or business; the title is attributed to the person who is employed by an organization to receive or greet any visitors, patients, or clients and answer telephone calls.
File:President Donald Trump drafts a Truth Social post alongside Vice President JD Vance and Assistant to the President Natalie Harp during a meeting with European leaders.jpg|thumb|Natalie Harp who served as Executive Assistant to the President of the United States under U.S. President Donald Trump, holds a bachelor's degree from Point Loma Nazarene University and a Master of Business Administration from Liberty University.
The work of an executive assistant differs a great deal from that of an administrative assistant. In many organizations, an executive assistant is a high-ranking position in the administrative hierarchy. Executive assistants work for a company officer or executive, and possess the authority to make crucial decisions affecting the direction of such organizations. As such, executive assistants play a role in decision-making and policy setting. The executive assistant performs the usual roles of managing correspondence, preparing research, and communication, often with one or more administrative assistants or scheduling assistants who report to him or her. The executive assistant also acts as the "gatekeeper", understanding in varying degree the requirements of the executive, and with an ability through this understanding to decide which scheduled events, meetings, teleconferences, or e-mails are most appropriate for allocation of the executive's time. An executive assistant may, from time to time, act as proxy for the executives, representing him/her/them in meetings or communications and project managing the production of reports or other deliverables in the absence of the executive. An executive assistant differs from an administrative assistant in that they are expected to possess a higher degree of business acumen, be able to manage projects, as well as have the ability to influence others on behalf of the executive. In the past, executive assistants were required to have a high school diploma only, but increasingly jobs are requiring a bachelor's degree of any field of study or when complying with educational requirements within their given industry, may require specialized knowledge in a specific fields of study through a bachelor's degree pertinent to the employer's industry or division's role within the organization. The functions of a personal assistant may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit of more than one; they tend to have duties that assist the executive in both their personal and professional lives..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 other's performance executive secretary for now. File:P20211006AS-1410_.jpg|right|thumb|United States Coast Guard military aid Lieutenant Commander Jayna McCarron, serving as part of the White House Military Office, with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office
Within a military setting, for example in the U.S. Department of Defense, the title of military assistant or executive assistant is typically held by Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps colonels, lieutenant colonels, and senior majors and Navy captains, commanders and senior lieutenant commanders who are in direct support of the Secretary of Defense, Deputy Secretary of Defense and other civilian defense officials down to the level of a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, as well as general officers or flag officers. The Secretary of Defense also has a lieutenant general or vice admiral as his/her senior military assistant. Like their civilian counterparts, EAs are also a resource in decision-making, policy setting, and will have leadership oversight of the entire military and civilian staff supporting the civilian official, general officer, or flag officer. EAs are often interchangeable with other senior military officers of equivalent rank holding the title of chief of staff in other service organizations headed by a flag officer or general officer. In the case of unified combatant commands and service major commands, the chief of staff is often a general officer or flag officer, typically at the 1-star or 2-star level, but should not be confused with the 4-star officers holding the title of Chief of Staff of the Army or Chief of Staff of the Air Force.