EXECUTIVE SECRETARY: PROFILE, NECESSARY SKILLS AND FUNCTIONS - DUDAS - 2025

The executive secretary is a job or profession that serves to provide maximum support to high-ranking employees in a company or organization. She will be the one who will organize and maintain the executives' schedule and help them perform a wide variety of administrative tasks.

The goal is to contribute to the overall efficiency of the business by ensuring that all administrative tasks assigned to you will be performed in a timely and efficient manner. A secretary is the person who provides administrative support. They can perform tasks such as writing and filing, answering the phone, and transmitting messages.

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On the other hand, the executive secretary, or administrative assistant, also does some of those activities, along with coordinating the office, researching products, interacting with suppliers, ordering products, and creating a database..

Executive secretaries typically receive higher salaries than secretaries because they perform high-level functions and accelerate office productivity.

Required profile

- Bachelor's degree in business administration or related fields.

- Proven experience as an executive secretary or a similar administrative role.

- Must be competent in handling Microsoft-Office in a comprehensive way, and in back-office software, for example ERP systems.

- In-depth knowledge of office administration and basic accounting procedures, as well as the relevant technical vocabulary used in the industry.

- Familiarity with basic research methods and reporting techniques.

- Excellent organizational and time management skills.

- Outstanding communication and negotiation skills.

- Integrity and confidentiality.

Executive secretaries must be fast professionals with great time management skills and multitasking ability. It is with their diligence and competence in their work that executives can focus on their managerial responsibilities without worrying about other tasks.

Many managers rely heavily on their executive secretary to coordinate day-to-day tasks and keep them on schedule. Tact and assertiveness are required as stewards of the manager's time.

Skills needed

Executive secretaries must be proficient in basic skills such as writing, grammar, spelling, and punctuation, and have experience using office equipment and common software applications such as word processing, spreadsheets, and graphics.

Equally, they must have excellent time management skills and the ability to effectively handle various responsibilities.

On the other hand, an executive secretary also needs other qualities, such as good judgment, diplomacy, discretion and the ability to solve problems autonomously.

They need strong communication skills to interact with the public, write reports and review publications.

Actively listen

You must be able to pay full attention to what other people are saying, taking the time to understand the points that are being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Reading comprehension

Full understanding of written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.

Time management

Know how to efficiently manage both your own time, as well as the time of others.

Know how to speak

Speak clearly with other people in order to convey information effectively.

Writing

Have effective communication in writing, as appropriate to the needs of the audience.

Critical thinking

Use of logic and reasoning to be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of solutions, conclusions, or alternative approaches to problems that arise.

Proactive learning

Understand the implications of new information for current and future problem solving and decision making.

Coordination

Adjustment of actions in relation to the actions of others.

Review

Review and evaluation of the performance of itself, other people or organizations, in order to make improvements or take corrective measures.

Features

An executive secretary may be responsible for petty cash and accounting, but could also manage a budget. You can publish articles on a website, but you could also design and manage the website.

You can enter data in a spreadsheet that you have designed and used for your reporting functions.

An executive secretary can supervise the administrative staff. Often reports directly to the CEO, and may endorse one or more senior executives.

Responsibilities

Attention to executives

- Maintain the agenda of the executives and assist in the planning of appointments, board meetings, conferences, etc.

- Attend meetings to prepare meeting minutes and minutes, then compile, transcribe and distribute them.

- Make all travel arrangements for executives: ticket purchase, hotel reservation, delivery of travel expenses, management and review of pertinent documentation, etc.

- Carry out the mandated investigations, collect data and prepare documents or reports for consideration and presentation by executives, committees and boards of directors, as assigned.

- Handle confidential documents, making sure they remain protected and safe.

Internal and external interaction

- Receive and filter phone calls, redirecting them to the appropriate person when convenient.

- Manage, prioritize and distribute all incoming or outgoing correspondence (email, letters, faxes, packages, etc.), reading and analyzing incoming memos, presentations and reports to determine their importance and plan their distribution.

- Prepare responses to correspondence containing routine inquiries.

- Monitor the use of office supplies and negotiate the terms with suppliers to ensure that orders are more profitable.

- Meet with individuals, special interest groups and others, on behalf of executives, committees and boards of directors.

- Welcome visitors and determine if they should be given access to specific people.

Administrative support

- Keep electronic and paper records on file, ensuring that information is organized and easily accessible for quick retrieval.

- Prepare invoices, reports, letters, financial statements and other documents, using word processing software, spreadsheets, databases and / or presentations, also providing the corresponding assistance in accounting.

- Perform general office tasks, such as maintaining administration systems and performing basic accounting tasks.

- Coordinate and direct office services, such as records and budgeting, to assist executives.

- Establish and supervise administrative policies and procedures, both for office employees, as well as for the organization.

- Review operating practices and procedures to determine if improvements can be made in areas such as work flow, reporting procedures, or expenses.

- Supervise and train other administrative personnel.

References

1. Workable (2018). Executive Secretary job description. Taken from: resources.workable.com.
2. Beth Greenwood (2018). The Difference Between a Secretary & an Executive Secretary. Work - Chron. Taken from: work.chron.com.
3. Career Planner (2018). Executive Secretary and Administrative Assistant. Taken from: job-descriptions.careerplanner.com.
4. Hrvillage (2018). Executive Secretary Job Description. Taken from: hrvillage.com.
5. BSR (2018). Executive Secretary Responsibilities. Taken from: bestsampleresume.com