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Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants
Provide high-level administrative support by conducting research, preparing statistical reports, and handling information requests, as well as performing routine administrative functions such as preparing correspondence, receiving visitors, arranging conference calls, and scheduling meetings. May also train and supervise lower-level clerical staff.
Also Known As:
Administrative Aide
Administrative Assistant
Administrative Associate
Administrative Coordinator
Administrative Secretary
Administrative Specialist
Executive Administrative Assistant
Executive Assistant
Executive Secretary
Office Assistant
Wages
Annual wages for Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants in United States
Job Outlook
Below Average
New job opportunities are less likely in the future
United States
2034 Projected Employment
494,900
-2% Change From 2024
Explore Secretaries, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Process payroll information.
- Meet with individuals, special interest groups, and others on behalf of executives, committees, and boards of directors.
- Compile, transcribe, and distribute minutes of meetings.
- Greet visitors and determine whether they should be given access to specific individuals.
- Coordinate and direct office services, such as records, departmental finances, budget preparation, personnel issues, and housekeeping, to aid executives.
- Prepare agendas and make arrangements, such as coordinating catering for luncheons, for committee, board, and other meetings.
- Prepare responses to correspondence containing routine inquiries.
- Perform general office duties, such as ordering supplies, maintaining records management database systems, and performing basic bookkeeping work.
- Set up and oversee administrative policies and procedures for offices or organizations.
- Prepare invoices, reports, memos, letters, financial statements, and other documents, using word processing, spreadsheet, database, or presentation software.
- Prepare invoices, reports, memos, letters, financial statements, and other documents, using word processing, spreadsheet, database, or presentation software.
- Conduct research, compile data, and prepare papers for consideration and presentation by executives, committees, and boards of directors.
- Interpret administrative and operating policies and procedures for employees.
- Compile, transcribe, and distribute minutes of meetings.
- Compile, transcribe, and distribute minutes of meetings.
- Supervise and train other clerical staff and arrange for employee training by scheduling training or organizing training material.
- Review operating practices and procedures to determine whether improvements can be made in areas such as workflow, reporting procedures, or expenditures.
- Supervise and train other clerical staff and arrange for employee training by scheduling training or organizing training material.
- Provide clerical support to other departments.
- Answer phone calls and direct calls to appropriate parties or take messages.
- Make travel arrangements for executives.
- Coordinate and direct office services, such as records, departmental finances, budget preparation, personnel issues, and housekeeping, to aid executives.
- Open, sort, and distribute incoming correspondence, including faxes and email.
- Attend meetings to record minutes.
- Open, sort, and distribute incoming correspondence, including faxes and email.
- Read and analyze incoming memos, submissions, and reports to determine their significance and plan their distribution.
- Supervise and train other clerical staff and arrange for employee training by scheduling training or organizing training material.
- Prepare invoices, reports, memos, letters, financial statements, and other documents, using word processing, spreadsheet, database, or presentation software.
- File and retrieve corporate documents, records, and reports.
- Set up and oversee administrative policies and procedures for offices or organizations.
- Conduct research, compile data, and prepare papers for consideration and presentation by executives, committees, and boards of directors.
- Manage and maintain executives' schedules.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")