Secretarial Work

[Secretary99]

I have worked as a secretary all my life, except for a couple of years when I worked for a Law Firm who promoted me to a Case Worker’s role but I made mistakes and ended up being demoted back to a secretarial position.

I want to progress my career and my choices are (a) try to obtain a trainee executive position in law or accountancy etc or (b) aim to get to the top of the PA/Secretarial ‘tree’.

There are very few training opportunities out there at the moment and I don’t have a degree but I am also worried that secretaries will disappear with the advent of ‘virtual secretaries’ and typing being done from India.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[buildersmate]

I can remember back to when secretaries were effectively the typing pool.

I don't agree that secretaries will disappear to be outsourced to India - there will always be a role for a PA who provides a combination of secretarial, small project management for the boss, managing the diary and access to the boss. I don't see how that can be outsourced.

If you are in the same law firm where it didn't work out before, I agree you are perhaps unlikely to get a second bite at the legal aspects.

[Prudie]

I didn't think anyone was called secretary these days. I saw a PA won an unfair dismissal case today and her salary (as PA to CE) was £75K.
I'm a PA (not on that money). Great organisational skills, knowing when to be discreet and understanding the business far outweigh the ability to type. What are your skills above typing?

[chelle7272]

There are still a lot of secretaries in the health industry.
I would think b) would be your best bet of the 2 you give.
I started in admin was then promoted to a PA type role and am now an Operations Manager for the company. There are some opportunities out there. Good organisational skills can be key to efficient running of a business and so are valued.Have a look at what employers are expecting from PA or Office Manager type roles and aim to expand your skills to fit.