How To Become An Administrator Secretary: What It Is and Career Path

What is an administrator secretary and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Anne McConnell Ph.D.

Administrative secretaries are essential staff in various settings from healthcare and education to business or government organizations, and so on. They perform clerical duties in office environments, scheduling appointments, doing data entry, filing documents, and creating reports for management's use.

Secretaries nowadays run under a number of pseudonyms such as personal assistant, office manager, administrator, and the like. And along with the evolution of the nomination, duties also have begun to shift, allowing secretaries to become more and more involved in business operations.

Most high-level executive decision-makers currently would be lost without their secretaries. They are the ones who arrange meetings and oversee communication, manage databases, and handle bookkeeping. Not to mention their crucial importance in representing a company, as secretaries are most likely a client or potential business partner will get in first contact with.

What general advice would you give to an administrator secretary?

Anne McConnell Ph.D.

Professor, West Virginia State University

I would say it's important to be very attentive to the way you communicate with your employers, managers, and co-workers. Even sending an e-mail can be an opportunity to demonstrate your professionalism and communication skills. Some people think that no one knows how to write anymore, or how to communicate in a professional way. I don't think that's true. But we don't always think about how our writing can be a tool to communicate our competence and seriousness. If you know how to write and communicate professionally-which college grads do-then make sure to demonstrate that in the workplace.

ScoreAdministrator SecretaryUS Average

Salary

2.7

Avg. Salary $34,336

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.0

Growth rate -8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.73%

Asian 3.80%

Black or African American 9.10%

Hispanic or Latino 15.94%

Unknown 3.87%

White 66.57%

Gender

female 94.25%

male 5.75%

Age - 52

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 52

Stress level

6.0

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.4

Complexity level is basic

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an administrator secretary

Explore administrator secretary education requirements

Most common administrator secretary degrees

Bachelor's

36.6 %

Associate

30.7 %

High School Diploma

16.4 %

Start to develop specific administrator secretary skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	9.67%
Routine Correspondence	9.28%
Customer Service	7.97%
Telephone Calls	5.97%
Payroll	5.86%

Complete relevant administrator secretary training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New administrator secretaries learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an administrator secretary based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real administrator secretary resumes.

Gain additional administrator secretary certifications

Administrator secretary certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific administrator secretary certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for administrator secretaries include Word 2010 Certification and Certified Medical Office Manager (CMOM).

More About Certifications

Research administrator secretary duties and responsibilities

Manage fireworks inventory through QuickBooks and process customer wholesale orders.
Maintain internal and external SharePoint team sites.
Proofread material for accuracy, correct punctuation, spelling and grammar.
Draft, proofread, and distribute correspondence, reports, and presentations.

Prepare your administrator secretary resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your administrator secretary resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an administrator secretary resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable administrator secretary resume templates

Build a professional administrator secretary resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your administrator secretary resume.