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

What is an executive secretary and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Executive secretaries are highly skilled professionals who provide administrative support to top executives in an organization. They conduct research, manage schedules, and provide efficient and effective assistance. These secretaries are highly skilled administrative workers and are experienced in reviewing information, crafting reports, booking travel, scheduling meetings, and supervising other administrative staff. These secretaries can be a lifeline for their executives, as they help them do their job more efficiently while they handle further day-to-day details.

Unlike entry-level secretarial or office assistant jobs, which are sometimes available to high school graduates, executive secretary positions go to higher-level employees who often have post-secondary or vocational training and experience. Some of the basic skills considered necessary for all secretaries include communication, writing, and word processing proficiency. Employers are also increasingly looking for candidates with knowledge of computer software, spreadsheets, desktop publishing, and other computer-related skills. Executive secretaries generally need strong project coordination, Internet research, and interpersonal relations skills.

The reported average annual salary for an executive secretary is approximately $59,340. However, this figure can vary significantly depending upon academic qualification, having previous experience, and possession of the aforementioned skills

ScoreExecutive SecretaryUS Average

Salary

3.6

Avg. Salary $46,594

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

3.6

Growth rate -8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.40%

Asian 5.00%

Black or African American 7.62%

Hispanic or Latino 11.22%

Unknown 4.80%

White 70.97%

Gender

female 92.26%

male 7.74%

Age - 51

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 - 51

Stress level

3.6

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.7

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.9

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an executive secretary

Explore executive secretary education requirements

Most common executive secretary degrees

Bachelor's

44.0 %

Associate

27.0 %

High School Diploma

14.1 %

Start to develop specific executive secretary skills

Skills	Percentages
Office Procedures	9.02%
Payroll	8.50%
Word Processing	8.26%
PowerPoint	7.90%
Financial Statements	6.37%

Complete relevant executive secretary training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New executive 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 executive secretary based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real executive secretary resumes.

Research executive secretary duties and responsibilities

Manage specific projects from start to finish as required by the SVP.
Manage high volume of requests and correspondence from executives and colleagues, pharmaceutical representatives, patients and outside physicians.
Assist in daily typing of correspondence to agencies regarding Medicare and Medicaid contracts.
Maintain all the student records in PowerSchool and generate report cards with accuracy.

Get executive secretary experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become an executive secretary. The most common roles before becoming an executive secretary include administrative assistant, secretary team lead and office manager.

Prepare your executive secretary resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your executive 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 executive 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 executive secretary resume templates

Build a professional executive 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 executive secretary resume.