How To Become A General Secretary: What It Is and Career Path

What is a general secretary and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The average general secretary salary is $48,566. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an business major. It usually takes 1-2 years of experience to become a general secretary. General secretaries with a Word 2010 Certification certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -8% and produce -286,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreGeneral SecretaryUS Average

Salary

3.8

Avg. Salary $48,566

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.0

Growth rate -8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.73%

Asian 3.84%

Black or African American 9.33%

Hispanic or Latino 16.33%

Unknown 3.87%

White 65.90%

Gender

female 60.50%

male 39.50%

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 a general secretary

Explore general secretary education requirements

Most common general secretary degrees

Bachelor's

51.8 %

Master's

16.1 %

Associate

9.5 %

Start to develop specific general secretary skills

Skills	Percentages
Word Processing	15.85%
Payroll	10.64%
Meeting Minutes	6.15%
Telephone Calls	5.31%
Travel Arrangements	4.84%

Complete relevant general secretary training and internships

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

Research general secretary duties and responsibilities

Process sales and manage accounting with Quickbooks software.
Maintain calendar, schedule and assist in preparation of VIP visits and office calls.
Verify money order receipts for deposit purposes; light use of QuickBooks to void checks.
Supervise staff of 22 human resource specialists responsible for payroll, compensation, union negotiations, inspections, awards and evaluations.

Prepare your general secretary resume

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

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Choose from 10+ customizable general secretary resume templates

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