What does a principal secretary do?
Principal secretary responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real principal secretary resumes:
- Manage high volume of requests and correspondence from executives and colleagues, pharmaceutical representatives, patients and outside physicians.
- Maintain compliance with HIPPA law.
- Work closely with Medicare and Medicaid.
- Maintain confidentiality laws of HIPAA and OSHA.
- Create spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations for faculty meetings on behalf of the principal.
- Prepare charts, vital sight, injections, EKG, phlebotomy, fill prescriptions and hospital admitting.
- comply with HIPAA regulations, maintain cleanliness of facility, scan/fax/email following correct protocol
- Manage high volume of requests and correspondence from executives and colleagues, pharmaceutical representatives, patients and outside physicians.
- Monitor and initiate requisitions through PeopleSoft for office supplies, laboratory supplies including lab animals for research and travel reimbursement.
Principal secretary skills and personality traits
We calculated that 16% of Principal Secretaries are proficient in Purchase Orders, Schedule Appointments, and Office Equipment. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Organizational skills, and Writing skills.
We break down the percentage of Principal Secretaries that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Purchase Orders, 16%
Prepare purchase orders while maintaining accurate inventory then distributing to appropriate departments.
- Schedule Appointments, 13%
Schedule appointments for teacher observations.
- Office Equipment, 8%
Contacted outside services for office equipment repair as needed.
- Financial Reports, 6%
Prepare the monthly financial reports for the Director of Finance for review.
- Word Processing, 6%
Prepared invoices, reports, memos, and other documents, using word processing, spreadsheet or other database.
- Administrative Tasks, 5%
Performed a variety of secretarial and administrative tasks.
Common skills that a principal secretary uses to do their job include "purchase orders," "schedule appointments," and "office equipment." You can find details on the most important principal secretary responsibilities below.
Interpersonal skills. The most essential soft skill for a principal secretary to carry out their responsibilities is interpersonal skills. This skill is important for the role because "secretaries and administrative assistants interact with clients, customers, or staff." Additionally, a principal secretary resume shows how their duties depend on interpersonal skills: "utilized adept interpersonal and communication skills, providing clients with exemplary customer service experiences. "
Organizational skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling principal secretary duties is organizational skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "secretaries and administrative assistants keep files, folders, and schedules in order so that an office runs efficiently." According to a principal secretary resume, here's how principal secretaries can utilize organizational skills in their job responsibilities: "maintained business unit organizational charts using powerpoint. "
Writing skills. principal secretaries are also known for writing skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to principal secretary responsibilities, because "secretaries and administrative assistants write memos and emails when communicating with managers, employees, and customers." A principal secretary resume example shows how writing skills is used in the workplace: "performed administrative functions such as filing, writing, editing, and preparing correspondence. "
The three companies that hire the most principal secretarys are:
- Jeffrey C Still Middle School
2 principal secretaries jobs
- DUNLAP CO/THE1 principal secretaries jobs
- Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 251 principal secretaries jobs
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Principal secretary vs. Staff assistant
A staff assistant is a company employee who is tasked to support and help staff members to adequately fill their roles and assuring that the organization is running efficiently. Working under an administrative supervisor, an assistant's tasks include answering phone calls, scheduling meetings or appointments, and booking the necessary travels. Moreover, an assistant should have excellent skills in written and verbal communication and is highly organized with minimal supervision. An assistant may be able to work in a wide variety of settings, which includes healthcare facilities and government offices.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, principal secretary responsibilities require skills like "purchase orders," "schedule appointments," "office machines," and "secretarial support." Meanwhile a typical staff assistant has skills in areas such as "customer service," "patients," "data entry," and "veterans." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Staff assistants really shine in the professional industry with an average salary of $50,475. Comparatively, principal secretaries tend to make the most money in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $34,292.The education levels that staff assistants earn slightly differ from principal secretaries. In particular, staff assistants are 4.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a principal secretary. Additionally, they're 1.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Principal secretary vs. Assistant
An assistant intern is responsible for facilitating administrative and clerical tasks as assigned by the management. Assistant interns' duties include keeping records of meetings, receiving calls and handling customer inquiries, assisting on writing reports and data entry processing, cooperating and providing support for business events, and adhering to company policies and regulatory procedures. Successful assistant interns must have excellent time-management, multi-tasking, and communication skills. They must be a team player and fast-learner to handle various tasks in the corporate industry.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, principal secretary responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "purchase orders," "schedule appointments," "financial reports," and "clerical support." Meanwhile, an assistant has duties that require skills in areas such as "patients," "customer service," "patient care," and "cpr." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, assistants earn a higher salary than principal secretaries. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, assistants earn the most pay in the education industry with an average salary of $39,026. Whereas principal secretaries have higher pay in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $34,292.In general, assistants achieve similar levels of education than principal secretaries. They're 2.4% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Principal secretary vs. Manager's assistant/administrative assistant
A manager's assistant, or administrative assistant, is responsible for providing support to the management by performing administrative and clerical tasks as needed. Some of the administrative assistant's duties include receiving and responding to customer's inquiries and concerns through e-mail, phone calls, and personal visits, scheduling meetings or important events, generating operations reports, keeping records of the company's expenses, and monitoring office supplies. An administrative assistant must have exceptional work ethics and time-management skills, as well as the ability to multi-task to perform multiple tasks under minimal supervision.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from principal secretary resumes include skills like "schedule appointments," "clerical support," "office procedures," and "office machines," whereas a manager's assistant/administrative assistant is more likely to list skills in "inventory control," "customer service," "loss prevention," and "customer inquiries. "
Managers's assistant/administrative assistant earn the best pay in the manufacturing industry, where they command an average salary of $45,900. Principal secretaries earn the highest pay from the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $34,292.When it comes to education, managers's assistant/administrative assistant tend to earn similar degree levels compared to principal secretaries. In fact, they're 2.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Principal secretary vs. Office manager/administrative assistant
An office manager, also known as an administrative ssistant, is responsible for overseeing the workflow in an office or department. An office manager's duties mostly revolve around performing clerical tasks, such as organizing and maintaining accurate schedules and documentation, obtaining office supplies and equipment, arranging meetings and appointments, preparing reports and evaluations, and handling calls and other forms of correspondence. Furthermore, an office manager serves as the contact person for different departments. Therefore it is crucial to maintain an active line of communication and coordination at all times.
Updated January 8, 2025











