How To Become A Secretarial Substitute: What It Is and Career Path

What is a secretarial substitute and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a secretarial substitute. For example, did you know that they make an average of $14.36 an hour? That's $29,860 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -8% and produce -286,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreSecretarial SubstituteUS Average

Salary

2.3

Avg. Salary $29,860

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.0

Growth rate -8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.76%

Asian 4.26%

Black or African American 8.94%

Hispanic or Latino 15.78%

Unknown 3.97%

White 66.30%

Gender

female 95.45%

male 4.55%

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 secretarial substitute

Explore secretarial substitute education requirements

Most common secretarial substitute degrees

Associate

33.9 %

Bachelor's

33.9 %

High School Diploma

19.4 %

Start to develop specific secretarial substitute skills

Skills	Percentages
Office Equipment	20.98%
Word Processing	13.73%
Telephone Calls	12.67%
Proofreading	9.03%
Payroll	5.11%

Complete relevant secretarial substitute training and internships

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

Gain additional secretarial substitute certifications

Secretarial substitute 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 secretarial substitute certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for secretarial substitutes include Certified Medical Office Manager (CMOM) and Professional Legal Secretary (PLS).

More About Certifications

Research secretarial substitute duties and responsibilities

Lead DoD team that assist Pakistan in gaining military capabilities to conduct counter-terrorism operations against the Taliban.
Correspond with PTO members and families.
Organize events, meetings for PTO.
Process payroll and organize leave forms by pay period.

Prepare your secretarial substitute resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your secretarial substitute 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 a secretarial substitute resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable secretarial substitute resume templates

Build a professional secretarial substitute 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 secretarial substitute resume.