Post job

What does a secretary specialist do?

Updated January 8, 2025
6 min read
On this page

Secretary specialist responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real secretary specialist resumes:

  • Manage financial bookkeeping efficiently for the company using QuickBooks.
  • Prepare PowerPoint manuals and make presentations as needed.
  • Prepare legal papers and correspondence of a legal nature, such as wills, complaints, motions and subpoenas.
  • Coordinate travel arrangements in DTS; schedule mode of transportation, prepare trip folders, arrange lodging reservations and develop itineraries.
  • Initiate and monitor requisitions through PeopleSoft for office supplies, laboratory supplies including purchasing lab animals for research and travel reimbursement.

Secretary specialist skills and personality traits

We calculated that 11% of Secretaries Specialist are proficient in Scheduling Appointments, Office Equipment, and Secretarial Support. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Organizational skills, and Writing skills.

We break down the percentage of Secretaries Specialist that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Scheduling Appointments, 11%

    Assisted a team of nurses with care and coordination and scheduling appointments for patients.

  • Office Equipment, 11%

    Operate a variety of office equipment to include: typewriters, word processors, copiers, calculators, computer and printers.

  • Secretarial Support, 10%

    Provided administrative and secretarial support to Division Manager of Manufacturing and staff of 4 functional managers.

  • Telephone Calls, 9%

    Serve as receptionist for Pest Control Licensing Section of the Bureau of Licensing and Enforcement by directing telephone calls to employees.

  • Travel Arrangements, 8%

    Key responsibilities include calendar management, travel arrangements, conferences and preparing correspondence.

  • Database Management, 7%

    Used computers and various applications, that include many different database management or word processing.

"scheduling appointments," "office equipment," and "secretarial support" are among the most common skills that secretaries specialist use at work. You can find even more secretary specialist responsibilities below, including:

Interpersonal skills. One of the key soft skills for a secretary specialist to have is interpersonal skills. You can see how this relates to what secretaries specialist do because "secretaries and administrative assistants interact with clients, customers, or staff." Additionally, a secretary specialist resume shows how secretaries specialist use interpersonal skills: "develop and enhanced skills in areas such as quality improvement, customer service and interpersonal skills. "

Organizational skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling secretary specialist 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 secretary specialist resume, here's how secretaries specialist can utilize organizational skills in their job responsibilities: "recorded meeting minutes, prepared reports and developed documents and visual aids to meet organizational needs. "

Writing skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of secretaries specialist is writing skills. This skill is critical to many everyday secretary specialist duties, as "secretaries and administrative assistants write memos and emails when communicating with managers, employees, and customers." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "provide secretarial support for the director of hotline: preparing and scheduling conferences, writing and typing dictation from minutes. "

See the full list of secretary specialist skills

The three companies that hire the most secretary specialists are:

Choose from 10+ customizable secretary specialist resume templates

Build a professional secretary specialist resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your secretary specialist resume.
Secretary Specialist Resume
Secretary Specialist Resume
Secretary Specialist Resume
Secretary Specialist Resume
Secretary Specialist Resume
Secretary Specialist Resume
Secretary Specialist Resume
Secretary Specialist Resume
Secretary Specialist Resume
Secretary Specialist Resume
Secretary Specialist Resume
Secretary Specialist Resume
Secretary Specialist Resume
Secretary Specialist Resume
Secretary Specialist Resume
Secretary Specialist Resume

Compare different secretaries specialist

Secretary specialist vs. Board of education secretary

Administrator secretaries are assistants to managers or higher officers in charge of administrative tasks. Their responsibilities include liaising with an organization's internal departments and in communicating with the general public. They make arrangements and scheduling of meetings, events, and appointments. Sometimes, they assume tasks in clerical and administrative nature. It is also part of their job to work hand-in-hand with executives, managers, and any other personnel in corporations.

If we compare the average secretary specialist annual salary with that of a board of education secretary, we find that board of education secretaries typically earn a $5,457 higher salary than secretaries specialist make annually.Even though secretaries specialist and board of education secretaries are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require office equipment, secretarial support, and telephone calls in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a secretary specialist are more likely to require skills like "scheduling appointments," "database management," "administrative functions," and "incident reports." On the other hand, a job as a board of education secretary requires skills like "purchase orders," "board meeting minutes," "payroll," and "iep." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Board of education secretaries tend to make the most money working in the finance industry, where they earn an average salary of $37,512. In contrast, secretaries specialist make the biggest average salary, $39,892, in the government industry.board of education secretaries tend to reach higher levels of education than secretaries specialist. In fact, board of education secretaries are 7.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.7% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Secretary specialist vs. Administrator secretary

A receptionist secretary is responsible for providing the best customer service, as well as attending to the needs of existing and potential clients. Duties of a receptionist secretary include managing customer's inquiries and forwarding important calls to the appropriate department, performing administrative and clerical tasks, escalating high-level of client's concerns to the management, keeping the reception area clean, monitoring office supplies and request stocks as needed, and maintaining an organized record of meetings and events. A receptionist secretary must have strong communication and multi-tasking skills to handle workloads of daily operations.

Administrator secretary positions earn higher pay than secretary specialist roles. They earn a $3,635 higher salary than secretaries specialist per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both secretaries specialist and administrator secretaries have skills such as "scheduling appointments," "office equipment," and "secretarial support. "

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that secretary specialist responsibilities requires skills like "incident reports," "law enforcement," "multi-line telephone," and "office machines." But an administrator secretary might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "patients," "customer service," "payroll," and "office procedures."

On average, administrator secretaries earn a higher salary than secretaries specialist. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, administrator secretaries earn the most pay in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $36,398. Whereas secretaries specialist have higher pay in the government industry, with an average salary of $39,892.In general, administrator secretaries achieve similar levels of education than secretaries specialist. They're 0.8% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Secretary specialist vs. Receptionist secretary

A department secretary is responsible for providing administrative and clerical support to a specific department, ensuring smooth operations to maintain high-quality services to the customers and business partners. Department secretaries should have excellent knowledge of office management principles, especially on data processing procedures and customer service processes. They handle the scheduling of meetings and conferences, responding to customers' inquiries and concerns, directing visitors to the appropriate personnel and department, sorting files, and submitting business transactions and financial reports. A department secretary also recommends strategic procedures to generate more revenues and increase the company's profitability.

On average scale, receptionist secretaries bring in lower salaries than secretaries specialist. In fact, they earn a $1,358 lower salary per year.By looking over several secretaries specialist and receptionist secretaries resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "office equipment," "secretarial support," and "telephone calls." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from secretary specialist resumes include skills like "scheduling appointments," "database management," "incident reports," and "law enforcement," whereas a receptionist secretary is more likely to list skills in "patients," "data entry," "phone calls," and "customer service. "

Receptionist secretaries make a very good living in the government industry with an average annual salary of $30,128. On the other hand, secretaries specialist are paid the highest salary in the government industry, with average annual pay of $39,892.When it comes to education, receptionist secretaries tend to earn similar degree levels compared to secretaries specialist. In fact, they're 2.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Secretary specialist vs. Department secretary

Department secretaries typically earn higher pay than secretaries specialist. On average, department secretaries earn a $4,772 higher salary per year.While both secretaries specialist and department secretaries complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like scheduling appointments, office equipment, and secretarial support, the two careers vary in some skills.While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "database management," "incident reports," "law enforcement," and "travel vouchers" are skills that commonly show up on secretary specialist resumes. On the other hand, department secretaries use skills like patients, customer service, data entry, and medical terminology on their resumes.department secretaries enjoy the best pay in the government industry, with an average salary of $36,935. For comparison, secretaries specialist earn the highest salary in the government industry.department secretaries reach similar levels of education compared to secretaries specialist, in general. The difference is that they're 0.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.5% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of secretary specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Browse office and administrative jobs