How to hire a senior administrative secretary

How to hire a senior administrative secretary, step by step

Here's a step-by-step senior administrative secretary hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a senior administrative secretary job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new senior administrative secretary
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

Post a senior administrative secretary job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a senior administrative secretary, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A senior administrative secretary's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, senior administrative secretaries from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list shows salaries for various types of senior administrative secretaries.

   Type of Senior Administrative Secretary	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Administrative Secretary	Secretaries and administrative assistants perform clerical and administrative duties. They organize files, prepare documents, schedule appointments, and support other staff.	$14-27
   Office Secretary	An office secretary is responsible for performing administrative and clerical duties to ensure the smooth flow of operations and prevent delays with project deliverables. Office secretaries also welcome guests, respond to their inquiries and concerns, and direct them to the appropriate department or personnel for their appointments... Show more	$12-20
   Administrative Analyst	An administrative analyst specializes in analyzing the company's processes and operations to come up with the best practices for the business. Their responsibilities revolve around conducting research and analysis through site inspections, surveys, interviews, and assessments... Show more	$17-38

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Word Processing
   • Dictation
   • IDX
   • Routine Correspondence
   • Travel Arrangements
   • Payroll
   • Database Management
   • Purchase Orders
   • Scheduling Appointments
   • Financial Reports
   • Expense Reports
   • Meeting Minutes
   • Administrative Tasks

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage and coordinate complex internal and external meetings and/or events via videoconferencing, WebEx and teleconference calls.
   • Prepare administrative payroll using Lawson.
   • Supervise student workers including payroll and scheduling.
   • Plan seamless door-to-door international itinerary logistics, and reconcile expenses requiring currency and language conversions in a fast pace environment
   • Increase employee productivity and engagement by implementing eRoom to maintain and share scientific documents.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your senior administrative secretary job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A senior administrative secretary salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, senior administrative secretaries' average salary in maine is 55% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level senior administrative secretaries earn 47% less than senior-level senior administrative secretaries.
   • Certifications. A senior administrative secretary with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a senior administrative secretary's salary.

   Average senior administrative secretary salary

   $42,138yearly

   $20.26 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior administrative secretary salary

   $30,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 14, 2025

4. Writing a senior administrative secretary job description

   A job description for a senior administrative secretary role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a senior administrative secretary job description:

   Senior administrative secretary job description example

   You would be working as a Senior Secretary in the Expeditionary Operations Saint Louis Office. Join our team where we support NGA Military and civilian travelers who need to relocate to support the Mission. Your business acuity and attention to detail will help you multi-task and complete high priority items on time.
   Primary Responsibilities
   
   You'll be working onsite with the customer, making all travel arrangements - both commercial and using DoD assets - to include hotel, air, ground transportation, and cargo. You'll help them support the Mission by scheduling deployers for training, medical, and any other deployment-related appointments.
   
   Basic Qualifications:
   
   * Requires thorough hands-on experience with Defense Travel System (DTS) and a firm understanding of the DoD Joint Travel Regulations (JTR) and policies
   * Must currently possess an active TS/SCI Clearance level security clearance
   * Requires High School Diploma and 6 years' relevant experience, Associate's Degree and 4 years' experience, or Bachelor's Degree and 2 years' experience.
   * Experience supporting administrative requirements at the mid- to- upper management levels of an office.
   * Ability to independently accomplish the advanced administrative tasks with no assistance
   * Strong professionalism with the ability to consistently demonstrate tact and maturity
   * Strong interpersonal and/or soft skills, and office etiquette
   * Strong teaming and collaboration skills that foster office unity and cohesiveness
   * Strong communication skills both verbally and written
   * Proficient working knowledge of office information technology (IT) equipment (e.g., copiers, scanners, facsimile machines, computer workstations, phones, teleconference/video teleconference equipment) with the ability to independently operate such equipment in completing office administrative tasks
   * Proficient working knowledge of MS Office software applications (i.e., Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook: Mail, Calendar, and File Functions) with the ability to use these applications to efficiently complete office administrative tasks
   * Experience with office filing systems (hardcopy and softcopy) using specified format and structure
   * Strong problem solving and time management skills. Must be detailed oriented and possess consistent, mature judgment
   * Able to handle a moderate and demanding workload; efficiently coordinate resources, and reasonably work in a fast-paced environment that may often have competing priorities
   * Good office organization skills that facilitates a neat and orderly presentation of the work environment and administrative activities
   
   Desired Experience
   
   * Prior DoD and/or IC experience working in a related field
   * Prior experience working with the military and understanding of the military services
   * Proficient working knowledge of the following corporate applications:
   * PeopleSoft
   * NCERTS
   * SharePoint
   
   * Working knowledge of Access database
   * Prior experience with the awards and decorations process
   * Working knowledge of DoD correspondence manual
   * Personal deployment history is a huge plus; understanding of the processes of deployment (pre-deployment - deployment - redeployment) and all it entails
   * Working knowledge of DoD File Plan requirements
   * Ability to schedule, coordinate, set-up, and operate Video Teleconference (VTC) equipment, including teleconferences.
   
   This position has a target range for compensation of $68,000 - $75,000.
   
   Pay Range:
   
   Pay Range $50,700.00 - $78,000.00 - $105,300.00
   
   The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.
   
   Covid Guidance for the US
   
   In order to enter Leidos facilities in the U.S. and to attend Leidos events outside our facilities, employees are required to be vaccinated for COVID-19 or maintain proof of a negative COVID-19 test within 96 hours of entry. In addition, we are receiving guidance from certain customers that onsite contractor personnel will need to be fully vaccinated to access customer facilities. If you are not vaccinated, please consider getting your COVID-19 vaccination as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please contact your Talent Acquisition POC.
   
   About Leidos
   
   Leidos is a Fortune 500 technology, engineering, and science solutions and services leader working to solve the world's toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, civil, and health markets. The company's 44,000 employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $13.7 billion for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com.
   
   Pay and Benefits
   
   Pay and benefits are fundamental to any career decision. That's why we craft compensation packages that reflect the importance of the work we do for our customers. Employment benefits include competitive compensation, Health and Wellness programs, Income Protection, Paid Leave and Retirement. More details are available here.
   
   Securing Your Data
   
   Beware of fake employment opportunities using Leidos' name. Leidos will never ask you to provide payment-related information during any part of the employment application process (i.e., ask you for money), nor will Leidos ever advance money as part of the hiring process (i.e., send you a check or money order before doing any work). Further, Leidos will only communicate with you through emails that are generated by the Leidos.com automated system - never from free commercial services (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail) or via WhatsApp, Telegram, etc. If you received an email purporting to be from Leidos that asks for payment-related information or any other personal information (e.g., about you or your previous employer), and you are concerned about its legitimacy, please make us aware immediately by emailing us at [email protected].
   
   If you believe you are the victim of a scam, contact your local law enforcement and report the incident to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
   
   Commitment to Diversity
   
   All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, citizenship, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, family structure, marital status, ancestry, domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Leidos will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with relevant laws.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find senior administrative secretaries for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any senior administrative secretaries they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level senior administrative secretaries with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your senior administrative secretary job on Zippia to find and recruit senior administrative secretary candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit senior administrative secretaries, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new senior administrative secretary

   Once you've found the senior administrative secretary candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new senior administrative secretary first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a senior administrative secretary?