How to hire a senior secretary

How to hire a senior secretary, step by step

Here's a step-by-step senior 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 secretary job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new senior secretary
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a senior secretary do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the senior secretary you need to hire. Certain senior secretary roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a senior secretary to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a senior secretary that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of senior secretary salaries for various roles:

   Type of Senior Secretary	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Secretary	Secretaries and administrative assistants perform clerical and administrative duties. They organize files, prepare documents, schedule appointments, and support other staff.	$12-19
   Administrative Coordinator	An Administrative Coordinator oversees the line of communication and schedules within a company, ensuring that every necessary information is delivered and conveyed. An administrative coordinator's responsibilities include responding to inquiries and requests from workforce personnel or client, managing calls and correspondence, maintaining and rotating various forms of documentation, and designing or improving systems that would help the company's operating procedures... Show more	$13-26
   Administrative Support	Administrative support specialists provide different types of governmental assistance. They carry out varied clerical duties in almost all industries... Show more	$12-25

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Routine Correspondence
   • Data Entry
   • Telephone Calls
   • Office Equipment
   • Payroll
   • Word Processing
   • Purchase Orders
   • Scheduling Appointments
   • PowerPoint
   • Expense Reports
   • Secretarial Support
   • Provides Administrative Support
   • Meeting Minutes

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage high volume of requests and correspondence from executives and colleagues, pharmaceutical representatives, patients and outside physicians.
   • Prepare PowerPoint presentations, complete statistical reports, and convert reports to various formats.
   • Maintain confidentiality of all payroll documents and office files.
   • Compile and distribute customer updates for payroll software programs and telecommunications networks.
   • Maintain databases, prepare PowerPoint presentations, maintain inventory and requisition supplies for the department.
   • Demonstrate professional integrity and tactful handling of confidential and protect health information according to HIPAA and administrative policy guidelines.

   More senior secretary duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, senior secretaries' average salary in louisiana is 60% less than in hawaii.
   • Seniority. Entry-level senior secretaries earn 35% less than senior-level senior secretaries.
   • Certifications. A senior 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 secretary's salary.

   Average senior secretary salary

   $15.92hourly

   $33,120 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level senior secretary salary

   $26,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average senior secretary salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$40,584	$20
   2	Connecticut	$38,473	$19
   3	New York	$36,494	$18
   4	Washington	$34,633	$17
   5	Oregon	$33,708	$16
   6	Illinois	$32,528	$16
   7	Delaware	$32,409	$16
   8	Massachusetts	$31,876	$15
   9	Pennsylvania	$30,765	$15
   10	North Carolina	$30,232	$15
   11	Ohio	$29,730	$14
   12	Michigan	$29,270	$14
   13	Georgia	$29,225	$14
   14	Texas	$28,915	$14
   15	South Dakota	$26,555	$13
   16	Montana	$26,451	$13
   17	Utah	$26,344	$13
   18	Alabama	$23,643	$11
   19	New Mexico	$23,421	$11
   20	Florida	$21,095	$10

   Average senior secretary salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Columbia University in the City of New York	$45,649	$21.95	15
   2	Santa Rosa City Schools	$38,170	$18.35
   3	Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City	$36,432	$17.52	1
   4	Washington State University	$36,396	$17.50
   5	Cook Children's Medical Center	$36,192	$17.40
   6	City of Pittsburgh	$35,690	$17.16
   7	University of Rochester	$35,365	$17.00	20
   8	Adams & Martin Group	$34,962	$16.81
   9	Naperville School District 203	$34,874	$16.77	4
   10	Goodyear	$34,865	$16.76
   11	Robert Half	$34,759	$16.71	219
   12	Garvey Corporation	$34,732	$16.70
   13	Texas State Teachers Association	$34,453	$16.56	4
   14	University Healthcare Alliance	$34,409	$16.54
   15	University of Pennsylvania	$34,047	$16.37	2
   16	Salem-Keizer Public Schools	$33,759	$16.23
   17	Vidant Health	$33,291	$16.01
   18	South Dakota Board Of Regents	$32,730	$15.74	1
   19	Presbyterian	$32,554	$15.65	8
   20	Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital	$32,320	$15.54	2

4. Writing a senior secretary job description

   A senior secretary job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a senior secretary job description:

   Senior secretary job description example

   Brand New Memory Care Facility on the Glen at Hiland Meadow Campus has a great opportunity for a Sr. Secretary looking for a rewarding working experience while working and caring for elders. This facility is set to open early November
   
   This is a brand new facility providing comfortable, secure living in an environment designed for safety and independence. Programs serve individuals with early to mid-stage memory impairment - those with difficulties that require watchfulness and a supportive environment, but who do not need nursing home care. The center is thoughtfully designed and services are tailored for individuals with memory loss, Alzheimer's disease and other related dementias.
   As a member of our caring, compassionate health care team you will enjoy:
   
   * Work with residents that need assistance with daily living, but not nursing home care
   * Family atmosphere between staff, residents and resident family members alike
   * Leader that is very approachable and strong promoter of team work and team engagement
   * Continual development and education on new techniques and skills
   * Location with an easy commute from Saratoga, Glens Falls, Wilton, Warrensburg and areas of Vermont!
   * Shadow experiences for those interested in getting additional insight on this rewarding opportunity
   
   Responsibilities:
   
   * Processing medical records (contacting physician offices and hospitals,
   * Scanning and organizing documentation for the PACE care team to reference)
   * Coordinating medical appointments, and general support of our primary care clinic medical team.
   * This position is also responsible to work closely with our interdisciplinary team providing general support.
   * Handling incoming calls and requests
   * Organize, maintain and secure electronic medical records in accordance with Agency policies and procedures and regulatory requirements
   
   What you will need:
   
   * Associates degree preferred but not required.
   * High school diploma required and 3-5 years experience.
   * Ideal candidate will have experience working in a medical/healthcare environment.
   * Requires strong organizational skills
   * The ability to be work independently
   * Excellent multitasking skills
   * Good teamwork and communication abilities.
   
   Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
   
   Trinity Health is a family of 115,000 colleagues and nearly 26,000 physicians and clinicians across 25 states. Because we serve diverse populations, our colleagues are trained to recognize the cultural beliefs, values, traditions, language preferences, and health practices of the communities that we serve and to apply that knowledge to produce positive health outcomes. We also recognize that each of us has a different way of thinking and perceiving our world and that these differences often lead to innovative solutions.
   
   Our dedication to diversity includes a unified workforce (through training and education, recruitment, retention, and development), commitment and accountability, communication, community partnerships, and supplier diversity.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find senior 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 secretaries they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level senior 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 secretary job on Zippia to find and recruit senior secretary candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit senior secretaries, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   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 secretary

   Once you've found the senior 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.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new senior secretary. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

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.)

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How much does it cost to hire a senior secretary?