Secretaries provide administrative support for all types of organisations.
£14,000 Starter
to£25,000 Experienced
37 to 39 a week
between 8am and 6pm
You can get into this job through:
You may find it useful to take a course in administration or secretarial skills. Colleges offer full-time and part-time courses, including awards, certificates and diplomas. Useful subjects include:
A common way to become a secretary is to do a business administrator advanced apprenticeship.
You'll usually need:
You could start as an administration assistant and work towards this role.
Employers may be more interested in your computer, telephone and office skills than your formal qualifications, although you may be expected to have some GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) including English.
Volunteering, for example with a charity, could help you to get some relevant experience. It's a good way of developing IT and office skills that are valued by employers.
You could apply directly if you've got relevant skills and experience from working in an office.
You could also do a temping job to get into this kind of role. Temporary jobs can help you to build up your experience and could lead to permanent employment.
You can find out more about becoming a secretary from The Institute of Administrative Management.
You'll need:
Your day-to-day tasks could include:
You could work in an office.
With experience, you could become a personal assistant or office manager.
You could also move into human resources work, or train as a legal or medical secretary.