Typical Career Progression in a large corporation
|
|
Position
|
Remuneration
|
Experience
|
Education
|
|
Start Position
|
Secretary
|
$38k to $45k
|
0 to1 year
|
Certificate/Diploma
|
|
1st Promotion
|
Secretary
|
$40k to $45k
|
Over 1 year
|
Certificate/Diploma
|
|
2nd Promotion
|
Team Secretary
|
$45k to $55k
|
3+ years
|
Certificate/Diploma
|
|
3rd Promotion
|
Personal/Team Assistant.
|
$50k to $65k
|
5 + years
|
Diploma or Degree
|
|
4th Promotion
|
Executive Assistant.
|
$65k to $75k + bonus
|
7 + years
|
Diploma or Degree
|
*Leading Salary Survey
Typical Accountabilities & Responsibilities
|
Secretary
|
General lower end administrative duties, typing, filing, word processing, working within a secretarial pool or as a junior to a more senior secretary, general menial duties
|
|
Secretary
|
As above, but assigned tasks more important, with tighter deadlines, higher expectations, greater complexity, PowerPoint, Excel tasks. May work for 2 people. Speed and accuracy essential
|
|
Team Secretary
|
As above, but works as support administration for up to 5 people. Proficient with all forms of typing, dictation, great speed accuracy, creates letters from scant briefs, maintains registers, and begins to stretch into assistant function.
|
|
Personal/Team Assistant.
|
More a PA to 3 senior people, highly capable, types, dictation, even shorthand, mistake-free output, thinks in advance, organiser of diaries, events, screens away intruders, can perform all administrative functions, diary management, drafts and reviews letters. Tends to stay within business relationship.
|
|
Executive Assistant.
|
A one to one relationship, managing and assisting the most senior executive, politician, celebrity or public figure, reducing their workload, draft and review letters, conducts research, diary management, arranges conference calls, meeting, travel arrangements and itinerates, runs personal errands. Delegates general typing to others. Manages both business and personal details.
|
Career Path options & Employment
Relevant experience is required for the job of an executive assistant. You need to demonstrate a history of progression from entry level administration to more senior administrative roles, each one increasing in scale and complexity, or multiple executives to a Personal Assistant and finally Executive Assistant.
The speed of your progression is dependent on your performance. You must have personal rapport with your executive, and your ability to begin to complete their sentences will signal you are combining well. Your personal appearance/grooming and general demeanour must be of the highest order. Being discreet in dealing with confidential information is mandatory. Failure to excel any of these areas will derail your career as an EA.
Once you are in this career you are likely to find it hard to leave, as it forms close working relationships. But if you hold a commercially related degree and enjoy a reputation for efficiency, you can turn to other business functions such as marketing, advertising and human resources. Changing careers from corporations to entertainment, personality and public figure management, establishing your own EA temp business contracting out experienced EA’s or managing a suite of ‘virtual’ offices are all real alternatives.
For a change of pace, try the specialist medical practitioners and barristers - an interesting, time-poor group of professionals who always need a good EA.
About the Author
.jpg)
Helene Aitken
Helene has almost 20 years commercial experience across a diverse cross section of industry including nursing, accounting, banking, government, tax, overseas aid, and investment capital. She has assisted in a start up business and held senior secretarial positions in marketing, sales, and legal. Her current role is EA to the CEO of Kimberly Clark Australia, manufacturers of Kleenex and Huggies
Did you know the least used letter in the alphabet is the letter Q?