Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants

Provide high-level administrative support by conducting research, preparing statistical reports, and handling information requests, as well as performing routine administrative functions such as preparing correspondence, receiving visitors, arranging conference calls, and scheduling meetings. May also train and supervise lower-level clerical staff.

What you'd actually do

• Manage and maintain executives' schedules.
• Make travel arrangements for executives.
• Prepare invoices, reports, memos, letters, financial statements, and other documents, using word processing, spreadsheet, database, or presentation software.
• Coordinate and direct office services, such as records, departmental finances, budget preparation, personnel issues, and housekeeping, to aid executives.
• Answer phone calls and direct calls to appropriate parties or take messages.
• Prepare responses to correspondence containing routine inquiries.

How you get there

Typical entry-level education: High school diploma. Overall preparation: medium preparation (Job Zone 3 of 5).

The feel of the work

The work is mostly indoors; you're around people constantly; precision matters — small details carry weight. (Compared against the other 818 careers in the guide.)

Working for yourself

About 0.2% of executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants are self-employed.

Who it tends to fit

This work tends to fit people who are organized and detail-focused, take-charge and people-focused.

Related careers

• First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers
• Brokerage Clerks
• Postal Service Clerks
• Postal Service Mail Carriers
• Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks
• Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators

Quick questions

How much does a executive secretaries and executive administrative assistant make?

The median pay is $36.82 per hour — roughly $76,500 a year, with the real range running from about $24.31/hr (10th percentile) to $52.81/hr (90th percentile). Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Do you need a degree to be a executive secretaries and executive administrative assistant?

The typical entry-level education is: High school diploma. Overall preparation level: medium preparation (Job Zone 3 of 5).

What does a executive secretaries and executive administrative assistant actually do all day?

Manage and maintain executives' schedules. Make travel arrangements for executives. Prepare invoices, reports, memos, letters, financial statements, and other documents, using word processing, spreadsheet, database, or presentation software.