The career you choose should unlock your potential for achievement on the job and bring about personal growth. This can only occur when your goals, skills, knowledge, and ambitions are matched to the job you select. You should take a personal inventory to determine your interests, strengths, and weaknesses. These factors should be considered in the selection of a job that will enable you to progress into more responsible positions. Above all, choose a job where the atmosphere and pace are comfortable for you and where the job responsibilities are compatible with your abilities.
This chapter will prepare you to make decisions about your initial position and plan your strategies for your job search.
Location
With the growing number of professional centers and business complexes being constructed in the suburbs, secretaries do have choices of either working close to home or traveling. Generally, salaries are higher in the cities than in the suburban districts; however, depending on your values and needs, each location has particular advantages.
Main offices of banks, stores, and government agencies, as well as executive offices and showrooms of large corporations, are usually found in the cities. In these metropolitan areas, employees have the benefit of theater and shopping that usually are not duplicated in outlying districts. The atmosphere is usually more sophisticated; there is greater emphasis on dress code; and more money is spent on food, entertainment, and clothing. In suburban districts, dress is more casual, and living expenses are lower.
You have to search your inner feelings to determine whether you enjoy crowds, usually a part of city life, and the hub of activity rather than the landscaped areas and quiet surroundings usually found in rural towns.
Type And Size Of Office
If you have special interests in music, art, or medicine, which for various reasons you could not pursue as a career field, you might wish to find a job in an industry related to them. For example, an individual who is interested in music might secure employment with a publisher of musical scores; in art, with a museum; and in medicine, with a hospital or clinic. Keep in mind that the most satisfying career for you will be the one that is in harmony with your interests.
In a small office, you will have opportunities to perform a multitude of tasks. However, no matter how skillfully you perform your duties; there is very little room for advancement. Jobs are available in offices of private doctors, dental offices, real estate offices, branch offices of banks, insurance companies, lawyers, and engineers. The atmosphere is usually less rigid and more informal than in the large office where large numbers of personnel are employed and accountable. Although working hours are regulated, the secretary does have more freedom to change work schedules. Depending on where you work, bus service may or may not be available; however, employees usually drive to work where parking space is provided. A disadvantage is that salaries are more related to a company's fixed budget rather than your competence. In large offices, the environment is more structured, lines of authority are clearly defined, and personnel policies are set.
Because of departmental structure, work is specialized. In a traditional setting, the executive secretary may handle the administrative details of mail, record keeping, travel, correspondence, and meetings. In an automated environment, the correspondence and administrative tasks may be handled by specialists.
Opportunities for advancement to supervisory and managerial positions exist as well as horizontal movement to positions in other departments. Other advantages of working for a large firm are the fringe benefits, which include company training programs and tuition-reimbursement plans, company-subsidized cafeterias, bonuses, scholarships for children of employees, credit unions, pension plans, stock-buying privileges, group life insurance, medical benefits, hospitalization, and dental insurance. Frequently, the spouse and children under 19 years of age who are living at home are included in medical insurance plans. These fringe benefits account for approximately 40 percent of company personnel expenses, not including payment of salaries.
Sources of Employment
After you have identified the secretarial career that you wish to pursue, you must plan your job search strategies according to the following steps:
- Develop a network of personal contacts.
- Contact sources of employment.
- Develop your resume.
- Write a letter of application.
- Strengthen your interviewing skills and maintain records of interviews.
- Send thank-you letters.
Friends, Relatives, and Instructors
Let your friends and relatives know that you are seeking a position. Discuss your goals with them and ask them to let you know if a position becomes available in their company or elsewhere. You might ask them to call other acquaintances who might know of openings.
School Placement Offices
Both high schools and college placement offices receive calls from businesses indicating job openings. They also have counsel-ors available to advise students. They are experienced in helping you prepare a resume and telling you about part-time and summer employment in addition to full-time work. They may also be able to make good suggestions for interviewing, particularly if they know something about the firm.
It is advisable to file a portfolio with the placement office. It should contain recommendations from teachers, a personal data sheet, and other credentials. Keep this information current so that your employment status is up-to-date. Executive recruiters who come to the colleges to interview students examine this portfolio.
Advertisements in Newspapers and Professional Magazines
Read these ads regularly. From them, you will soon learn what kinds of employees are needed, where openings are available, and the skills requested. You will also gain insight into salaries offered and even benefits. These advertisements have either a company name and address or are "blind" whereby you respond to a box number or a telephone number. Blind ads are placed to eliminate unqualified applicants.
Answer an ad promptly with a letter of application and a resume. Read carefully for aspects of the job mentioned, such as “savvy and poise,” “high voltage person with grasp of detail,” "ambitious," "highly organized," "good phone personality," "knowledge of Word Perfect 5.1," and "computer literate." Also check to see if anything in the ad makes this company unique, such as a four-day work week.
Employment Agencies
Employment agencies are of two types: public and private. You may register without a fee at a public employment agency by completing an application form, taking a skills test, and being interviewed. Many state agencies are tied into a Job-Bank program where openings are fed into a computer and where a printout is available to anyone who wants it. The state employment agencies are linked together in a network by the U.S. Employment Service.
Private employment agencies charge a fee, usually paid by the employer. They have many leads to good jobs, but use these firms with caution. The jobs that sound great in the ads aren't always available when you get there. Also, guard against being swayed by them to take a job that may not be exactly the kind you want.
Be sure to register with several agencies that serve your field of work. Private agencies service the companies by doing the preliminary screening, testing, and interviewing. Only applicants with the qualifications for the job are sent to the company seeking help. These agencies range in size and some of them "cater" to certain skill areas or fields of work.
Government Service
There are hundreds of thousands of secretarial openings in civil service each year in cities and towns throughout the nation as well as in foreign countries. All of these jobs, except a few, require a competitive examination before appointment. Test results are entered on a list in ranked order of scores. Books written specifically for civil service examinations are available in local bookstores and can help you prepare for these tests. To be eligible for appointment, an applicant must be a citizen of the United States and must meet the minimum age, training, and experience requirements for the position.
Career Placement Registry, Inc.
Students on many campuses may record their personal and academic credentials in an international direct-access database. Employers are able to access information in these databases.
If you with to register, you need to complete a special Student Data Entry Form, submit a one-page typed or printed resume, and send it together with a $15 fee to the Career Placement Registry for six months' service on the online retrieval database, A printout of the computer record created from the form you complete will be sent to you for verification. For more information, you may write directly to CPR, 3202 Kirkwood Highway, Wilmington, Delaware 19808.
Other Sources
The Yellow Pages of the telephone directory can be used to make "cold" calls to personnel departments or employment offices. You may also write a letter of application to companies for which you would like to work. You may enclose a resume with this letter and indicate you will call to determine if a position is available. This call or correspondence might reach the company at an opportune time for you, perhaps the very day when an employee makes known his or her resignation. The job applicant who uses this technique is looked upon as someone with initiative and aggressiveness.
You may also apply directly to a business by walking into a personnel department and filing an application. If there are no openings at the time, your credentials will be filed for later reference; however, it is wise to follow up with an occasional call. Contact as many sources as you believe can help. Do not sit back and wait for things to happen. Conduct an active job campaign.
When you look for a job, you really have to sell yourself very much the way you would sell a product. In this instance, you are the product that you want to sell to a firm so that you can be hired for a specific job. To do so effectively, you must know yourself and evaluate yourself honestly. You sell yourself through a resume, an application letter, and an interview. In each of these processes, you should remember to accentuate your strengths. Let the employer know that you are confident in your abilities to assume the responsibilities of the job.
The Application Letter
The application letter is the first step in securing a position, and it is sent usually in response to an advertisement in the help-wanted section of the paper. Generally it is accompanied by a personal data sheet. This letter should highlight aspects of your background that support your statement that you are the right person for the job.
This letter is the very first impression you make on the recipient. It should be not only neat and visually attractive but an attention-getter," one that establishes a contact. A letter usually has three parts;
- The opening should create interest, state your purpose and where you learned of opening: *'If you are seeking a mature, responsible, creative administrative assistant, as advertised in today's Los Angeles Times, then I am the person for you."
- The body of the letter should contain convincing statements that show how your qualifications, education, and experience meet the employer's requirements. In this section, express a genuine interest in the company and make a positive statement why you would like to work for them; ''I am impressed not only with your products but also with the many activities you support in this city. Working for your company, I know, would be a valuable learning experience." Or, "My work with the elderly, my background in psychology, and my excellent communication skills make me the very logical candidate for the job."
- The closing paragraph should stimulate action by requesting an interview. Indicate that you will call at a particular time to arrange for this: "I would very much like to be interviewed for the position. I will call your office Thurs day morning to speak with you about an appointment. If you wish to reach me before Thursday, my telephone number is (321) 334-5608."
A well-prepared resume is a vital tool for individuals seeking employment. It highlights significant details of a person's history and indicates important personal data, career objectives, educational background, work experience, and special interests and accomplishments. A carefully prepared resume should state just enough about your skills and abilities to impress the prospective employer. The time you spend in collecting, analyzing, and pre paring the data will serve a two-fold purpose; 1) to sell your qualifications as an employee to an employer, and 2) to prepare you for the interview. Once you have organized the data to reflect your strengths, you can then discuss these items with assurance.
Make your resume unique. You want it to stand out among all those submitted by your competitors. One way to accomplish this is to have it printed on a textured beige or ivory-colored paper. To enhance the appearance of your resume, arrange it skillfully by using wide margins and side headings; keep narrative to one side, properly aligned.
If you are a student with limited work experience, a one-page summary is adequate; however, if you have had extensive experience, advanced education, or significant achievements, then do not hesitate to extend your resume to two pages. Some authorities disagree with this; however, vital data should be included if they reflect strengths and information about you that is relevant to the position you are seeking.
As you begin to accumulate pertinent data, develop an “asset list” under the headings; personal data, educational background, work experience, special interests and affiliations, and references. After you have gathered these data, discard those items that aren't relevant to secretarial positions and include everything you believe the employer would be interested in knowing about you. A brief description of each section of the resume follows;
Personal Data: Every resume must include the name of the applicant, address, and telephone number. Federal legislation limits inquiries about age, sex, and marital status. However, if you consider these data pertinent to company needs, include these items. When making this decision, think it through carefully from an employer's viewpoint. Do not include a photograph or such information as height, weight, race, or religious affiliation.
Career Objective: An effective resume should have a specific career focus. You may indicate the position you would seek after a period of time at this company. Be specific in your statement; “To perform as an administrative assistant to an executive in charge of marketing operations where there are opportunities for professional growth.”
Education: If you have a college degree, then it isn't necessary to include high school background. Under this category, include date of graduation, degree or professional certificate earned, major, and courses related to your career choice. Special projects should be included that contributed to your professional development.
In this category, elaborate on the level of skills you have with equipment as well as language fluency.
Usually special honors, awards, or scholarships are earned during the time you are attending school. These items reflect a good image of you and should become part of your resume.
Work Experience: Undoubtedly, prospective employers will read this section carefully to determine if you’re past experience relates to the company's needs. Include internships and cooperative work experience programs. Highlight significant data and use action verbs-such as developed, managed, and headed to de scribe the work you have done.
Use reverse chronological order to list your experience; that is, most recent job first. Include title of job and major duties per formed.
A few words of caution! Do not leave time gaps under the topic headings in your resume. This keeps an employer guessing and might lead to incorrect assumptions,
Special Interests and Affiliations: Your special interests, hobbies, and extracurricular activities also might give the employer an idea about you. For example, holding an office in a professional organization would show leadership abilities. Involvement in community programs might reflect ability to interact with others.
References: References need not be included on the resume. You may simply state furnished on request." When you submit names of individuals as references, select those persons who can speak with authority on your performance, such as employers, instructors, and administrators. Do not give the names of friends or relatives. Before you use an individual's name for reference, obtain permission to do so. You might develop a list of names as references so that you can be selective and suggest different people for different positions.
The Interview
The employment interview is one of the most important steps in getting hired. This is the first time the employer gets a personal impression of you as an individual and as a prospective employee.
Before the Interview
The interview is a two-way communication process during which unsuitable applicants are screened out. You should plan for this interview so that the experience can be beneficial to you, Some guidelines you might pursue before you go on an interview are: researching the company; evaluating your career goals, values, likes, dislikes, strengths, and weaknesses; dressing appropriately; being yourself; anticipating questions; and preparing supplies.
Researching the company: Before the interview, you should gather as much information as possible about the company, its products and services, its potential for growth, the department and opening for which you are being interviewed, and its reputation in terms of employer-employee relations and community activities. You need to know something about the organization so that you can determine how you can be an asset to the company. In addition, your knowledge about the company and comments reflecting how you can contribute to its operations surely will impress the interviewer.
There are several methods to learn about the company. First, try to get the name and title of the person who will interview you. Then read all you can about the company in the annual reports, in the firm's recruiting brochures, in company publications, and product news releases. You might call the public relations department of the company and ask for its literature. If you secured this interview from an employment agency, then ask it for some insight into the company. Another alternative is to check library reference books and business publications such as Dun and Bradstreet reports and Standard & Poor's. You might even call a stockbroker. Finally, read the advertisements in the newspapers.
Information on small firms may be gathered from the local Chamber of Commerce.
Self-evaluation: You should take stock of yourself, what you want in a career, your motivation to achieve, what you have accomplished in previous jobs that demonstrates marketable skills and productivity. Think about your likes and dislikes, and whether your interests match your skills and abilities. Finding out about yourself will help you recognize your own potential. This will enable you to speak with self-confidence about yourself, your interests, and what you have to offer.
Dressing appropriately: Dress conservatively on the day of the interview. Women should avoid excessive jewelry and makeup. Avoid extreme hairstyles. A skirt and blouse, tailored dress, or suit are appropriate. Men should be clean-shaven and dressed in business attire. Jeans will not make a good impression.
Being yourself: You need to be happy working for a company; and, therefore, you ought to be accepted as you really are. How-ever, sometimes it is necessary to modify behavior. For example, you must be friendly, casual, courteous, and professional. Most important, be honest. Remember, the requirements of the job should be matched with a person's talents, desires, and abilities so that both company and employee benefit. The key to a successful interview lies in your ability to convey a positive attitude about yourself.
Anticipating questions: If you anticipate some questions that the interviewer might ask and think about your responses, you might relieve some of your tensions. The interviewer generally is trying to determine self-confidence of applicant, whether career goals are defined, and the interest and enthusiasm that is demonstrated for the position. Other critical behaviors being evaluated are the maturity of individual, self-assertiveness, intelligence, and results orientation.
Questions may be either open-ended or structured, in which specific information is sought. "Ice-breakers" or questions that tend to put the interviewee at ease are generally items that have already been determined during your self-assessment. Typical questions asked during interviews are:
- What can you tell me about your personal background?
- How would you describe yourself?
- Why did you select a secretarial career?
- What do you see yourself doing five years from now?
- What approaches are you going to use to reach your ultimate career goals?
- What are some of your major strengths?
- What are your biggest weaknesses? (Use a strength to answer this and report it as a weakness. For example, if you like to get a job done without procrastinating, state you are impatient at times because you like to get your work out on schedule.
- What skills do you have that you feel need strengthening?
- Do you enjoy working alone or with other people? What courses did you like best in school?
- Your resume shows several short-term jobs. Could you ex plain?
- Your resume indicates several part-time positions while you were going to school. Do you believe these work experiences helped you as an individual? How?
- Why did you leave your last job?
- In selecting your career, did you consider the ease with which you absorbed knowledge in certain subjects? How?
- Why should we consider you for the job? Usually we hire someone with more experience than you have to offer.
- How can you make a contribution to our company?
- What do you know about our company?
The application: When you come to the interview, you might be asked to complete an application form. Use the information from your resume as you respond to the questions. Use a pen, write legibly, and respond to every question. If a question does not pertain to you, indicate that you read this question by responding with "NA," meaning not applicable.
During the Interview
Interviewers begin to evaluate candidates for jobs from the moment they read application letters and resumes or interview the job seeker, whichever is first. On written documents, interviewers look for appearance, arrangement, creativity in writing, initiative, and content. Your measurable skills and aptitudes are given in the resume; therefore, the interviewer determines from this document whether your skills meet the requirements of the position.
However, equally important are the intangible skills and personal qualities that come across during the interview. How do you communicate ideas in speaking? Do you have your own opinions?
Do you ask questions if you need clarification of a statement? Do you listen attentively? Do you establish eye contact? Do you communicate a positive attitude? Factors used to evaluate a prospective employee are personality, maturity, motivation, flexibility, and enthusiasm. In secretarial careers, personal traits and qualifications are essential for success, especially in view of the constantly changing nature of the office, society, and business.
After the Interview
Be certain to thank the interviewer by name for having taken time to see you. If the interviewer doesn't indicate when a decision will be made, suggest that you will call on a certain day to find out if an applicant has been selected for the job.
Follow up the interview with a thank-you note in which you express your interest in the job and the opportunity to work for the company.
Each interview you have should be a learning experience and should lead to more self-confidence. So, don't fret if you don't get the job. Rather, think positively and apply what you learned from the first interview to the next one. Reassure yourself that you are the best qualified candidate for the job.
You might wish to maintain a record of your contacts so that you don't make the mistake of responding to the same help-wanted advertisement more than once.
Once You Have A Job
You will want to keep your job search records on file, even after you have your job, because they represent an ongoing record of business contacts which you will enlarge and use many times during your career. Discard duplicate papers-you only need one good list of the names and addresses and company titles-and keep your file orderly and updated.
Networking means developing business contacts which will keep you in touch with many segments of your industry. By becoming a member of professional associations, by maintaining your contacts with people in your business field, you will learn a great deal. You will also find that, as you gain experience, you will have more and more opportunity to contribute to your field in a professional capacity. In the beginning, you can volunteer to help with simple tasks in your professional organization by doing mailings, gathering news for the monthly bulletin, or making phone calls for special campaigns. Later, as you learn more about your field, you may want to help with programs, lead panel discussions, report on changes in your industry, or hold an office in the club.
Enriching Your Professional Life Is Up to You
There are endless possibilities, and you will discover more and more of these as you go along. Talk with the other people in the office where you get your job. Learn to be a good coworker, and a good friend, by being tactful, useful, and reliable, on the job.
Your coworkers can be helpful in letting you know the expectations of the department, the office style in the little things like who usually takes care of social plans such as birthday lunches and holiday gift exchanges. These are small parts of each working day that you will want to participate in and enjoy with the rest of the office staff. They provide good opportunities for you to get to know the others and to hear from them in an informal way many of the other small details that make up the fabric of office life. By being a good listener, you will be able to learn a good deal that will help you get along well and make a place for yourself in the new group.
Continuing education, whether on-the-job or in a school evenings or weekends, plus the contacts at work and in professional associations will help to enrich your professional life. They will help to provide knowledge and contacts that will help you when you consider a job change, promotion, or expansion of your duties. Secretarial careers can carry you to a great variety of challenging roles in many kinds of work; and with care, your career can be a satisfying, many-sided adventure.