What is the difference between clerical and secretarial

Unlike the secretary, an administrative assistant may even know the preferences of his or her boss including the personal preferences. An administrative assistant may also be entrusted with the responsibility of long-term projects that is of interest to the boss. However, the boss would not be sharing this responsibility with a secretary.

Instead, the secretary would only be given the task of assisting the administrative assistant in case of any major works. Unlike the secretaries, the administrative assistants supervise other staffs, arrange conferences, review submissions, memos and important reports.

It is the responsibility of the administrative assistants to arrange meetings between the executive members and other various committees. Some of the administrative assistants are also entrusted with preparing statistical reports, which the secretaries are not allowed to do. High school graduates with vocational training in office administration are generally preferred for secretary jobs. On the other hand, a person with a degree is most preferred for an administrative assistant job.

Unlike a secretary, an administrative assistant has the liberty make independent decisions and make independent judgments. The secretary would only be given the task of assisting the administrative assistant in case of any major works. Difference Between Administrative Assistant and Secretary. Typically, they will also be in charge of answering all incoming calls and again be the first point of contact before directing the call to the right person. They can deal with posts, written notes and other correspondence, as well as take messages.

Secretaries will book in diary appointments, either for their direct superior or for a team of people. The bulk of their job is focused around administration: handling all incoming communication, writing letters, typing reports and processing documents, as well as filing. Some secretaries will report back to the administrative assistant of the company.

Tasks of an administrative assistant can, especially in smaller companies, overlap with those mentioned for secretaries. However, the administrative assistant will normally have more responsibilities and have one or more people working under them — normally the secretarial team. For example, rather than just booking in requested appointments, they might be in charge of full diary scheduling and management, deciding which meetings will go where, with the authority to reschedule, prioritise and make changes where needs be.

Their tasks have moved online and the day of paperwork and filing cabinets are a thing of the past. To be skilled in these roles, you need to be moving with the times. Whether it's being fully trained on Microsoft Excel or being able to effectively maintain relationships remotely, the admin assistants and secretaries of today have faced a big learning curve.

They are now a remote, virtual powerhouse, embracing the freedom working from home offers whilst maintaining a productive, professional relationship with the executive or executives they are able to support thanks to modern technology. Thinking of using a virtual secretary service? Read our 5 reasons why you should. Businesses both small and large are increasingly adopting the remote working strategy into their model. The benefits are experienced by both employers and employees alike.

Administrative Assistants perform many basic functions in offices, including:. A secretary, personal assistant, or administrative assistant is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication, or organizational skills.

These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit of more than one. In other situations a secretary is an officer of a society or organization who deals with correspondence, admits new members, and organizes official meetings and events.

A secretary has many administrative duties. Traditionally, these duties were mostly related to correspondence, such as the typing out of letters, maintaining files of paper documents, etc. The advent of word processing has significantly reduced the time that such duties require, with the result that many new tasks have come under the purview of the secretary.

These might include managing budgets and doing bookkeeping, maintaining websites, and making travel arrangements. Secretaries might manage all the administrative details of running a high-level conference or arrange the catering for a typical lunch meeting. Often executives will ask their assistant to take the minutes at meetings and prepare meeting documents for review. A secretary is a clerk whose main job is typing and copying dictations, attending telephone calls and fixing appointments.

Here, I see, most users started describing strategically which seems they did not understand the question asked in singular phase "what is the difference".. Both secretaries and administrative assistants typically work in an office environment.

The office setting differs based on the industry and the standing of the particular company. For example, a secretary or administrative assistant at a manufacturing plant may work in a warehouse and a secretary or administrative assistant for an attorney may work in a high-rise building.

Both secretaries and administrative assistants provide clerical work on some level, with administrative assistants typically providing more advanced and specialized services. An administrative assistants supervise other staffs, arrange conferences, review submissions, memos and important reports.