The Duties Of A Secretary Essay, Research Paper

The Duties of A Secretary

When we enter a law office the first individual we meet is the legal

secretary. She is the one withe responsibility for the correspondence, records,

and other affairs of a.law office. The word ?secretary? reflects its Latin root

secretum (secret), which originally referred to a person who acted as a

confidant, and handled matters of a private nature for his principal. The

executive position or executive secretary is one of major responsibility in

business or government.

First responsibility of a legal secretary each day is open, read, and

note all mail received that day. It is Important in a law office. The mail

often includes legal documents crucial to a certain case that day. She must be

familiar with all standard forms used in the office. Affidavits, bills of sale,

deeds, leases, mortgages, powers of attorney, propositions, and wills.

Tape Shorthand theory means the writing down of dictation from an

employer, and then transcribing the material onto sheets with the aid of

earphones and computer. Every secretary is required to have a skill speed of 80

WPM before graduating, also when taking the civil service exan. In some offices

the dictation is seized by one secretary while the typing is completed by

another. Usually larger offices hire clerk typist. It is important that

secretaries are capable of reading each others shorthand notes.

Every legal secretary works with computers, duplicators, stencil

machines, but the dictaphone is usually the most frequently utilized.

Information must be transcribed quickly, and accurately in attractive form.

Filing systems are important to any secretary. The files at any office

must be maintained in perfect order, so that any file may be located promptly by

any person authorized to use the files. General secretaries often work inside

an organization where company records are maintained by special file clerks

inside a central filing room, but the secretary may still remain responsible for

all the filing.

A secretary must learn the rules of four basic filing systems. The

alphabetic, subject, geographic, and numeric systems. Also the vertical files,

card files, and open shelf files. Files for audimated data pocessing are

required by many firms.

Two remaining basic skills of general and legal secretaries are:

Receptionist, trained to meet and route visitors, customers, salesmen, and

handle nuisance calls. They greet all visiters with the ?red carpet treatment?

by treating them with royalty.

The well-trained secretary who is able to accept responsibilies who is

able to relieve her employer of many management duties is a real valuable

employee to any company.

I studied the secretarial course at BOCES for two years. I understand

the responsibilities of a secretary. The general or legal secretary understands

the basic fundamentals of the work that requires additional ?specialized?

training.

The secretary is trained to fill all these skills, a person who knows many

of the confidential matters of her office.. This stops unnecessary

interruptions, delays, confusions, and clears the employers desk faster.

She understands which phone calls to route immediately to employer or

which file to hold until she can supply him with needed reference material.

Secretary sits in on conferences when a trusted witness is required. Her

manners on the telephone sets the manner of the office. She is an all around

daytime hostess for her employer and also his receptionist. A Secretary must act

as part of employers memory with her instant recollection of the exact location

of filed material. She must prepare an up to date appointment book

Success working at a secretarial career requires special talents and

special schooling. There is no reason why any high school senior can’t enter

the field and become a competent legal, or general secretary.