Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
Business, Management and AdministrationO*NET 43-6014.00United States
Perform routine administrative functions such as drafting correspondence, scheduling appointments, organizing and maintaining paper and electronic files, or providing information to callers.
- Median annual earnings
- $47,246
- Projected change
- +2.9%
- Typical education
- High school diploma or less
- Employment
- 1.96M jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
49.9% of the workforce
Growing to 2.02M by 2035
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These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Answer telephones and give information to callers, take messages, or transfer calls to appropriate individuals.
- Greet visitors or callers and handle their inquiries or direct them to the appropriate persons according to their needs.
- Use computers for various applications, such as database management or word processing.
- Create, maintain, and enter information into databases.
- Operate office equipment, such as fax machines, copiers, or phone systems and arrange for repairs when equipment malfunctions.
- Set up and manage paper or electronic filing systems, recording information, updating paperwork, or maintaining documents, such as attendance records, correspondence, or other material.
- Operate electronic mail systems and coordinate the flow of information, internally or with other organizations.
- Schedule and confirm appointments for clients, customers, or supervisors.
- Compose, type, and distribute meeting notes, routine correspondence, or reports, such as presentations or expense, statistical, or monthly reports.
- Maintain scheduling and event calendars.
- Complete forms in accordance with company procedures.
- Locate and attach appropriate files to incoming correspondence requiring replies.
- Open, read, route, and distribute incoming mail or other materials and answer routine letters.
- Make copies of correspondence or other printed material.
- Review work done by others to check for correct spelling and grammar, ensure that company format policies are followed, and recommend revisions.
- Conduct searches to find needed information, using such sources as the Internet.
- Learn to operate new office technologies as they are developed and implemented.
- Train and assist staff with computer usage.
- Order and dispense supplies.
- Prepare conference or event materials, such as flyers or invitations.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $32,633
- 25th percentile
- $38,361
- 50th percentile
- $47,246
- 75th percentile
- $58,088
- 90th percentile
- $67,721
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $47,246 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+2.9%average or slower
20251,962,389 jobs
2035 projected2,019,750 jobs
57,361 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- High school diploma or less
- 49.9%
- Associate degree
- 22.4%
- Bachelor's degree
- 11%
- Some college
- 10.2%
- Certificate
- 6.5%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Administrative Assistants82,837 postings
- 02Office Coordinators4,631 postings
- 03Secretaries4,498 postings
- 04Office Assistants3,088 postings
- 05Personal Assistants2,733 postings
- 06Project Administrators2,601 postings
- 07Front Office Assistants2,392 postings
- 08Administrative Specialists2,324 postings
- 09Office Clerks2,199 postings
- 10Service Coordinators2,120 postings
- 11Program Administrators1,656 postings
- 12Administrative Support Assistants1,521 postings
- 13Clerical Assistants1,419 postings
- 14Front Office Coordinators1,301 postings
- 15School Secretaries1,285 postings
- 16Administrative Secretaries1,151 postings
- 17Dental Front Office Assistants1,103 postings
- 18Administrative Officers991 postings
- 19Administrative Clerks934 postings
- 20Front Office Medical Assistants908 postings
Top employers
- 01Robert Half7,200 postings
- 02Edjoin.Org1,276 postings
- 03State Of Texas1,113 postings
- 04AppleOne1,077 postings
- 05Beacon Hill Staffing Group899 postings
- 06DaVita870 postings
- 07Randstad844 postings
- 08Aston Carter835 postings
- 09Insight Global730 postings
- 10Lee Hecht Harrison716 postings
- 11ManpowerGroup662 postings
- 12Addison Group657 postings
- 13Kelly Services642 postings
- 14Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania641 postings
- 15Ultimate Staffing593 postings
- 16Adecco532 postings
- 17Herc497 postings
- 18HealthPRO Heritage446 postings
- 19Compass Group431 postings
- 20Express Employment Professionals425 postings
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