Free Sample
The Complete Guide to Becoming An Executive Secretary and Executive Administrative Assistant
What it really takes to get hired, what you'll actually earn, and how to know if this career is the right fit for you
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: What Does a Executive Secretary and Executive Administrative Assistant Actually Do?
Let's start with the honest version of what an executive secretary or executive administrative assistant does all day, because the job title itself is misleading. "Secretary" makes people think of typing memos and answering phones. "Assistant" makes people think of someone who grabs coffee and books flights. Neither captures the actual work, which is closer to being the operational brain of an executive's work life.
You are the person who makes sure your executive knows where they need to be, when they need to be there, what they need to have read before they walk into a room, and what they need to do after they leave it. You are also the person who keeps everyone else - other executives, clients, your executive's own team - from eating up their time with things that don't matter. That sounds simple until you try to do it while fielding 40 emails an hour, managing a schedule that changed twice since breakfast, and preparing a board packet for a meeting that was just moved up by a day.
Let's get specific about the typical work environment first, because it shapes everything else. Most executive secretaries work in an office, often in a cubicle or a desk just outside the executive's office. The physical closeness is not an accident. You are the gatekeeper. The executive's door may be closed, but your desk is the one people pass by when they want