How to Become a Secretary: Career Guide, Courses, After 12th, Jobs, Scope, Salary

How to Become a Secretary: Quick Facts

The Secretary’s career is the dream of many graduates. Some quick facts to look at before discussing further about this career in detail.

What does the Secretary do?

Secretaries perform routine administrative and authoritative obligations. They arrange records, plan documents, schedule appointments, and back up other staff.

Secretaries play out an assortment of administrative and authoritative obligations that are important to run an association productively. A portion of their job duties included

• They use Computer softwares to make accounting pages; oversee information bases; and get ready introductions, reports, and archives.
• They additionally may negotiate with vendors, purchase supplies, and oversee stockrooms or corporate libraries.
• Secretaries additionally use videoconferencing, fax, and other office hardware.
• Answer phones and take messages or transfer calls
• Timetable arrangements and update occasion schedules
• Arrange staff meetings and handling approaching and active mail and faxes
• Plan reminders, invoices, or different reports
• Edit documents and Keep up information bases and recording frameworks, regardless of whether electronic or paper
• Perform fundamental accounting

Steps to follow to become a Secretary

To become a Secretary, you have to make a strategy. Below we have shared some steps which will give you a brief idea about what points to consider while preparing yourself for this profession.

• Decision Making: The initial step is to ensure that you truly want to seek after this career. Make sure to train your mind in which sector you wanna take forward your Secretary career. As there are various segments in an economy which require Secretary. Students, interested about how to become a Secretary, should start their preparations right from their secondary education. They need to pick commerce stream that would assist them with pursuing their career over the long term Getting admission in recognised colleges or Universities in relevant specializations (for example,CS, B.Com, MBA, ) would assist them with channelizing their career as a Secretary the correct way.
• Subject Choices: To become a Secretary, candidates have started practicing themselves up from their schools. Although, there is no such requirement of subject combination for becoming a Secretary. Business, Economics, Financial & Strategic Management and so on are some relevant topics that they should study at the higher secondary level to students who wish to become a Secretary in the future. The most preferred and usual degree is CS which is held by 15% of the secretary job holders found today in every sector.
• Entrance Exam Preparation: Entrance exams are conducted for CS courses although these courses come under some programs like BBA, B.Com etc. Preparing for the entrance test is one of the important steps that need to be successfully accomplished in the journey to becoming a Secretary. Admission to most of the institutes is on the basis of entrance test results. Hence, candidates can start their preparation for the entrance exams along with their schooling
• Selecting Correct Colleges: The next step towards becoming a Secretary would be to choose the right college. The secretarial course is also provided online by many platforms by providing certification or diploma courses in it. A student according to its requirement can opt for the same. Generally, private colleges provide ample platforms for aspiring secretarial students, hence there are many privately owned institutions that offer certificate, diploma and UG courses in Secretary. The popular colleges where you can find good Secretary courses are Institute of Company Secretaries of India, Indian School of Business, Siddharth Academy, St. Joseph’s College Bangalore, Shri Ram College of Commerce, etc.
• After Qualifying Exam: After completing their undergraduate course they can go for jobs in different companies. They can even pursue higher education to specialize in a particular field. As per admission processes at most institutes, students must first qualify for the entrance examination round. They must meet the college cut-offs before going further to the next round. The process consists of group discussions followed by a PI. For doctorate level courses, a research proposal is also required to be submitted.

Types of Secretaries

Secretaries and clerical specialists perform routine administrative and regulatory obligations. They coordinate attendance, prepare records and documents, schedule meetings and appointments, and support other staff. Some of the major classifications among the Secretaries are listed below.

• Administrative Secretary: A variety of clerical and administrative duties are performed by administrative secretaries to run various organisations. The tasks of an Administrative Secretary incorporate arranging and booking appointments and meetings, overseeing projects, sorting out and keeping up paper and electronics records, directing research and disseminating data by utilizing mail administrations, phone, email, sites. They fill in as a correspondence and data directors for an office and may deal with travel and guests arrangements also. Generally administrative secretaries work in clinics, schools, government offices, corporate settings or clinical and lawful workplaces. Their average salary is around INR 3 LPA to INR 5 LPA
• Real Estate Secretary: Real estate secretaries can get opportunities to work in the land division of speculation banks. Authoritative help is given by a real state secretary to lawyers and other lawful experts. You need to play out specific obligations when you become a real estate secretary. The obligations incorporated are preparing cost reports, organizing meetings, planning travel agendas, and making, drafting and altering a few land archives, for example, deals records, buy and deal contracts, letter of expectation, leases, displays and closings. Prior to applying for the post of real estate secretary simply look at whether you force every one of the soft abilities needed for this position. The average salary for such professionals ranges around INR 5 LPA.
• School Secretary: At most of the schools, the secretary assumes a vital part in communicating with local area individuals and guardians about what's going on at school. It's a duty of a school secretary to offer regulatory help in school. A portion of the duties of the school secretary involve dealing with authoritative subtleties, taking care of school correspondence, and booking arrangements on an everyday basis. This makes a school secretary an excellent source of information for parents. The average salary ranges from INR 5 LAP to INR 8 LPA.
• Office Secretary: Office secretaries utilize different office supplies like printers, fax machines, videoconferencing, scanners and phone frameworks. However, they likewise use computers to play out specific tasks that are recently taken care of by administrators and experts like oversee information base, make correspondence, and make accounting pages, reports, archives and introductions utilizing computerized illustrations and work area distributing programming. Likewise they need to inspect and keep up rented types of gear, recover information from different sources, purchase supplies, negotiate with vendors and manage areas such as corporate libraries or stockrooms. The average salary for office secretary ranges form INR 5 LPA to INR 7 LPA
• Executive Secretary: The executive secretary, also called administrative associate or assistant, needs to play out various regulatory obligations. Generally, the duties of an executive secretary are related to correspondence, for example, the composing of letters. An executive secretary of the city is at risk for dealing with data courses through division and ensuring completion by providing all material to the right individual. Many of the executive secretaries straightforwardly work for chairman, city director, division supervisor, or different authorities in the regional government structure. Additionally they are answerable for addressing the authorities at events or meetings. The average salary ranges from INR 4.5 LPA to INR 8 LPA
• Legal Secretary: A legal secretary is a person who works in the legal profession specially for helping lawyers. They are likewise called as executive assistants or administrative assistants.Their assignments are to perform every day administrative works fundamental for the proficient activity of a legal office. Aside from the common recording, correspondence, composing and telephone noting duties, a legal secretary ought to have particular abilities remarkable to the legal profession. The majority of the legal secretaries get opportunities in legal offices. However, the average salary ranges from INR 3.5 LPA to INR 6 LPA.

How to Become Secretary in India

Indian students have access to certificates, diplomas and full-time degree programmes in Corporate Secretaryship. Students can also enrol in a related specialisation like Secretarial Practice or Public Administration to make a career in Corporate Secretaryship. A brief description of how to prepare to become a Secretary is done below.

School Level Preparation

• At the school level, there are no specific subject combinations or streams necessary to pursue.
• Those who want to become a Secretary have to study business, economics, finance for higher secondary level in school.
• They have to qualify an entrance test to get admission into a Bachelor’s degree program in secretary or a relevant field.
• Students can start their preparation for the entrance tests by taking admission in the various coaching institutes
• Apart from that the students can also practice the last year paper and the different sample papers or mock tests released by the examination authorities.
• For Bachelor program the eligibility criteria is applicable for both Merit based or Entrance based tests
• The students must have cleared the last qualifying examination which is Class 12th boards.
• In order to get admission in Bachelor the minimum aggregate is 50% from a recognized board

How to become Secretary after 12th?

After completing school education, you can now take up a short term professional course in the related domain. Full-time degree programmes will be taught in 2- 4 years. Elaborated below is how to prepare for a PG and UG program

Undergraduate Preparation 

• At the UG level, candidates aspiring to become a Secretary should first focus on clearing the entrance exams and getting admitted in a bachelor’s degree course.
• It can be any B.Com or BBA course. The students can also enroll in the alternative courses such as accounting, marketing subjects etc
• Students along with their undergraduate courses should focus on developing deep understanding on various skills.
• Students should try to maintain at least 45%-50% overall score during their UG course.
• Students opting for the master's courses should start preparing for the CAT exams.

Post Graduation Preparation

• After the completion of the bachelor course the students can take admission by taking the CAT or other related entrance test
• Earning a Masters degree in secretaryship field also allows graduates to apply for tenure track positions at colleges and universities alongside Senior Position in an Organization
• The eligibility criteria for Master's or MBA is at least 50% minimum aggregate in Bachelor from a recognized college by UGC .
• They also have to qualify CAT entrance tests for admission
• The students should put in much more effort for the CAT test because each year only 15-20 % of the students are able to clear the entrance test
• They must select their domain or field according to their strengths and preferences.
• Various colleges tie up with different corporate associations and conduct internships, assignments through which candidates can real time experience
• After completing your UG degree and before opting for a job or higher education, it would be beneficial for you if you practice your skills along with an internship to secure yourself for a better salary package.

Courses to become a secretary

The reputed certification of Secretaries courses is given by the Institute of Corporate Secretaries of India.

ICSI

Their ICSI course is conducted in three levels as ICSI Foundation, ICSI Intermediate and ICSI Final. Admissions in ICSI can be done directly to Intermediate courses if the candidate is a graduate. If the candidate passes out of 10+2 then they can take admission in the foundation course. ICSI exams are conducted twice a year mainly in June and December.

ICSI: Admission Process

Admission to ICSI is based on Entrance Exams at various levels. Below given is an overview about the admission process at different levels.

ICSI Foundation 

If you need to get admission for the CS Foundation test in the month of December or June, you should apply for the same in the month of March or September of that every year.

ICSI Executive 

• Those who have registered for May month are eligible to appear for any one module of the executive exam in December. Whereas, students who have registered for November can appear for either of the modules in the month of June every year.
• You can appear for both the modules of the ICSI Executive exam in December if you register before February month.
• If you want to appear for June month, you must apply for the executive programme latest by the month of August of the last year.

ICSI Professional

• If you want to appear for all the modules of the Professional exam in the month of December, you will have to register before the end of February month.
• However, if you wish to appear for June, you must apply before the end of August of the last year.
• It is also possible to appear for single modules of the ICSI exams in December if you apply before the end of May the same year.

ICSI: Eligibility Criteria 

• ICSI Foundation: Students applying for the foundation Course after 10+2 will have to register for the Foundation Programme. Candidates from science, commerce as well as arts can apply for the course.
• ICSI Executive: If they seek an executive course after graduation they can apply straight away for the Executive Programme and continue with their Professional Programme after pursuing graduation in any field except from fine arts.
• ICSI Professional: Students who have not passed the executive course after graduation or those who have not passed the foundation and executive course after 10+2 will not be allowed to pursue the Professional Programme.

Diploma in Secretarial Practice

Diploma in Secretarial Practice is a certificate level course on office management which focuses on topics like secretarial level help and the executives. The course admits candidates on the basis of merit.

Diploma in Secretarial Practice: Admission Process

Diploma in Secretarial Practice admissions are based on merit. At least 50% marks in 10+2, or other equivalent exams. Some institutes also accept students who have completed their 10th standard.

Diploma in Secretarial Practice: Eligibility Criteria

• A student must have completed their 10 or 10+2 with at least 50% marks to be eligible for this course

Diploma Office Administration

Diploma in Office Administration is a momentary certificate level program gaining practical experience in the organization of office work. It is additionally offered as part time and online courses in certain universities and establishments. The course assists the students with inhibiting the complex administration of regulatory work data.

Diploma Office Administration: Admission Process

• Admission to Diploma in Office Administration programme is done on the basis of merit marks gained in Class 10th or Matriculation.
• There is no need for any entrance tests for the admission into the Diploma program.

Diploma Office Administration: Eligibility Criteria 

• Students with a minimum aggregate of 45% and above from a recognized board should have passed Class 10.
• Those who are appearing for their final examination in class 10 can also qualify for this course.

BCom Corporate Secretaryship

BCom in Corporate Secretaryship is a full-time, regular, long term course in the part of the branch of commerce. The primary focus point of the course is to prepare students in corporate administration, with excellence in secretarial practices and company laws. B.COM in Corporate Secretaryship is offered in universities like Alpha Arts and Science College, Erode Arts and Science College-Autonomous, Kakatiya University etc.

B.Com Corporate Secretaryship: Admission Process

Admission to B.Com in Corporate Secretaryship depends on merit. Every year, the college announces a particular cut-off, and the merit list is prepared according to the mark, acquired by the candidates in their higher secondary 10+2 examinations.

B.Com Corporate Secretaryship: Eligibility Criteria 

• Higher Secondary (10+2) or any equivalent qualification, completed from a recognized board
• At least 45% marks at the 10+2 exam.
• Candidates from a commerce education background will be given preference.

BA Public Administration

BA Public Administration is a college degree program that broadly manages the investigation of different ideas relating to Administration, Public Services, Public Organizations, and the Constitutional framework.Admissions are done on the basis of entrance tests.

BA Public Administration: Admission Process

• Admission to the course is offered either based on the score acquired by an applicant in any significant entrance test or on merit.
• In merit-based admission, marks acquired by an applicant in the qualifying examinations are considered for offering admission in this program.

BA Public Administration: Eligibility Criteria 

• Students who wish to pursue a BA Public Administration course must have passed their 10+2 examinations from a recognized board with a minimum of 45%-50% marks.

How to become a Secretary Abroad

Pursuing a Secretarial Course abroad to become a Secretary is one of the most sought after professions, one does not have to worry much about their future if they become Secretary. The level of difficulty of the various courses is almost similar to what it is in india.

USA

The United States of America is an ideal and the most recommended one for education. As the universities can be brought about by working or gaining from businesses or firms. Secretarial courses in the USA are offered by presumed and notable colleges. Salary for graduated candidates is known to be genuinely acceptable. Students can acquire adequate information, experience and career options by picking this country to seek after.

Admission Process

The admission process to pursue various UG and PG degree programs of secretaries in the USA, based on the scores obtained in the last qualifying exam and the entrance tests conducted by the USA universities.

Educational Requirements

To pursue secretary courses in the USA, candidates need to have a prior 10+2 or bachelor's degree in the commerce stream. Students should have economics, accounting as one the main subjects at their academic levels.

Other Requirements

• A minimum GPA of 3.0 to 3.5 on a scale of 4.0 or equivalent is required.
• Minimum two reference letter of recommendation from academic professors
• A valid score in entry requirement english proficiency tests like TOEFL and IELTS etc,
• Valid student visa and related certificate, etc.

Top Universities

United Kingdom

The UK is the second most generally sought after country in the world. Cs course offered at a portion of the top colleges in the UK. By seeking after individual corporate secretaries in the UK people can get encounters and job positions at top firms in the world. Admission in the course is done through applying on the university websites.

Admission Process 

The admission process to pursue secretary courses in the UK, based on the scores obtained in graduation and the entrance tests.

Educational Requirements

To pursue office administration courses in the UK, students need to have a prior degree in the commerce stream and should be a graduate degree in secretaryship or office administration.

Other Requirements

• At least two reference letters from academic professors l
• A valid score card in english proficiency tests like TOEFL and IELTS etc.
• Valid student visa and relevant certificate, etc.

Top Universities 

Canada 

To pursue secretary or office administration courses from Canada, students need to pursue 10+2 in the commerce stream with economics, accounting as compulsory subjects. For pursuing master's degree courses, students should be a graduate in secretary or office administration in any discipline.

Admission Process 

The admission process to pursue administrative courses in Canada is based on the scores obtained in 10+2 and graduation and also in the entrance tests.

Educational Requirements 

To pursue administrative courses in Canada, students need to have a prior bachelor's or master’s degree in office administration with 75% to 80%.

Other Requirements

• Minimum two letters of recommendation from academic professors
• A valid score in english proficiency tests like TOEFL and IELTS etc,
• Valid student visa and relevant certificate, etc.

Top Universities

Australia 

Another wonderful destination to seek after graduation in CS. Australia is a developed country and they figured out numerous innovative turns of events. Secretary/ Office Administration in Australia is sought after by a few worldwide students. The specific level is one of the projects that are frequently drawn closer for concentration by students.

Admission Process

The admission process to pursue administration courses in Australia is based on the marks obtained in graduation and postgraduation and the scores obtained in the entrance tests.

Educational Requirements 

To pursue a master's program, students should have a prior bachelor’s degree in administration with a specialization. Students must study commerce subjects such as economics, accounting, and business at the higher school level.

Other Requirements

• Minimum two letters of recommendation from academic professors.
• A valid score in english proficiency tests like TOEFL and IELTS etc.
• Valid student visa and relevant certificate, etc.

Top Universities

Benefits of Career as an Secretary

A Secretary job is viewed as quite possibly the most worthwhile profession across the world. Compared with other average jobs growth, the Secretary jobs are developing at a much-higher rate. The justification this quick development is its enormous interest from each area of business websites like Business Firms, Banking and Finance Sector, Research And Training, Government works etc. Therefore, more individuals seek to become Secretary. It has its own advantages. Let's take a quick glance at every benefit.

• Salary: The average salary of Secretaries in India is INR 3,00,000. Secretary's freshers at the starting of their career earn INR 2,50,000 per annum. Secretarys with more than 10 years of experience can earn over INR 6,00,000 per annum
• Job Security: In today's world, managing business is the essence of every business. Regardless of whether it's a big business house or a small one, everything revolves arounds business development. Thus, to deal with this productively, organizations would require skilled experts or all in all Secretaries. They are the ones who recognize the hierarchical enhancements required, plan systems to carry out those progressions relying upon proper business related queries. However, the accessibility of skilled students in the Secretary profession is limited. Hence, those ones with genuine skills and abilities are a boon for the association. Students with Secretarial skills proficiencies can have a promising career in this field. The Secretary profession resembles a vast ocean with different spaces to browse. Employers are consistently looking for skilled graduates to manage their business websites.
• Positive Impact: The Positive impact of the career of having a Secretary in the industry will not only help in various sectors of the working hierarchy but will also help the companies prosper within. A few of the positive impacts of secretary career are, 
  • Offer managerial and administrative help to divisions or people.
  • Schedule meetings and arrange conference rooms.
  • Ready chief about cancelations or new meetings.
  • Oversee travel and schedule
  • Handle data demands.
  • Get ready correspondence and stuff mail into envelopes.
• Higher Studies: Students can join an organization as a Secretary immediately after completing their course related to secretary etc as their specialization subjects. This qualification will bag them for an entry-level Secretary position. After working for a while if they want, they can upgrade their educational qualification by enrolling for a postgraduate course in the relevant subject.
• Unique Experience: A Secretary as a career is very challenging. Gaining unique experience by identifying, assessing, managing and getting a vivid set of information will help you to grow in your career and to make you ready for the next step in this field.The trend and the prediction put forward by the Secretary's helps in making the organizations websites much more efficient.

How to becoming a Secretary: Skills Required

To become a Secretary you must hold some useful skills required in this career. The following are some skills for the Secretary career.

Salary of a Secretary in India

The starting salary of a Secretary in India varies from INR 2,00,000 to INR 6,00,000. The package may depend on the sectors and how much experience an individual has.

Average Annual Salary

Specializations Wise

Experience Wise