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SECRETARIES READY TO REVOLT

Flowers are a great sentiment and secretaries appreciate them but .... foliage doesn’t pay the bills.

by Regina Pontow

Titles Can Trap Secretaries For Life
Over 10 million office workers hold clerical positions, yet secretaries continue to earn 71 cents to every dollar that male counterparts earn according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics. Compounding this inequity is the fact that secretaries often perform job functions far beyond their job titles and compensation level. Many secretaries find they are trapped for life and held hostage by their job titles. Sandy is a good example of this making only $8 an hour as a Secretary even though she managed an office while her boss and the sales staff were in the field 75% of the time. Yet, when she asked to be given the title of Office Manager along with a raise her boss said, "You haven’t taken on any new responsibilities. In my mind you’re just a secretary. You don’t deserve a raise." However, her boss graciously gave her flowers on Secretary’s Day.

Flowers Didn’t Cut It - But A New Job and A 60% Salary Increase Did!
When Sandy decided it was high time to redirect her career, her self-confidence was at an all time low. As she told me the story above, she had tears in her eyes and said, "You know maybe my boss is right. Maybe I don’t deserve to make more money." Yet, when I asked Sandy to describe her job duties she replied, "Well, I really do manage the office. I’m responsible for answering all customer inquiries when the staff is in the field. In emergencies I have to coordinate with manufacturers, track shipments, quote prices and negotiate product delivery dates. We service big accounts including Microsoft and Hewlett Packard. So my handling of these accounts is very important. I also complete bookkeeping for all our cash disbursements each month." After a confidence boost, Sandy accepted the value of the work she performed, put together a resume that marketed the best of her skills and landed a position paying 60% more. Now, that’ll buy a lot of flowers.

6 Hot Tips That Increase Secretary Salaries
According to Professional Secretaries International, 98% of all secretaries continue to be women. To land higher salaries, Secretaries must learn how to market their top skills and compete effectively with men for higher level positions. Here are 6 tips to break out of a low paying, secretarial rut.

Tip #1: Prioritize Job Duties By Importance Make a list of every duty that you perform on the job. Then prioritize your list, starting with the most important and ending with the least important. For example, Sandy’s highest level skills were: Managing the office, providing customer service, coordinating with manufacturers, dealing with key accounts and overseeing cash disbursements. Sandy’s lowest level skills were answering the phone, maintaining filing and cleaning the office.

Tip #2: Market Your Top Skills
It’s obvious that the duties which Sandy performed, make her sound like much more than "just a secretary." To advance your career, focus on your best skills not weak job titles. Here’s a list of skills Sandy used as headings in her resume:

Office Management Customer Service to Key Accounts

Manufacturing Liaison / Troubleshooting Accounting / Cash Disbursements

Tip #3: Stretch Your Comfort Zone and Believe in Yourself
Many secretaries feel guilty and worry that they are exaggerating when they describe their skills in this way, even though such descriptions are true. If you feel this way, ask yourself these questions: "Did you perform this task even if your job title doesn’t sound like it? Can you do this again on another job? Are your descriptions accurate? If you can answer, "Yes" to these questions then market yourself to the highest level possible.

Tip #4: Use Numbers to Paint A Big Picture
By using numbers to describe how many sales staff Sandy supported, how many customer accounts she dealt with, what the company’s total sales volume was, and how much she processed in cash disbursements, Sandy created these powerful but truthful statements about her skills and abilities. Such descriptions are key to breaking out of the Secretarial Work Pit.

-Managed office functions to support President and staff of 10 Sales Representatives who were in the field 75% of the time, for branch with sales of $12 million annually.
-Provided customer service, price quoting and emergency problem solving for a base of over 2,000 key accounts including Microsoft and Hewlett Packard.
-Maintained bookkeeping and prepared monthly disbursements in excess of $40,000.

Tip #5: Apply For Positions That Match Your Highest Skills
Sandy applied for and landed a higher level, Office Management position overseeing customer service and providing marketing support to executive and sales staff. When applying for internal promotions, integrate strong descriptions like those above into your interviews. Using powerful language and describing the full range of your skills makes employers take a new look at your value to their company and results in upward career growth.

Tip #6: Take On Higher Level Job Duties
Keep your eye out for job duties that can help you expand your resume and your value to a company. For example, Carla was a receptionist for a union but the staff no longer wanted to answer member benefit questions. Carla volunteered to take over that duty. When her contract came open she then negotiated for a new title of Health and Benefits Coordinator, which landed her a monthly salary increase of $400. Even though you may only perform such duties a small percentage of the time, they can be used as powerful headings in your resume or to convince employers that you do deserve a raise or promotion.

Visit 60 Free Resume and Job Search Workshops by the author at http://www.provenresumes.com -- awarded "Best of the Web" and "People’s Choice." Regina Pontow is the author of Proven Resumes and Confidence Builders, used nationwide by over 60 US colleges. copyright, Regina Pontow 1998

Statistical quotes from The Computists' Communique, Vol. 3, No. 1, January 6, 1993. 98% of secretaries are women [Professional Secretaries International. Kansas City, MO] Carol Cleiman, Chicago Tribune. SJM, 4/12.

NOTE to Schools and Editors: Permission is granted to reprint article free of charge provided that the author is cited and website address is included. Thank you. copyright Regina Pontow 1998.

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