Legal Sec / Medical Sec etc.

pollyanna24

I work as a legal secretary and have done for the past 12 years for the same employer. Work is slowing down and whilst I don't think I will be made redundant any time soon, you never know.

Is the role of a secretary becoming more obsolete as time goes on? I'm guessing a lot has changed in the admin world (I'm still using an analogue transcription system and so am a little worried that I would struggle to keep up in a more modern office).

Re changing what I do in case legal secs aren't as common, are medical secretaries still used and would I find it difficult to change sector in this sense?

I work in London and live in Herts, but ideally would prefer to not work in London, although I do appreciate that this is where the money is.

chelseablue

Im a PA so similar line of work to you and I don't think its becoming more obsolete (well hope not!)
Company Director's rarely have time to do their own admin, book travel etc as all the ones I know seem to spend their lives in meetings!


Legal Secretary's are always being advertised from what I've seen, again as Solicitors rarely have time for admin.


My cousin is a Medical Secretary (for the last 30 years :-O) so yes they are still used

DomRavioli

Secretaries will always be in demand. You do the work the professionals don't have time to do (and you're cheaper to hire). And there are a lot who work from home through companies such as Accuro, TakeNote, Take1 et al.

Re: med sec, most have AMSPAR qualifications which you can do through colleges, but experience is usually key - specific medical secretarial/admin experience; you can always qualify later on, but you need a foot in the door usually, especially with the NHS.

Caroline_a

I'm a PA too - support 2 global directors of a large multi-national and their teams. No let up of the work here, in fact they have now taken a temp to help out. However, the work is now very different from the old 'take a letter' type and I work alongside rather than under my managers. My role is simply to make their lives easier, booking their travel, sorting out meetings, diaries in general and reporting on anything that I feel that they need to know about.

I have worked in a temp role in a solicitors office some years ago - found a lot of the work quite old fashioned with audio typing, shorthand, etc, neither of which I've used for many years. Not sure if that is still the case, but it's very different from PA roles now in the private sector as managers are expected to do their own emails, reports, etc.

Polarbeary

I posted a long reply about medical secretaries further down the page - "medical secretary training." I won't repeat myself as it's all in there

I'm currently a PA in the City in banking. There appear to be no shortage of roles in banking/financial services. I look after two directors. The more senior directors will have their own PAs but I know of some PAs having four or five more junior directors to look after.

Also, there seem to be a lot of public sector/charity PA jobs around.

Day to do for my guys I do diary management, manage their emails responding where I can, do their expenses, manage IT and HR issues on their behalf, plan travel and intinaries including any visas, printing, plan big team events, minute meetings etc

I know you said you would prefer to work closer to home in which case an NHS medical sec or senior managers PA might be more suited to you?

For PA roles in central London I think you are looking at between 28-50k depending on time with company, what kind of role it is etc. And in finance you may get a yearly bonus

TBagpuss

I think that roles for typists are less common, but a good secretary (as I'm sure you know) does a lot more than that.
If you are currently a legal secretary you may want to consider whether becoming a paralegal or legal caseworker might be an option for you

Andypandyboy

To be a medical secretary you do need a good grasp of medical terminology. As has been said AMSPAR is the standard, but not that many colleges offer it now.

pupgrum

You can work as a secretary or PA in other industries, or if you have a law degree then a paralegal etc.

pollyanna24

Caroline_a wrote: »

I'm a PA too - support 2 global directors of a large multi-national and their teams. No let up of the work here, in fact they have now taken a temp to help out. However, the work is now very different from the old 'take a letter' type and I work alongside rather than under my managers. My role is simply to make their lives easier, booking their travel, sorting out meetings, diaries in general and reporting on anything that I feel that they need to know about.

I have worked in a temp role in a solicitors office some years ago - found a lot of the work quite old fashioned with audio typing, shorthand, etc, neither of which I've used for many years. Not sure if that is still the case, but it's very different from PA roles now in the private sector as managers are expected to do their own emails, reports, etc.

I suppose this is what I mean. My boss is very old fashioned and I plan to stay with him until he either retires or sells his company (he is a sole practitioner).

I don't feel up to speed on how an office works today and although we have moved on through necessity, he clings on to the old style as much as he can (as in printing out every single thing that comes into the office).

I know (think) that I would adapt quite well to a more modern office. I suppose it's whether an interviewer would give me that chance to get used to a new system.

I have plenty of experience, but I'm not sure this is in my favour in my case!

chelseablue

If he sold the company I presume you could carry on working for the person that buys it?


Or if he retires pick up work at another solicitor? Or perhaps be a Director's secretary.


I guess it depends on how much you earn now and if you would have to take a pay cut working somewhere else

pollyanna24

chelseablue wrote: »

If he sold the company I presume you could carry on working for the person that buys it?


Or if he retires pick up work at another solicitor? Or perhaps be a Director's secretary.


I guess it depends on how much you earn now and if you would have to take a pay cut working somewhere else

I'm not sure if he'd sell it. I have a feeling he is just going to keep working until he drops dead.

If I do have to find another job, I imagine my first port of call would be to try and find another role at another solicitor's firm. I was just worried that times have moved on and I would be stuck in the dark ages re what modern secretaries / PAs are expected to do.

Re the pay. I guess if I didn't have to work in London, I could earn £2,000 less a year that I wouldn't have to spend on travel, but then I'd still have to figure out how to get to my job.

Plus, at the moment, I pay £4,200 a year in childcare. This will go down and eventually stop as my children age.

And also, if I earn less, I (presumably; haven't looked into it) would be entitled to tax credits again.