Salaries for Secretaries, Benefits for Secretaries, Training for Secretaries and more on Mywage Zambia
By Sanday Chongo Kabange
Administrative Assistant, Personal Assistant, Clerical Officer - you name it! But by any title, a career as a Secretary has created an avenue for employment and income generation for many young women. With the job crisis still lingering after the recent economic downturn, thousands of young women are taking up the challenge of working as Secretaries.
Work requirements
Like many jobs, becoming a Secretary requires one who understands the turf very well. Human Resource Consultants advise those interested in becoming Secretaries to at least have basic training in secretarial skills, be computer literate, be able to work under pressure and to meet deadlines. A Certificate in Secretarial Studies or Administrative Work is ideal for this position.
Remuneration
Secretarial or clerical work (as it is sometimes referred to in Zambia), can earn one up to K1, 200, 000 per month. While secretarial work used to be associated with women who have vast typing and book-keeping experience, the trend is changing at a very fast pace, with more young women aged between 20 and 35 taking an interest in the career as Secretaries. The more experience a Secretary has, the higher the salary. There is no standard salary rate for secretarial work in Zambia but the basic can be as low as K300, 000, ranging up to as high as K1, 500, 000 per month. Annual Leave is mandatory. Housing, Transport and Lunch Allowances are provided for in the Minimum Wages and Conditions of Employment Act CAP 276
Working Conditions and Career Advancements
Being a Secretary can expose one to several career opportunities. The work of a Secretary is the closest to senior company officials, and requires staff to respect confidentiality and be professional. Sometimes Secretaries can be offered additional training. Secretaries will also sometimes have access to special events and travel opportunities.
Secretaries, like many other Zambians, work eight hours per day from 8am to 5pm. Only in special cases they might work late hours. In such cases, they are entitled by Zambian Labour Laws to Overtime Allowance, which is supposed to be calculated accordingly and added to the salary.
Importance and Responsibilities
Secretaries are an important part of any company. They partially form the face and voice of the company. Employees, clients and general members of the public will have an encounter with a Secretary each time they want to learn about a company. So Secretaries are essential in ensuring that office correspondence, stationery control, booking of meeting rooms and boardrooms, general accounting functions, ordering of office consumables, and re-direction of emails are in order.
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For a young woman working as a Secretary, it's also nice to find a long-lasting soul mate! Try our Partner Check to see what life choices are out there! And read why experts say Secretaries and Personal Assistants are good career choices.