Garret

This is a real interview with a real secretary. Her identity has not been revealed as to protect her anonymity and her job.

Describe your typical morning for me:

Well, I get to work a couple minutes early every morning. The big boss requires that were in the office and ready to work at exactly 8:00 am, so theres usually a rush to get in the building a few minutes before. I stop at the lounge to drop off my lunch in the refrigerator, and the fridge always reminds me of the time that someone stole my yogurt and ate it. The jerk. Anyway, usually theres a few faculty members in there, waiting with empty mugs in their hands for the coffee machine to stop dripping. We dont have a pause and serve one, so they have to wait for it to finish. One morning the coffee pot was gone because a secretary had taken it home to thoroughly clean it, and a woman actually started screaming when she saw that the coffee pot was missing.

When I get to my office suite, I have to turn on twelve lamps on my way to my desk. The fluorescent lights gave us headaches, so we all switched to task lighting. When I get to my desk, I turn my computer on, ignore the three error messages that pop up every day (I dont understand them, and my computer works fine anyway), and put my purse away. Then I unlock the door to my boss office, because he always forgets his key and depends on me being there to let him into his office.

Then I open the copy room. Most likely, a professor already unlocked it to do some last minute printing before his/her 8:00 am class. I go through the pile of papers that are sitting next to the printer. Most of them are e-mails that were printed the day before and never picked up. I throw those in the trash. The newer ones get placed neatly on the table, in the hopes that someone will claim them. If I find any exams, I take them to the professor and tell him/her not to leave exams in the copy room. I turn on the shredder, which is probably full, but if I dont check it I dont have to empty it.

My boss arrives later with his usual greeting: Hi beautiful! Anything new and exciting? I ignore the nickname, although Ive asked him to call me by my first name. He expects me to say that nothing is new, so that he can sit in his office and hide. I love when I have stuff for him to do first thing in the morning.

Um, I think we get the idea. Lets move on to something else:

Describe the relationship between yourself and your boss:

Which one? I have at least three bosses. My direct supervisor is an Administrative Assistant, and shes the person who does the bulk of my yearly evaluation. She also handles my vacation time, so I have to see her if I want some time off. However, she doesnt do the same work that I do, so its hard for her to evaluate my work. She doesnt work directly with me on a daily basis.

My other boss is the Department Chair. He works directly with me in my daily activities, but he is usually unaware of what Im doing. That can be evidenced by the number of times he comes to my desk while Im swimming in a river of paperwork and asks, Can you type an e-mail for me? He doesnt know how to type, and hes an old-fashioned guy, so he thinks my main job is dictation. He also loves words like empowerment, which means (to him) that he will give me as much of his work as he can before I reply, Thats not my job! Thats your job! Recently, he started bringing cupcakes for me every morning. Im wondering what big job hes going to try to talk me into doing for him.

My third boss is The Big Boss. He is the dean of the college. If he asks me to do something for him, I have to drop everything else. However, he has no direct input on my yearly evaluation.

Does your office celebrate Secretarys Day? If so, how?

Our office celebrates Administrative Professionals Day by inviting us to attend an all-day seminar for all of the clerical staff on campus. Unfortunately, I dont know anyone who has the time to attend an all-day seminar. Sometimes they arrange the seminar activities so that we can attend for half of the day. In general, its not a good practice to celebrate being an administrative professional by spending the day out of the office and having to work twice as hard to catch up the next day. Nice try, though.

Can you describe the relationship between you and other secretaries? Every office is filled with people that have a lot of character. Its what makes the days more interesting, and our differences are something to be celebrated. My office has the following characters: The Talker, The Mother, The Meanie, The Cheerful One, and The Quiet One. In general, we all work together pretty well.

The Talker is a woman who knows everything. Shes been here forever, and shes the one to go to if you have a question. However, once you start talking to her, you might as well pull up a chair. Shes got great stories to tell, but there are so many of them! Often times, you may think the conversation is over, and you start walking away, only for her to start talking again. Weve started a joke where we walk away and say to another secretary, Is she still talking to me?

The Mother is an older woman who acts as a mother figure to everyone. You can count on her to remember your birthday, ask about your husbands doctor appointment, and she can be the first person to say, You look pale. Are you not feeling well today? She is usually the one that you can go to if you have a personal problem, and if youre having a terrible day, shell give you a hug or a piece of chocolate you cheer you up. However, you do not want to bug her when shes having a bad day. If she doesnt seem like her usual self, its best to leave her alone.

The Meanie is the one who plays office politics to her advantage. She knows all the right people to which she will casually mention certain bits of information, in order to make others look bad and herself seem better. She is usually loud, opinionated, and pushy. She likes to talk about other people, and she usually doesnt care who overhears her conversations. Her favorite saying is, Oops, was that out loud? followed by snickering.

The Cheerful One is just that: cheerful. Shes the one with the most heartfelt, Good morning! greeting each day. Some mornings, just the sound of her voice will make you want to throw the nearest object at her head. Usually you feel a little guilty for feeling this way toward someone simply because they seem happy. She talks the loudest on the phone, and she also works part time, which may attribute to her overbearing happiness.

The Quiet One is usually the new girl. She is quiet because she hasnt really found her place among everyone yet. She is teased by the other people in the office because she is so quiet. She needs to be careful, because she is the easiest one to take advantage of, and she should especially be weary of The Meanie. If she were inclined to go along with office politics, she would be wise to form an alliance with The Mother. However, The Mother is probably close to retirement, so she might want to befriend The Talker.

Do you ever feel as if you were taken for granted?

Well, at times I do feel as if Im taken for granted. Its a favorite saying around here that the secretary knows everything and does most of the work. People often say that secretaries are severely underpaid, but I dont see anyone doing anything about it. I think people often take it for granted that I will find a way to solve their problems.

Would you say that you feel more defined by your job title or by your ability to do your job?

This is a touchy subject in my office. Because we work in a union environment, we are very aware of what is in our job descriptions and what is not. We are strongly encouraged by management to not perform any job duties that are not in our job descriptions. However, as secretaries we know that there are certain jobs that we must perform, or they simply will not be done. Its a daily internal struggle, trying to find a balance between making sure the office runs smoothly and trying to convince people to do their own jobs.

Do you feel like an integral part of your office?

As a secretary, I feel like I am definitely an integral part of the office. Being a secretary means that you have to be able to answer everyones questions, or at least find out who has the answers. The secretary has to make sure the office runs smoothly. Unfortunately, that means a lot of stress and hardly any time off.

Are you happy with your salary?

You know, when I first took this job, I was very happy with my salary. I couldnt believe that I was getting paid so much to sit at a desk. I knew that I would be busy with work, but none of the work seemed very difficult. But over the next couple years, I realized that while each individual task may not be very difficult, its the combination of everything that you have to deal with thats stressful. I also found out that I get paid a lot less than the other secretaries that I work with. So, no, Im not really happy with my salary.

Are you happy being a secretary?

There are things about my job that I find fulfilling, like being able to help people. There are also days where the job drives me crazy, and Im not sure if I can continue for thirty more years. Most of the time I consider this a time of gaining experience, so that I can move on to a more fulfilling job.

This article has been submitted in affiliation with http://www.Facsimile.Com/ which is a site for Fax Machines.

Tonia Jordan is a freelance Journalist, editor of Word of Mouth Magazine and an author at http://www.Writing.Com/