Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants
Also called Administrative Assistant, Administrative Secretary, Executive Assistant, or Executive Secretary
Updated · Source: O*NET 31.0
What Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants do
You run the day for a company's top leaders: their calendar, their travel, their meetings, and the facts they need before each one.
Executive secretaries, often called executive assistants, support the people who run an organization. You manage schedules, book travel, write letters and reports, and pull together the research and numbers an executive needs before a big meeting. You also handle the ordinary flow of an office: phone calls, incoming mail and email, visitors at the door, and deciding who actually gets time with your boss.
The work is mostly indoors at a desk, sitting, in an office with heating and air conditioning. It mixes two rhythms. Some stretches are quiet and solo, when you are writing, building a spreadsheet, or digging up data. Other stretches are all people: greeting visitors, taking calls, working with other departments, and sometimes training newer office staff who handle paperwork, filing, and phones.
A day in the life
You start with email and the calendar. Two meetings collided overnight, so you move one and tell everyone why. You book flights and a hotel for a trip next week. A visitor arrives without an appointment, and you decide politely whether to let them through or take a message. Mid-morning you pull numbers into a short report your boss will present tomorrow, and you draft the agenda, the list of topics the meeting will cover. Around lunch you confirm the food order for a meeting of the board, the group of people who oversee the organization. In the afternoon you answer routine letters, pass incoming mail along, and check in with a newer office assistant. Late in the day your executive adds a last-minute meeting, and you rearrange the rest to fit it.
This could fit you if you…
- ✓Like keeping schedules, files, and details accurate and on time
- ✓Enjoy switching between focused solo work and talking with people all day
- ✓Write and speak clearly, and read long documents without losing the thread
- ✓Stay calm when plans change at the last minute
- ✓Want to be trusted with private information
You might not like it if you…
- –Want to be outdoors or on your feet most of the day
- –Dislike having your priorities set by someone else's needs
- –Get frustrated when your careful plan gets rearranged twice before noon
- –Want a fast-growing field, since employment is projected to change 0% from 2025 to 2035 compared with +3.5% for all jobs
How people get in
- 1Finish high school or an equivalent, which is the typical entry-level education for this work.
- 2Build strong computer skills: word processing, spreadsheets, databases, and presentation software, plus fast, accurate writing.
- 3Start in a more general office role, such as a receptionist, office clerk, or administrative assistant, to learn how an office runs.
- 4Most people move into these roles after a few years of office experience, usually under five years.
- 5Consider a college program in Administrative Assistant and Secretarial Science or Executive Assistant if you want formal training.
- 6Ask for tasks that stretch you, like preparing reports, planning meetings, or helping with a budget, and show you can be trusted with sensitive information.
Who tends to enjoy it
Organizing
People who like keeping things accurate, orderly, and running on schedule.
Leading
People who like persuading, selling, starting things, and taking charge.
Helping
People who like teaching, caring for, and working closely with people.
Official task list
Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants provide high-level administrative support by conducting research, preparing statistical reports, and handling information requests, as well as performing routine administrative functions such as preparing correspondence, receiving visitors, arranging conference calls, and scheduling meetings. May also train and supervise lower-level clerical staff. (O*NET)
- Manage and maintain executives' schedules.
- Make travel arrangements for executives.
- Prepare invoices, reports, memos, letters, financial statements, and other documents, using word processing, spreadsheet, database, or presentation software.
- Coordinate and direct office services, such as records, departmental finances, budget preparation, personnel issues, and housekeeping, to aid executives.
- Answer phone calls and direct calls to appropriate parties or take messages.
- Prepare responses to correspondence containing routine inquiries.
- Open, sort, and distribute incoming correspondence, including faxes and email.
- Greet visitors and determine whether they should be given access to specific individuals.
A typical day involves
Skills that matter most
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Writing
- Service Orientation
- Coordination
What you'll need to know
- Administrative
- English Language
- Customer and Personal Service
- Computers and Electronics
- Administration and Management
How much Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants make
The median pay for Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants in the U.S. is $76,590 a year ($36.82 an hour). Most earn between $50,560 and $109,850. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025)
Pay depends a lot on where you live: the median is highest in District of Columbia ($90,850) and lowest in Puerto Rico ($37,120).
Pay by state and territory
| State | Median pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $69,450 | 2,880 |
| Alaska | $66,210 | 1,320 |
| Arizona | $70,770 | 6,490 |
| Arkansas | $51,600 | 2,070 |
| California | $89,000 | 59,640 |
| Colorado | $65,850 | 10,340 |
| Connecticut | $82,520 | 6,490 |
| Delaware | $78,920 | 1,320 |
| District of Columbia | $90,850 | 4,560 |
| Florida | $64,710 | 19,220 |
| Georgia | $68,290 | 14,560 |
| Guam | $43,930 | 80 |
| Hawaii | $80,710 | 1,440 |
| Idaho | $60,200 | 1,180 |
| Illinois | $74,390 | 14,900 |
| Indiana | $59,080 | 5,060 |
| Iowa | $62,340 | 4,150 |
| Kansas | $64,860 | 2,750 |
| Kentucky | $62,410 | 2,700 |
| Louisiana | $53,240 | 9,270 |
| Maine | $64,100 | 2,320 |
| Maryland | $78,540 | 13,960 |
| Massachusetts | $82,650 | 14,820 |
| Michigan | $66,840 | 9,030 |
| Minnesota | $78,470 | 7,970 |
| Mississippi | $55,670 | 1,240 |
| Missouri | $60,320 | 8,500 |
| Montana | $59,750 | 550 |
| Nebraska | $66,210 | 1,860 |
| Nevada | $67,830 | 2,670 |
| New Hampshire | $71,650 | 1,210 |
| New Jersey | $89,520 | 11,690 |
| New Mexico | $73,890 | 2,800 |
| New York | $80,640 | 88,890 |
| North Carolina | $70,140 | 8,890 |
| North Dakota | $61,270 | 540 |
| Ohio | $69,600 | 10,940 |
| Oklahoma | $59,910 | 2,810 |
| Oregon | $75,480 | 6,000 |
| Pennsylvania | $75,270 | 12,910 |
| Puerto Rico | $37,120 | 7,100 |
| Rhode Island | $77,820 | 950 |
| South Carolina | $60,890 | 3,880 |
| South Dakota | $55,170 | 1,230 |
| Tennessee | $68,190 | 5,360 |
| Texas | $71,990 | 34,520 |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | $56,720 | 170 |
| Utah | $61,130 | 5,440 |
| Vermont | $70,770 | 770 |
| Virginia | $80,330 | 10,360 |
| Washington | $79,250 | 11,560 |
| West Virginia | $63,820 | 860 |
| Wisconsin | $68,920 | 4,480 |
| Wyoming | $52,210 | 560 |
Where to study for this
College programs that commonly lead to this career, and how many US colleges offer each.
- Administrative Assistant and Secretarial Science 638 colleges
- Executive Assistant 114 colleges
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Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA), occupation 43-6011.00, used under CC BY 4.0 and modified by Whittle. Pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025), SOC 43-6011. Outlook and entry education: BLS Employment Projections 2025–35. Program links: NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. How we build these pages.