SWIMMING IN THE MODERN SECRETARIAL POOL

PATRICIA ALEX, Staff Writer
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
06-01-1998
SWIMMING IN THE MODERN SECRETARIAL POOL -- SOFTWARE KNOWLEDGE SURPASSES TYPING
SKILLS FOR TODAY'S OFFICE STAFF
By PATRICIA ALEX, Staff Writer
Date: 06-01-1998, Monday
Section: BUSINESS
Edition: All Editions -- Two Star B, Two Star P, One Star

Marge Gaffney of Rockaway began her secretarial career using a
manual typewriter, dictaphone, and a mimeograph machine. Today, at 80,
she is using Microsoft Word, e-mail, and the Internet.

Gaffney's career has spanned more than six decades, but it is in
the past 10 to 15 years -- with the advent of widespread use of the
personal computer, voice mail, and the fax -- that technology has really
transformed the nature of office work.

"Take a memo, please" has been replaced by "Point, click, and
drag."

And with the changes, the boss and the secretary have taken on some
of each other's duties. The executives don't have to dictate a letter,
they can send their own e-mail. The secretaries, now usually called
administrative assistants, are more likely managing a database than
filing.

"I don't need my administrative assistant to do something for me
that technology can do," said William Zurynetz, a partner in a
Hackensack-based marketing and advertising firm, Lost Boys Consortium.

"In a small business, we don't have as much time to invest in
training, so if they don't know the software, we can't hire them."

The Digest of Education reports that 44 percent of office workers
use word-processing software, 36 percent use spreadsheets, and 34
percent know how to manage a database.

Business schools don't even teach dictation anymore. Answering
phones is not as big a deal in an era of phone mail, and typing speed
and accuracy aren't so much of an issue since mistakes can be easily
changed on the computer.

And with voice-activated typing looming, keyboard skills probably
will become even less important in the future.

"I tell people not to be overly concerned with speed on a typing
test," said Susan Kees, general manager of Advanced Personnel Services,
a placement service in Wayne. "The technology in and of itself has made
the whole process faster."

Instead of 70 words per minute, employers are most likely to seek a
candidate who knows the software of the Microsoft Office Package. That
includes Microsoft Word for word processing; Excel, a spreadsheet;
Access, a database; and Powerpoint, a graphics package that produces
materials for overhead projection and slides and can include animation
and sound.

"Employers are looking for multimedia experience," said Sharon
Ritt, chair of information technologies at Berkeley College in West
Paterson. And the new technologies have taken on more importance as
video conferencing has grown, she said.

Kees agrees. "There is a desperate need for people who know the
current software; employers aren't as concerned with experience," she
said. Starting salaries for administrative assistants in North Jersey
range from from $23,000 to $30,000, she said. "They [employers] are
expecting so much more of the `secretary.'"

In fact, a recent study commissioned by OfficeTeam, a
California-based staffing agency, found that 92 percent of 150
executives polled at some of the nation's largest companies wanted their
administrative support staff know how to navigate the Web.

"Internet proficiency requires more than just sending e-mail or
being familiar with a few Web sites or search engines," said Diane
Domeyer, executive director at Office Team. It requires the ability to
"look for new sources of information on line," she said.

There are a range of titles out there -- from staff coordinator to
research assistant -- as the role of administrative assistant has become
more of a career path, said Ritt, from Berkeley. Many move into
training and research and, because they are familiar with the hardware
and software, they are more likely to handle purchasing and play pivotal
roles "performing jobs done previously by middle managers," she said.
"There is a lot more critical thinking"

Berkeley, which started as a secretarial school but has grown into
a two-year college with several majors, has an 18-month program in
office administration that has a job placement rate of over 90 percent,
according to the school.

The students, most of whom have grown up using computers, are in
high demand, especially as "companies have software on their computers
that they've never used, and computers that they've never turned on,"
Ritt said.

But even in a new era, some things remain constant.

"The job market is hot for office employees, but it's not enough to
know the software; they need communication skills," Ritt said. "Their
technical skills will get them in the door, for the most part, but in
order to maintain and succeed they have to have good written and oral
communication skills. . . . The computer is good, but it still can't
write for you."

It is often the younger graduates, who have no fear of the
computer, who can help older executives jump the hurdle of new
technology, she said.

With some notable exceptions, of course. Gaffney, for instance, was
happy to leave the world of carbon paper behind and take off for
cyberspace. In 60 years as a corporate secretary, she has seen many
changes, and recently returned to her alma mater to learn Microsoft
Word. She graduated from Berkeley in 1935, when the school was in East
Orange.

"At school they told us we could always brush up, and get placements
for life. I called them and found out it was true," she said. Gaffney
does freelance work now and e-mails her children and grandchildren.

"I like to try anything that's new," she said. "The Internet is
fun. You can do so much with that."

Illustrations/Photos: 1 PHOTO - KLAUS-PETER STEITZ / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER - Marge
Gaffney, 80, working on a computer in her home office. 2 - PHOTO - BETH BALBIERZ
/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER - Above, students at Berkeley College in West Paterson
learning about spreadsheets on a projected screen.

Keywords: BUSINESS. EMPLOYMENT. COMPUTER

Copyright 1998 Bergen Record Corp. All rights reserved.