European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 18, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Power secretaries May soft pedal clout but they be got it by Susan Harte Cox news service Ivan Allen la a former Atlanta mayor chuckles when he recalls telling an ambitious Young Man who hungered for the executive suite Quot there Are two people in your career you never want to have mad at you. Your wife and your those Are words Worth heeding. The seasoned executive Secretary a who since the turn of the Century has usually been a woman a understands her Boss As Well As anyone in his life and she a privy to considerable confidential information. From her desk outside his office she combines diplomacy and discretion with the tactical skill of a general and the protectiveness of a Mother Hen. Knowledge skill and proximity yield Power but Many of these women soft pedal that aspect of their jobs. Influence they say demurely Isnit among. Their personal preoccupations. Barbara g. Kiss executive Secretary to Robert p. Guyton chairman of Bank South corp., suggests that any Quot Power Quot of hers rests in Trust. Quot he gives me a lot of responsibility and free rein because he feels he can Trust me to represent his for Joyce r. Greene there san enjoyment to sitting near the seat of Power Quot its wonderful. Challenging. Exciting. Rewarding. Its a sharing experience a if there a a big Job proposal you re part of it. You Are at the place where the decisions Are during three decades at the Public accounting firm Arthur Andersen Greene has been Secretary to five managing partners. As the reins have passed hands she has Learned not to present herself As too authoritative. Quot you have to be very careful not to come across As this is the Way we used to do it Quot she says. Quot i want somebody telling me that. I want to do the Job the Way he wants it in Many companies executive secretaries have discernible Power a the authority to act a and the status that accompanies it. Their clout can extend beyond the company into the Community especially when there s an outside social class connection a the Secretary a a Job a string of academic is one of the few White Collar professions left in America in which credentials has relatively Little meaning. Same Church affiliation or children in the same private school a with a Boss. In other firms its a Case of Power by association and status by attribution. Clout ends at the front door. Whatever the Case Quot i can assure you that the Secretary s role is More significant than it has been in Many years Quot declared consultant Michael h. Mescon former Dean of the Georgia state University business school. Quot a lot of experienced executive secretaries could do an admirable Job of running their organizations. Anyone who thinks that they. Done to occupy very powerful positions does t understand the big executives understand. The savvy ones intuitively follow Allen s advice. Quot there have been times when in be Felt put Down by other women who really Don t know what an executive Secretary does Quot Greene acknowledged. But at Arthur Andersen Greene said Quot in be always Felt i enjoyed the greatest the Secretary s Job is one of the few White Collar positions left in America in which a string of academic credentials has relatively Little meaning. The stigma attached during the heyday of the women a liberation movement has faded partially because More men Are careful not to appear patronizing and partially because of better pay. A 1989 Survey sponsored in part by professional secretaries International indicated top salaries around $60,000. De Ryan a Chicago hiring consultant reckons the National average to be around $30,000. Titles have been upgraded As Well. Today s secretarial designations May Start with Quot Secretary i Quot or file clerk but they end at Quot assistant vice still some women take great pains to distance themselves from the Quot underling Quot connotations of Quot Secretary Quot and Are Quick to Correct anyone who applies the word to them. Others care less Quot Secretary is not an Issue with me Quot kiss says. A i am not a libber. I know what the Job is and i do it. If you disagree with it feel put Down Don t do it. This is my Job. And working conditions Are other executives assistants told of the intense loyalty they afford their Bosses and the embarrassment and Hurt they can feel if those men bark at them in anger. When handling personal chores for their employers is part of the Job its accepted matter of factly. Quot i schedule for Guyto nand sometimes that involves his family a says kiss. Quot i Don t feel put he treats me very much As an in some offices the executive and his Secretary Are on a first name basis and in More traditional offices the Secretary still Calls her Boss Quot mister Quot while he refers to her by her Christian name. Management consultant Judith Segal contends that whatever name is used Quot it s the same song accommodating a Man. Secretaries have some Power and influence but it comes from the Man and its mainly recognized by people who have less Power. Quot i done to think their status has changed much. You re a guard rather than an equal. Like the Alligator in the Moat who others have to Cross to get to the key still Segal admits executive Secretary is a great Job. Quot you can get recognition at work. You can carve out a Niche for Slize my education Quot or Quot i like to work with better is something More specific such As Quot in be ways had an interest in wholesale sales in the Antronic Industry and i have studied marketing Lich should help me in this there Are some questions employers Are not opposed to ask unless they pertain to the Job such a it marital status family planning and child care Range ments. Some will ask anyway and its Bably Best to go ahead and answer. The focus in a first interview should be on the Many and what you can do for it not on pay and ln3e benefits. Information on those things should be pliable from the personnel department. At any rate serve the discussion of pay until a Job offer is made. A the end of the interview ask what the next step be a whether you should Contact the company i3n or provide More information if the company will you and when a final decision is Likely to be Ade. Try to end on a positive note repeating your a Erest in the Job interview Send a note to the interviewer id or or or t 1116 Anc prov using any formation that May have been requested. Not consider beforehand what May be asked at a Job interview practice questions and answers with a Friend. E18,1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 15
