4. My training course

At the end of the first year at College we passed our exams and went to the Foreign Ministry to take our summer training course. I worked at the Personnel Department. Every morning I came to work at 8.45 a.m. to get ready for work. After that I went to get mail for our department, sorted out it and distributed it to all the employees of our department. Then I took some documents to our boss. He looked through them and dictated me what documents to type. I typed them, my boss signed them and I took them to other departments. I also spoke on the phone, sent and received faxes. Sometimes visitors come to our department and I had an opportunity to learn to receive them. The employees of our department were very kind to me and helped me if I didn’t know what to do.

5. A secretary’s appearance and personal quialities

Presumably, secretarial positions should be given to people who are well-organized, communicative, punctual, polity and diplomatic with people, and possess initiative. True initiative on the secretary’s part is the ability to know when to act on one’s own and when to do as directed.

As secretaries know a lot about the firm’s business affairs, and often act for the boss in his or her absence, maintaining confidentiality is one of the most fundamental requirements

Employers give preference to candidates who are prompt, flexible and conscientious. Business can be tense and people are often under a lot of stress, so a secretary who can under deadline pressures and produce high quality work is of great value. That’s why she should try to find a way around it and always say “Yes, it is possible!”

A secretary should manage her time in the most efficient way, improve her secretarial skills, perform several tasks simultaneously.

Every secretary represents the company to the outside world, like its business card. That’s why, as a secretary you must always be professional-looking, your clothes should be immaculate. It’s better to wear skirts than trousers. Your attire should be fresh and clean. It’s best to wear simple jewelry – small earrings, a matching necklace and rings. Hands should be well-groomed and you can wear soft-coloured nail-varnish. Your shoes should be well-polished, not worn of dirty. Your hair should be clean and neat. Heavy made-up is not recommended. You should always look fresh, and use just a little perfume.

6. A secretary's workplace

A secretary's room should be well-organized. The work area should always be spacious and light. Papers should be filed. The windows must be clean and lightly shaded by clean curtains or blinds. Office furniture should be comfortable both for the secretary and the visitors. There is usually a desk with several drawers, a swivel chair, a coffee table with a sofa or armchairs, a stationery cupboard, shelves with files and reference books. There should be a wastepaper basket into which you put unwanted paper and other rubbish. On the wall there should be a notice board to pin reminders, timetables and advertisements. To arrange refreshments a secretary may need a coffee or tea pot, cups and saucers, teaspoons, a sugar bowl, a milk jar and a tray. She should have some cream, biscuits and lemon to serve with coffee or tea.

Before a secretary starts work, she should make sure that she has all the necessary stationery: enough paper with letterhead, ball point pens and felt-tips, paper clips, a stapler, a hole punch, a ruler, an eraser, a pencil sharpener, Post-it notes, envelopes, scissors, a tube of glue and correction fluid.

Office equipment such as internal and external telephones, a PC with a printer, a scanner, a fax-machine and a photocopier should be handled as instructed and switched off when it is not in use.

To make the room warm and friendly, it would be reasonable to hang a couple of pictures on the walls - photographs, drawings or prints. And there should be a potted plant or a vase with flowers. It's nice if the room has a feminine look.