Recently I was asked to 'induct' a new member of staff.  It is not unusual for secretaries and admin staff to be asked to do this, or at least to draw up an induction plan for new staff.  This is what I came up with.
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First of course you want to make them feel welcome.  Introduce yourself and the people in the near vicinity, perhaps offer them a tea/coffee and set some time aside for an introductory chat.  It depends a bit on how formal your office culture is, but you use this time to get to know this person, find out how they travelled there, what they did before, and other informal pieces of information that will help you to help the person settle in easily.  I would recommend writing yourself a brief list of what you want to cover, just to make sure you don't forget anything.  In some organisations there is an induction policy in place and this list will already be drawn up, in which case follow it!

First on my list would be showing the person where they can leave their belongings, where the toilets are, and what the usual procedure is for breaks.  If they need keys and passwords to get around then you need to make them aware of these too.

Next I would give them a tour of the workplace and introduce them to key people.  They may not remember everyone, but the staff will know the person is a new member of the team and will be more likely to help if they have been introduced.

Make sure that the person is familiar with lunch areas and staff rooms.  These can be very useful places for the new person to get to know new colleagues.

Before the person starts it is probably useful to get together all useful documentation such as policies and procedures, background articles and company documents and bulletins.  Internal and external newspaper articles might also be useful.  Leave the person with time to read and assimilate the material.

At the end of the day, ask the person how the day has gone.  If possible outline the plan for the following day.  At this point the person's line manager may have taken over.  If you are the person's line manager then you can let them know what to expect yourself.

I think it is important to identify a person that the new member of staff can go to if they have questions.  This can ease the transition into the new role and may pick up important issues or difficulties early on.  If you think back to when you were new, what things do you wish you had known back then?

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I’m a teacher but I want to retrain as a secretary.  I’ve had enough of the stress!!  How should I go about it?  I see from your profile that you retrained to become a PA.  How did you do it?

Secretarial or PA posts can be stimulating jobs but maybe not as stimulating (or stressful as you say) as teaching.  Teachers are seen by wise employers as having good potential for re-training into new areas, but you need to be prepared to start further down the ladder than you are now.  My experience of working in schools and colleges is that administrative and secretarial staff can be treated quite poorly by academic staff so you will need a thick skin.

Your first priority should be to get up a good typing speed.  You will need a minimum of 40 words per minute with a good level of accuracy, rising to 50 or more with practice.  I would suggest getting some typing software which takes you through a series of exercises working on the right key combinations and on building speed.  All programs will tell you how quick you are and the degree of accuracy.  One of my favourites is Mavis Beacon (see link on the right), but you can find free ones by googling ‘free typing software’.  Learning to touch type will temporarily slow down your speed, but getting the key combinations right will help you speed up quickly once you have had a bit more practice.

You will have to re-work your CV placing emphasis on the large amounts of administrative work that teachers have to do, and of course the high level of accuracy required.  The current job market means that you will find it very challenging getting interviews for jobs where you lack on-the-job experience.  Look out for administrative/secretarial jobs in companies where your experience in education might be an advantage.  If you have any contacts make the most of them now.  It might be worth offering to do a bit of free admin for a friend’s business just to get the experience.  I gained most of my experience working as temp, so approach an agency to see if they will take you on.  At the very least they will test your typing speed and accuracy, and they might give you some free advice on improving your skills.  I was lucky to get work initially because I had experience using a Mac, which is unusual in most sectors.  If you can demonstrate some unique skills, perhaps from your home life or from leisure activities, then that will help you stand out from the crowd. A second language, for example, will give you the edge in certain sectors.

I think when I started working in secretarial and PA roles I underestimated the skills needed, and the importance of secretarial procedures.  If you can find a book covering these I would recommend reading it.  Other skills that are valued by employers are a good phone manner and the ability to write well, with attention to accuracy and punctuation (often you need to correct the boss's writing!!).

My other suggestions would be to look at the courses your local adult education offers.  Some teach touch typing, and you may well find courses covering the full range secretarial skills as well as offering help in finding a job.  Remember that knowledge of word processing and spreadsheet packages is essential, and PowerPoint is recommended.  You should also be familiar with email and calendar applications.

You may find some books on careers and software packages at your local library so pop down and have a look there too.

Good luck and let me know how you get on!
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Which manual? 23/07/2010
 
One question I'm often asked by students in my classes is 'how do I choose a good manual?'.  Hopefully your trainer will have provided you with good notes, but sometimes you want to buy a manual, especially where you can't get to a training course for whatever reason.  If you can't get your employer to pay for a training course you may be able to persuade them to establish a mini library of manuals that you and your colleagues can refer to.

My advice is to pick something that you know how to do (e.g. how to indent a paragraph in Word) and look up that item in each manual on the shelf. The one that you feel 'speaks' to you should be a good fit.  Pick a couple of things to check. Maybe you are looking for a photoshop manual because you don't know how to use the programme.  Look up the section that tells you how to save your files. You are likely to have some understanding of how to do this, even if you know nothing about file types.  Look up that section in each of the manuals on the shelf.  Of course that means actually going in to a store to look them up.

By the way, don't forget your local library - some libraries have a good collection of manuals.  It's worth a visit.  Libraries have changed a lot in the last few years so check it out!!
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