Top 12 Secretary Skills to Put on Your Resume
The job market moves fast and so do hiring managers. If you’re a secretary, the skills you showcase can tip the scales. The twelve skills below spotlight practical strengths that boost office flow, sharpen communication, and keep operations humming.
Secretary Skills
- Typing Speed
- Microsoft Office
- Google Workspace
- Calendar Management
- Data Entry
- QuickBooks
- CRM Software
- Transcription
- Proofreading
- Zoom
- Slack
- File Management
1. Typing Speed
Typing speed, for a secretary, means how many words per minute you can type accurately while staying steady under everyday office demands.
Why It's Important
Fast, accurate typing powers quick document creation, clear communication, and reliable data entry. More done, fewer bottlenecks.
How to Improve Typing Speed Skills
Build speed the smart way:
Start with technique: Home-row position, relaxed wrists, light keystrokes. Touch typing or bust.
Practice daily: Short, focused sprints beat marathon sessions. Use typing trainers and timed tests to track WPM and accuracy.
Chase accuracy first: Speed arrives when errors vanish. Tools like keybr-style drills help reduce mistakes.
Hide the keyboard: Train muscle memory. Eyes on the screen, not the keys.
Dial in ergonomics: Proper chair height, keyboard angle, and breaks to stave off fatigue.
Consistency stacks. A little each day compounds into big gains.
How to Display Typing Speed Skills on Your Resume
2. Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a suite for creating documents, analyzing data, shaping presentations, and managing email and calendars—daily territory for secretaries.
Why It's Important
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook underpin modern admin work. Master them and you shrink turnaround times while raising quality.
How to Improve Microsoft Office Skills
Keyboard shortcuts: Learn the big hitters in Word, Excel, Outlook. Seconds saved become hours over a month.
Templates: Create reusable templates for letters, minutes, and reports. Standardized, consistent, fast.
Outlook mastery: Rules, categories, and focused views tame inbox chaos. Calendar sharing streamlines scheduling.
Excel confidence: Formulas, conditional formatting, and PivotTables for lists, logs, budgets, and simple reporting.
OneNote for capture: Meeting notes, action items, and reference material synced and searchable.
Automate repeats: Use Power Automate or macros (where allowed) for routine tasks like file renaming or data cleanup.
Keep learning: Explore in-app tips and what’s new panes after updates.
How to Display Microsoft Office Skills on Your Resume
3. Google Workspace
Google Workspace bundles Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Meet into a cloud-first toolkit for collaboration and organization.
Why It's Important
It streamlines communication, file sharing, and scheduling. Simple to adopt, powerful at scale.
How to Improve Google Workspace Skills
Calendar clarity: Color-coded calendars, shared availability, and smart notifications keep meetings tidy.
Drive hygiene: Shared drives, clear folder naming, and permissions that match roles. Find files in seconds, not minutes.
Gmail control: Filters, labels, templates, and snooze for clean, actionable inboxes.
Real-time Docs and Sheets: Suggesting mode, version history, comments, and @-mentions for clean collaboration.
Meet essentials: Waiting rooms, recording (if enabled), captions, and co-hosting to run smooth sessions.
Tasks and Keep: Quick capture of to-dos and notes tied to emails and meetings.
Add-ons: Carefully choose only what saves time—signing, merging, scheduling. Less clutter, more flow.
How to Display Google Workspace Skills on Your Resume
4. Calendar Management
Calendar management means structuring time: booking meetings, defending focus blocks, handling reminders, and preventing collisions.
Why It's Important
Clear, conflict-free schedules keep leaders on track and teams aligned. Time is the scarcest resource; treat it like inventory.
How to Improve Calendar Management Skills
Prioritize: Urgent versus important. Put the important work in daylight hours, protect it with buffers.
Use digital tools: Shared calendars, meeting polls, and timezone views reduce back-and-forth.
Time blocking: Group similar tasks. Batch admin, batch calls, batch follow-ups.
Set boundaries: Working hours, no-meeting zones, and clear response windows.
Weekly reviews: Sweep the week ahead, prep materials, cancel low-value meetings, and add agendas where missing.
How to Display Calendar Management Skills on Your Resume
5. Data Entry
Data entry covers capturing, updating, and maintaining information across systems, forms, and spreadsheets—accurately, consistently.
Why It's Important
Clean data fuels reporting and decisions. Messy data multiplies problems.
How to Improve Data Entry Skills
Boost typing accuracy: Short drills, daily. Accuracy first, speed later.
Learn shortcuts: System and spreadsheet shortcuts slash time per record.
Use text expansion: Snippets for common phrases, addresses, and signatures.
Validate as you go: Drop-downs, data validation, and consistent formats to prevent errors at the source.
Batch work: Process similar entries in one go to stay in flow.
Take breaks: Micro-breaks maintain accuracy over long stretches.
How to Display Data Entry Skills on Your Resume
6. QuickBooks
QuickBooks streamlines day-to-day bookkeeping: invoices, expenses, reconciliations, and simple reporting.
Why It's Important
Accurate records keep budgets honest and stakeholders informed. It also helps with audit readiness and tax prep.
How to Improve QuickBooks Skills
Start with the basics: Chart of accounts, customers, vendors, items. Know what goes where.
Customize: Tailor invoices, default terms, and dashboard widgets to your workflow.
Automate: Bank feeds, rules, and recurring transactions reduce manual entry.
Reconcile monthly: Bank and card statements matched to the penny. Spot issues early.
Tidy records: Use classes or tags for departments or events. Keep vendor and customer details complete.
Security and backups: Strong credentials, role-based access, and routine backups (or export copies) where applicable.
Learn reports: Profit and loss, balance sheet, A/R and A/P aging—run, filter, and export with confidence.
How to Display QuickBooks Skills on Your Resume
7. CRM Software
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tools organize contacts, track interactions, and support follow-ups—all in one place.
Why It's Important
For secretaries, a CRM means faster lookups, better context, and no missed touchpoints. Clients feel known, not lost.
How to Improve CRM Software Skills
Learn the data model: Contacts, companies, deals, activities—how they connect.
Standardize entry: Naming conventions, required fields, and clean formatting. Garbage in, garbage out.
Log everything: Calls, emails, notes, and meeting outcomes. A complete timeline pays off.
Views and filters: Saved lists for overdue tasks, hot leads, or VIPs. Work from focused queues.
Light automation: Templates, sequences, and reminders to nudge follow-ups.
Reports and dashboards: Track volume, response times, and pipeline snapshots for leadership.
Integrations: Connect email and calendar so nothing slips through the cracks.
Privacy: Use roles and permissions properly. Sensitive data stays protected.
How to Display CRM Software Skills on Your Resume
8. Transcription
Transcription turns speech into text—clean, readable, and faithful to the source.
Why It's Important
Accurate transcripts become minutes, records, and references. Misheard details can ripple into real problems.
How to Improve Transcription Skills
Gear matters: Comfortable headset, clear audio, and a foot pedal if you do this often.
Typing speed and accuracy: Regular drills to keep pace with speech.
Playback control: Slowdown, skip-back, and hotkeys to stay aligned with the speaker.
Know the vocabulary: Build glossaries for industry terms and names.
Proofread end to end: Punctuation, formatting, and timestamps (when needed). One clean pass saves many later.
Templates: Standard headers, speaker labels, and styles for consistency.
How to Display Transcription Skills on Your Resume
9. Proofreading
Proofreading is the last line of defense: eliminate grammar, spelling, punctuation, and formatting errors before documents go out.
Why It's Important
It protects reputation, clarifies meaning, and prevents costly misunderstandings.
How to Improve Proofreading Skills
Step away first: A short break resets your eyes and brain.
Read aloud: Awkward phrasing and missing words jump out when spoken.
One pass, one focus: Spelling first, then punctuation, then formatting. Layered checks work best.
Use tools wisely: Spell check and grammar suggestions help, but final judgment is yours.
Print or change view: New perspective, new catches.
Track frequent mistakes: Keep a personal checklist and squash repeat offenders.
Peer review: Fresh eyes find hidden errors.
How to Display Proofreading Skills on Your Resume
10. Zoom
Zoom is a platform for video meetings, webinars, and remote collaboration.
Why It's Important
It keeps teams connected across offices and time zones, with features that make scheduling and running meetings straightforward.
How to Improve Zoom Skills
Schedule smarter: Use calendar integrations and meeting templates for recurring formats.
Know your controls: Keyboard shortcuts, host/co-host roles, waiting rooms, and muting discipline.
Record and recap: Cloud or local recordings (if permitted) plus transcripts or notes for follow-ups.
Breakout rooms: Split larger groups for workshops or interviews; set timers and broadcast messages.
Accessibility: Live captions, chat moderation, and clear naming conventions for attendees.
Polish the experience: Clean background, stable lighting, and tested audio before the call.
How to Display Zoom Skills on Your Resume
11. Slack
Slack centralizes workplace messaging with channels, direct messages, and integrated tools.
Why It's Important
Fast communication, tidy threads, and searchable history reduce email clutter and speed decisions.
How to Improve Slack Skills
Channel hygiene: Clear naming, purpose statements, and archived stale channels.
Reminders and schedules: Automate nudges for deadlines, agendas, and follow-ups.
Integrations: Connect calendars, file storage, and task boards so work happens where conversations live.
Search like a pro: Filters, date ranges, and in:channel searches to retrieve info quickly.
Etiquette: Threads for context, reactions for quick acknowledgment, and Do Not Disturb for focus.
How to Display Slack Skills on Your Resume
12. File Management
File management is the art of organizing, naming, storing, securing, and retrieving documents without friction.
Why It's Important
People find what they need, when they need it—safely. Less hunting, fewer duplicates, better compliance.
How to Improve File Management Skills
Folder structure: Logical, consistent hierarchy by team, project, or date.
Naming conventions: Clear, short, and standardized. Consider YYYY-MM-DD_project_doc-type_version.
Cloud storage: Shared drives for collaboration, with permissions mapped to roles.
Retention rules: Archive finished work, purge duplicates, and follow policy for sensitive records.
Access controls: Least-privilege permissions, with regular reviews.
Version control: Use built-in version history and avoid saving copies everywhere.
Digitize cleanly: OCR scans, searchable PDFs, and consistent file types.
How to Display File Management Skills on Your Resume
