OK, well I think I'm probably 'first wave'!  At the age of 18 doing a 2 year secretarial course (totally by choice) at college, my other fellow students and I were very dismissive (possibly jealous without realising?) of the post graduate secretaries who had done other university/college courses, and came to do a comprehensive compacted 6 month secretarial course.  At the same time, I entered a national audio typing competition sponsored by a major electrical company and represented Scotland in the UK finals, where I was pipped for first place by a girl whose intention was to become a lawyer.  That annoyed me!

Now I have a slightly different view - older and wiser!  If someone chooses to use a secretarial job as a stepping stone to another career, fine - I have the opinion (not sure if it holds up - tell me!) that maybe they will remember what it's like to be in the position of a secretary and remember to treat their own future secretaries with the respect we expect and deserve - ie not asking for rush jobs at 5 pm, or thinking that they've told us things and expecting a bit of mind reading - you know the kind of thing!

But - what seriously annoys me and always has, is people who think they can do this job (with or without some qualifications!) and don't really have a clue what it entails and end up leaving a total mess for the rest of us professionals to sort out.  As you might guess, I'm in the midst of something like this just now for a client, but because I've taken it on of my own free will, I'll do it cos what follows will be very meaty and interesting.  All the same, I seriously wonder about people who say they can do far more than they're actually capable of - we all talk ourselves up and that's no bad thing.  But when push comes to shove, you've got to be able to do the job as well as talk the talk.

As ever, it'll be very interesting to hear other views from both the first and second wave folk!

Jackie
www.iqps.org
Peer Moderator