"Mostly administrative work - not much secretarial work" what does it mean?

Question

The position I might be taking on is as mentioned above. What does it mean? The person I am replacing said the job doesn't have much secretarial duties ... no typing or dictation from the boss. Almost no dealings with the boss. I LOVE that!

Here what she said she does, ..

- check on office supplies

- visits the post office to pick up the mail

- answers the phone

- pays bills (what are the usual bills?)

- handles petty cash

- sometimes requests quotations for chemicals for the chemical engineer requirements.

- keeps track of leave records

- makes sure that the office looks neat.

Do you think there might be anything else that she is omitting. Can this really be all an office administrator does? I am confused as the salary seems quite good. The work doesn't seem enough to fill an 8 hour day. What should I do to keep busy?

Answer 1

The phone are probably very busy.  How many employees does the company have?  Keeping tract of leave of absence, sick time and vacation is very simple.  There are forms that you can buy at Staples of, office depot, the form has every day of the week by month. just simple follow the codes on the form ex. I = ill, V = vacations. etc.

Paying the bills, is probably utilities, rent, insurance, and everything that the company buys to resell of buys make a product.  They tell you if they want you to pay every 2 weeks or every week, or once a month.  That can also be time consuming, again depending how many vendors the company has.  By the way, this is accounts payable.  And they probably have a software where you enter all the bills once you have matched the packing slips with the invoice.

Keep inventory on office supplies,  Making sure that there is enough paper clips, pens, and whatever the company uses. like paper, ink cartridges. etc.

Petty cash, just make sure that every one gives you a receipt every time you reimburse some one with cash.  That way you will always be coverd.

Answer 2

It depends on the job, some ads only give a general description, others give minute details of the position. Its up to you, if and when you get the job.  

Answer 3

There must be something left out, if not that sounds like a great job. The phones might be really busy and I'm not sure about he keeping track of the leave records - that might be time consuming. The bills might be for the office supplies and office equipment maintenance, maybe more.

Answer 4

Wow lucky you.  Great pay and nothing to do.  You could be right, there could be more to it, or she could be a total slacker and you could end up really impressing your boss and doing very well.  Don't let them take advantage of it though.  Anyhow, I would suggest working your way into the position and figuring out if there are any things you can do to improve the responsibilities that you already have.  It may be more than you think.  When you have grown familiar and comfortable and you still have time on your hands, go to the boss and let him know that you would like some additional responsibilities.