Parliamentary assistant to secretary
A parliamentary assistant already meets 25% of what the secretary role asks for. The move turns on 15 required skills not yet in the profile.
75/ 100
1 How much of what a secretary is expected to do is already part of a parliamentary assistant’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the secretary role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A secretary role treats 7 of its required skills as things a parliamentary assistant already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- company policies
- disseminate messages to people
- fill out forms
- organise business documents
- organise facilities for office personnel
- perform office routine activities
What stands in the way is 15 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 8 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A secretary role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a parliamentary assistant background worth leading with.
- already held organise facilities for office personnel management skills
- already held fill out forms information skills
- already held write meeting reports communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held disseminate messages to people management skills
- already held organise business documents management skills
- already held process commissioned instructions communication, collaboration and creativity
All 8 carried skills, including the 7 the secretary role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 35 missing skills fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn communicate schedules to the people concerned required
- still to learn communicate by telephone required
- still to learn disseminate internal communications required
- still to learn draft corporate emails required
- still to learn maintain internal communication systems required
- optional, not held place orders for printed paper goods optional
- optional, not held demonstrate professional attitude to clients optional
- optional, not held develop documentation in accordance with legal requirements optional
- optional, not held liaise with typists optional
- optional, not held manage needs for stationery items optional
- optional, not held organise travel arrangements for staff optional
- optional, not held prepare presentation material optional
- still to learn manage digital documents required
- still to learn use microsoft office required
- still to learn use spreadsheets software required
- still to learn use word processing software required
- optional, not held manage online content optional
- optional, not held use personal organization software optional
- still to learn handle mail required
- still to learn administer appointments required
- still to learn manage personnel agenda required
- optional, not held issue sales invoices optional
- optional, not held deliver correspondence optional
- optional, not held handle financial transactions optional
- optional, not held handle petty cash optional
- optional, not held manage accounts optional
- optional, not held manage budgets optional
- optional, not held use office systems optional
- still to learn file documents required
- still to learn keep task records required
- still to learn monitor staff absences required
- optional, not held labour law optional
- optional, not held accounting techniques optional
- optional, not held education administration optional
- optional, not held education law optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a secretary role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 communicate schedules to the people concerned practise this
- 02 file documents practise this
- 03 handle mail practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 8 skills that carry over
- already held company policies knowledge
- already held disseminate messages to people skill
- already held fill out forms skill
- already held organise business documents skill
- already held organise facilities for office personnel skill
- already held perform office routine activities skill
- already held process commissioned instructions skill
- already held write meeting reports skill
20 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held issue sales invoices optional
- optional, not held labour law optional
- optional, not held manage online content optional
- optional, not held place orders for printed paper goods optional
- optional, not held accounting techniques optional
- optional, not held deliver correspondence optional
- optional, not held demonstrate professional attitude to clients optional
- optional, not held develop documentation in accordance with legal requirements optional
- optional, not held education administration optional
- optional, not held education law optional
- optional, not held handle financial transactions optional
- optional, not held handle petty cash optional
- optional, not held liaise with typists optional
- optional, not held manage accounts optional
- optional, not held manage budgets optional
- optional, not held manage needs for stationery items optional
- optional, not held organise travel arrangements for staff optional
- optional, not held prepare presentation material optional
- optional, not held use office systems optional
- optional, not held use personal organization software optional
41 held skills the secretary role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role advise on communication strategies skill
- not needed by the target role advise on drafting policies skill
- not needed by the target role advise on foreign affairs policies skill
- not needed by the target role advise on government policy compliance skill
- not needed by the target role analyse text before translation skill
- not needed by the target role apply information security policies skill
- not needed by the target role attend meetings skill
- not needed by the target role attend parliament plenaries skill
- not needed by the target role business analysis knowledge
- not needed by the target role check official documents skill
- not needed by the target role civil law knowledge
- not needed by the target role commercial law knowledge
- not needed by the target role communicate with stakeholders skill
- not needed by the target role communication knowledge
- not needed by the target role communication principles knowledge
- not needed by the target role constitutional law knowledge
- not needed by the target role develop organisational policies skill
- not needed by the target role draft legislation skill
- not needed by the target role draft press releases skill
- not needed by the target role ensure compliance with policies skill
- not needed by the target role examine legislative drafts skill
- not needed by the target role fix meetings skill
- not needed by the target role good governance knowledge
- not needed by the target role government policy knowledge
- not needed by the target role identify policy breach skill
- not needed by the target role inspect government policy compliance skill
- not needed by the target role liaise with government officials skill
- not needed by the target role maintain correspondence records skill
- not needed by the target role manage relationships with stakeholders skill
- not needed by the target role monitor company policy skill
- not needed by the target role negotiate with stakeholders skill
- not needed by the target role office software knowledge
- not needed by the target role organisational policies knowledge
- not needed by the target role politics knowledge
- not needed by the target role pose questions referring to documents skill
- not needed by the target role respect publication formats skill
- not needed by the target role respond to inquiries in written form skill
- not needed by the target role review drafts skill
- not needed by the target role strategic planning knowledge
- not needed by the target role supervise advocacy work skill
1 further entry not listed here
4 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- optional, not held labour law optional
- optional, not held accounting techniques optional
- optional, not held education administration optional
- optional, not held education law optional
Common questions about this move
Can a parliamentary assistant become a secretary?
Yes, and it is a career change move. A parliamentary assistant already covers 25% of what a secretary is expected to do: 8 skills carry over, 7 of which the secretary role treats as required.
What skills does a parliamentary assistant need to become a secretary?
15 required skills are missing, plus 20 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is communicate schedules to the people concerned.
How hard is the move from parliamentary assistant to secretary?
Its learning distance is 75 out of 100, which is the career change band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.