Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Typist to secretary

A typist already meets 26% of what the secretary role asks for. The move turns on 15 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From typist
26 % overlap
Distant match
To secretary
9 You already bring
15 Still to learn
43 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Substantial retraining

74.1/ 100

1 How much of what a secretary is expected to do is already part of a typist’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

Why this move works

A secretary role treats 7 of its required skills as things a typist already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • company policies
  • draft corporate emails
  • manage digital documents
  • perform office routine activities
  • use microsoft office
  • use spreadsheets software

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

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 9 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 typist background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held liaise with typists communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held draft corporate emails communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held write meeting reports communication, collaboration and creativity
  • already held perform office routine activities management skills
  • already held manage digital documents working with computers
  • already held use microsoft office working with computers

All 9 carried skills, including the 7 the secretary role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 34 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.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 management skills 6 required, 7 supplementary
  • still to learn handle mail required
  • still to learn administer appointments required
  • still to learn disseminate messages to people required
  • still to learn manage personnel agenda required
  • still to learn organise business documents required
  • still to learn organise facilities for office personnel 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
02 communication, collaboration and creativity 5 required, 6 supplementary
  • 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 maintain internal communication systems required
  • still to learn process commissioned instructions 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 manage needs for stationery items optional
  • optional, not held organise travel arrangements for staff optional
  • optional, not held prepare presentation material optional
03 information skills 4 required
  • still to learn file documents required
  • still to learn fill out forms required
  • still to learn keep task records required
  • still to learn monitor staff absences required
04 business, administration and law 4 supplementary
  • optional, not held labour law optional
  • optional, not held accounting techniques optional
  • optional, not held education administration optional
  • optional, not held education law optional
05 working with computers 2 supplementary
  • optional, not held manage online content optional
  • optional, not held use personal organization software optional
Table 4

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.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 9 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held company policies knowledge
  • already held draft corporate emails skill
  • already held manage digital documents skill
  • already held perform office routine activities skill
  • already held use microsoft office skill
  • already held use spreadsheets software skill
  • already held use word processing software skill
  • already held liaise with typists skill
  • already held write meeting reports skill
19 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • 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 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
24 held skills the secretary role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role align content with form skill
  • not needed by the target role apply grammar and spelling rules skill
  • not needed by the target role audio technology knowledge
  • not needed by the target role compile content skill
  • not needed by the target role content development processes knowledge
  • not needed by the target role decode handwritten texts skill
  • not needed by the target role digitise documents skill
  • not needed by the target role ensure proper document management skill
  • not needed by the target role integrate content into output media skill
  • not needed by the target role maintain customer records skill
  • not needed by the target role operate audio equipment skill
  • not needed by the target role pose questions referring to documents skill
  • not needed by the target role provide written content skill
  • not needed by the target role stenography knowledge
  • not needed by the target role transcription methods knowledge
  • not needed by the target role translate keywords into full texts skill
  • not needed by the target role type error-free documents skill
  • not needed by the target role type texts from audio sources skill
  • not needed by the target role use databases skill
  • not needed by the target role use dictionaries skill
  • not needed by the target role use free typing techniques skill
  • not needed by the target role use shorthand skill
  • not needed by the target role use shorthand computer program skill
  • not needed by the target role use stenotype machines skill
4 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held labour law optional
  • optional, not held accounting techniques optional
  • optional, not held education administration optional
  • optional, not held education law optional
Index

Other moves recorded from typist

Full index of moves from typist

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a typist become a secretary?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. A typist already covers 26% of what a secretary is expected to do: 9 skills carry over, 7 of which the secretary role treats as required.

What skills does a typist need to become a secretary?

15 required skills are missing, plus 19 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by management skills. The single most important is communicate schedules to the people concerned.

How hard is the move from typist to secretary?

Its learning distance is 74.1 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

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.