Bilingual secretary

In your day to day duties, you could:

• translate documents and letters
• write letters, emails and reports in a foreign language
• translate or summarise articles from foreign journals
• speak in a foreign language on the phone or in person
• interpret at meetings

For general administrative duties, you could:

• act as a personal assistant (PA) to a manager
• organise meetings, make appointments and keep a diary
• arrange travel and accommodation for business trips
• do filing, typing and photocopying
• update computer databases

• administration skills
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• the ability to work well with others
• active listening skills
• to be flexible and open to change
• patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
• knowledge of English language
• excellent verbal communication skills
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

You can get into this job through:

• a university course
• a college course
• an apprenticeship
• applying directly

With experience, you could be promoted to personal assistant or office manager.

You could move into translating or interpreting, or international business, sales or marketing.

You could move into a specialised bilingual role like bilingual legal secretary or bilingual medical secretary.