The advantages and disadvantages of women in foreign secretarial work

On the advantages and disadvantages of women in foreign-related secretarial work July 16, 2008 10:59 Secretarial work has a long history in our country, and the word "secretary" appeared as early as the Han Dynasty. In our country's secretarial circles, the word "secretary" has been given a clear and clear concept: "The so-called secretary is a staff member who is in charge of documents and directly assists leaders in comprehensively handling affairs." With the deepening of my country's opening up to the outside world and the With the strengthening of external ties, domestic enterprises’ foreign trade has become more and more frequent. In this way, under the concept of "secretary", there is a new concept of "foreign secretary". The so-called foreign-related secretaries refer to secretaries who work in my country's "foreign-funded" enterprises and foreign-related units such as foreign trade, foreign affairs, customs, banks, taxation, insurance, hotels and shopping malls. Today, secretaries have become one of the most widespread professions in the world and are known as the 361st line of modern society. The word "secretary" has appeared frequently in the talent market in recent years, and vacancies for secretarial positions are also emerging one after another. Its demand has been at the top of the recruitment rankings for many years in a row. With the development and prosperity of the market economy, especially the development of foreign-funded enterprises in China, this momentum will continue unabated, and it will also provide many employment opportunities for the society.

1. What is a foreign-related secretary?

Foreign-related secretaries mainly work in government foreign-related agencies and export-oriented enterprises to engage in secretarial, file management, human resources management, etc. Foreign-related work requires language proficiency. Higher requirements. Foreign-related secretary is an international profession with the characteristics of foreign-related, auxiliary and transactional.

Abroad, foreign secretaries generally work in export companies, foreign companies, private companies or joint ventures. They have to contact and provide services to customers around the world. Their work is international. It is also very important.

In our country, foreign-related secretaries refer to secretaries who work in "foreign-funded" enterprises, foreign institutions in China, and foreign-related units and departments in my country. They are new types of export-oriented and compound secretaries that emerged after the reform and opening up. They master more than one foreign language, can operate office automation equipment, understand economics and law, and master secretarial work theories and skills. They are professionals who assist their bosses in implementing management. Let’s first take a look at how “the Oxford English Dictionary” explains “foreign secretary” in detail.

1 one who is entrusted with private or secret mat;

2 one who se office it is to write for another; esp.one who is employed to conduct correspondence, to keep records ,and usually to transact various other business,for another person or for a society, corporation, or public body.

(1) Responsibilities and scope of foreign-related secretaries

Foreign-related secretaries can be divided into two categories: secretaries and clerks based on their basic responsibilities and status. Its working environment is first and foremost an extroverted working environment. She needs to deal with foreigners and foreign companies, or directly serve foreign bosses or foreign companies. The prerequisite for such mutual interactions and services is language, including spoken and written language. Therefore, it has particularly high requirements for language and eloquence.

The working environment of foreign-related secretaries is still a working environment with increasingly modern technical equipment. As a foreign secretary, there is no doubt that you need to be proficient in operating office automation equipment and systems. Since the cooperation of foreign-related secretaries is to write documents in the process of transaction processing, which belongs to the scope of office work and does not belong to literary creation. Therefore, the writing skills that foreign-related secretaries should master are mainly practical writing skills. It is divided into Chinese writing and foreign language writing in terms of text; it is further divided into official document writing and conventional writing in terms of content.

The general scope of responsibilities of foreign-related secretaries include clipping newspapers, processing emails, arranging boss's work schedule, drafting correspondence documents, organizing meetings, file management, etc.

In addition to understanding the general principles and policies, foreign-related secretaries should also focus on mastering the relevant policies of their own unit.

It is also very important to ensure quality and avoid errors at work. A secretary is not only a representative of the boss, but also a representative of the company. Quick and efficient work and confidentiality are necessary for a qualified secretary. Although the requirements for the comprehensive quality of foreign-related secretaries are getting higher and higher, in recent years, because foreign-related secretaries have the "four The advantages of "high" include higher income, higher level, higher performance and higher efficiency. increasingly attractive. But it is undeniable that foreign countries’ requirements for foreign-related secretaries emphasize ability and talent. In China, relatively little attention is paid to the external image of secretaries.

(2) The role of the foreign-related secretary

The pivotal role, the comprehensive role, the coordination role, and the window role.

(3) Professional characteristics of foreign-related secretaries

1. Assistance: including intellectual assistance and energy assistance;

2. Service: serving the boss , serving subordinate departments and serving employees;

3. Passivity: Foreign secretarial work is generally passive, but in specific operations, subjective initiative can be exerted to strive for initiative from passivity.

4. Concealment: refers to the integration of labor into the leadership activities of the boss, and the results of the labor are reflected in the results of the boss's leadership work, rather than being directly displayed.

(4) Qualities that foreign-related female secretaries should possess

The psychological quality of foreign-related secretaries refers to the regular and stable psychological characteristics they display when working. Foreign-related secretaries are engaged in mental work, which has many clues, wide scope and complex content. His mental activities are frequent. In the book "The Successful Secretary", American Forris listed various responsibilities of modern secretaries, including: "typing, filing, receiving visitors, processing correspondence, writing reports, handling daily affairs when the boss is away", etc. Faced with such a complicated task, a secretary without good psychological quality will be difficult to do the job.

Among the customer orders received by the headhunting company, there are some senior secretarial positions, which have demanding requirements. We might as well take a look at the job description of a senior secretary of a US-funded company in China:

1. Secretary to the president of the Asia-Pacific region

(1) 35 to 42 years old, professional woman;< /p>

(2) Long-term experience in foreign-funded enterprises, at least 8 years of senior secretarial experience in foreign companies;

(3) Very fluent English, familiar with computer operations;

(4 ) Good communication skills, coordination skills, judgment skills and foreseeability...

Among the 8 clauses, we have only excerpted 4 of them, and it is these 4 clauses that have already combined many People turned away because in China, such professional women are rare.

First of all, in people's eyes, the work of a secretary is too simple and too routine. It seems to be summed up as "sending, receiving, making deposits", and is generally considered to be a "youth meal". A woman who has been working as a secretary for a year or two, even in a good foreign company, will do everything possible to ask for a job change, either in personnel, administration, marketing, or sales, to realize the value of life in the eyes of others. Therefore, in foreign companies in China, it is already difficult to find a professional secretary who has been engaged in secretarial work for more than three years. Traditional concepts prevent Chinese women from training themselves to become professional secretaries.

Let’s talk about foreign language conditions. At present, among the 40-year-old intellectual women in mainland China, except for those who work in national foreign affairs agencies, many of them do not have good foreign language skills, and those who work in agencies lack the experience in foreign companies. Work experience. In contrast, in European and American countries, secretary means a profession. The positions of senior presidents or secretaries of senior departments are mostly held by well-educated and experienced professional women in their 40s. Their special status is enough to make department managers and other employees of the company respect them.

In addition to general secretarial work, their communication, coordination, foresight and judgment must be very strong. It takes a lot of effort to stay at the top of the company. One thing that cannot be forgotten is that these women also started as "youth rice" and worked their way up step by step.

The fact that it is very difficult for headhunting companies to find senior secretaries in mainland China tells the story to people whose jobs are in turmoil, who are sending resumes everywhere and who are constantly changing jobs, especially women. Bringing you opportunities and new successes, secretarial work is definitely a career where you can make a difference.

Why not strive to be an educated, experienced, capable and status senior secretary? One day, if you really become a top secretary in a large company, and you have a bird's-eye view of the company, you will happily say at the age of 40: "I succeeded!" You will sigh that being a secretary is not just a "youth meal", but a capable person. A career that would be the envy of anyone.

2. How does a company boss choose a secretary?

There are often young girls who have graduated from foreign language majors who hope to find a job in a foreign company: "I will make do as a secretary first, and then I will find a suitable position." Jump again." These confident girls believe that being a secretary is the first step to promotion. However, the bosses said: "The secretary we most hope to find is a mature woman over 30 years old, who is practical and willing to work. If you are too young, you will not be able to retain her, and you will have a lot of troubles."

Mr. Wang, who has worked in foreign companies for more than ten years, is the general manager of a multinational company in China. He has used many secretaries and everyone who comes to him to find a job must go through an interview with him. He has a very insightful view on the characteristics of Chinese female secretaries: “Most domestic female secretaries are young and beautiful, with strong personalities and willful personalities. Most of them are untrained, unprofessional, passive in their work, have poor sense of responsibility, and work like Turn the alarm clock. The main reason for this is the psychological problem of short-term work. Most of them use being a secretary as a springboard. Especially many of the female secretaries who apply for jobs now have dual degrees. Their purpose of coming here is not yours. After working as secretaries all their lives, they learn while working and want to change jobs. When they think they have accumulated enough experience, they leave. ”

In foreign countries, it is difficult to see young people in large companies. Female secretaries, most of whom are over 40 years old, are like sisters-in-law in the company, arranging everything in order. The schedule during the visit is accurate to the minute, from getting up, having breakfast, gathering, arriving, and meeting. The visitor is like being locked in a clock, and unknowingly follows this arranged plan to the end. You know, all this is controlled by the secretary. Is the boss satisfied with such a secretary? Absolutely satisfied! A good secretary can be half of the family, saving the boss a lot of worry!

General Manager Wang also has some insights into the professionalism of foreign female secretaries: “They have a housekeeping mentality, so they have a strong sense of responsibility and initiative. When I was working as a secretary abroad, I thought about this I have a profound experience. If I tell my secretary on the first day when and what kind of guests will be coming to the company the next day, ask her to prepare in advance when you come to the conference room the next day. Everything is arranged in an orderly manner. Fruits and snacks are prepared according to the taste of the country and nationality that the guests come from. But in China, a young female secretary has to worry a lot. She will ask me: What should I do? It is better to use an older female secretary. Stable, because this kind of female secretary is relatively mature, and she chooses secretarial work after many comparisons and reflections, so she is prepared to do it for a long time. Like any job, secretarial work is very detailed and important. The boss's right-hand man, her work attitude and behavior are no longer personal behaviors, but can directly affect the boss's work efficiency and the company's image.

There is a saying in foreign companies: If you want to. If you know the various situations within a company, then ask the female secretary. It shows how powerful the secretary is!

At present, in many overseas countries and regions, the secretarial profession is recognized as "women dominate the world". In 1978, In 2006, 99% of secretarial staff in institutions at all levels in the United States were women, and almost all those receiving secretarial training in colleges and universities were women. Books, newspapers, periodicals, and authoritative dictionaries and encyclopedias about secretarial work compiled in English always use the third person. Always use "She" instead of "He" when referring to secretaries. The term "female secretary" is popular all over the world.

2. The advantages of women in foreign secretarial work

Reform. The foreign-related secretaries that appeared after the opening up have gone against the tradition of masculine secretaries and have become more feminine. The root cause is that "foreign-funded" enterprises are generally concentrated in coastal open cities, and people are more open-minded; and women themselves also have advantages. Gentle and elegant, loves to laugh, has delicate emotions, speaks in a cheerful and soft tone, is good at handling interpersonal relationships, is patient at work, well organized, has a strong memory, has typing talent, is cautious in nature, easy to keep secrets, and can coordinate the office atmosphere.

(1) Give full play to the advantages of women

From a psychological perspective, the principle of opposite sex attraction often causes male bosses to be more tolerant towards young female secretaries attitude, which puts the female secretary in a favorable position. But on the other hand, there may be certain differences between women and men in terms of ways of thinking, psychological states, work styles, etc. For example, men tend to pay more attention to objective situations when thinking about problems, while women tend to pay more attention to subjective feelings. This distinction puts women at a disadvantage compared to their male colleagues. Therefore, in order to handle the relationship with male bosses well, female secretaries should pay attention to giving full play to women's advantages, using their strengths and avoiding weaknesses, and using elegant appearance, meticulous and serious attitude, civilized language and some female skills to win the favor of their bosses.

Women are suitable for secretarial work, which is determined by their own factors, because women have better social skills, coordination skills, observation skills, expression skills, image memory skills, and mechanical memory skills than men. They are also more patient than men in complex service work, and their natural sensitivity is more suitable for the current high-tech society. Moreover, women are naturally cautious and can keep secrets better than men. At the same time, women have advantages such as meticulous work, civilized language, polite reception, responsible work, stable work, strong confidentiality, and strong procedures. It can play a complementary role in work for male bosses.

1. Help male leaders to be more self-sufficient. Chinese people have a very peculiar psychological phenomenon, which is the so-called "melons under pears", or there is no cat in the world that does not steal fishy food. Anyone who has something to do with melons, pears and fishy fish will naturally become the object or reason for suspicion. So simply assign a beautiful female secretary to a male leading cadre, so that he is always in this tense state, having to pay attention to his own image, and not to dare to act rashly.

2. It will help more people supervise male leaders. If a leading comrade carries a beautiful female secretary with him when he comes in and out, he will definitely become the focus of attention and supervision, so more people will come to remind leading cadres. And even if this leading cadre wants to keep himself clean, at least he can definitely achieve the goal of "rabbits don't eat grass on the edge of their nests." And once he gets away from the female secretary and works alone, people will pay more attention to their supervision.

3. It is helpful to prevent the occurrence of some corruption phenomena. When a male leader takes a female secretary on a business trip, those unscrupulous women will not have the opportunity to approach the male leader. Objectively, this can create a good effect for the male leader in reducing corruption opportunities. Even when relevant parties arrange some entertainment activities for male leaders, with the escort of female secretaries, the possibility of comrades making mistakes will be much less.

4. It is helpful to improve work efficiency. There is an old saying in China, "Men and women work together so that they will not be tired from work." Although it is a bit vulgar, it also has a certain scientific truth. Generally speaking, male leaders always have to appear more capable and graceful in front of subordinates of the opposite sex.

5. It is conducive to further promoting the formation of a social atmosphere that respects women's human rights. "Beauty is a disaster" is one of the ancient prejudices of the Chinese people. Daji, Yang Guifei, Chen Yuanyuan, and many other women in history are famous for their mistakes in the country. Such feudal bad customs and stereotypes must not be allowed to breed again in the construction of the "three civilizations" in the 21st century. Women must be treated with due respect, and the most basic thing is not to impose some "unfounded" charges on them. When something happens to a few male leaders, is it really the fault of those women? Flies don't bite seamless eggs, the key is the egg itself.

6. It is conducive to the stability and unity of families headed by men. With a beautiful female secretary, the family leader of the male leader will feel more at ease. How can you see it? Because the appearance of the female secretary objectively provided her with a supervisor. Male leaders can no longer do whatever they want. After all, they have to maintain a certain degree of manliness in front of female secretaries. Moreover, the male leader's family leader also knows very well that the female secretary is assigned by the organization and is just a helper at work, so he can be very assured of her.

7. It is helpful to overcome the many shortcomings of male leaders and male secretaries. Everyone must be familiar with the story of "Hebei's First Secretary". Just because he is a male secretary, if he colludes with a male leader, he can do a lot of bad things. Such lessons should be available everywhere. If you think about it, whether a male leader and a male secretary will cause more troubles or a male leader and a female secretary will cause more troubles, you will have a clear idea of ??this issue.

(2) The shortcomings of women in foreign-related secretarial work

Most of the secretarial professions in our country are men, and the number of female secretaries is relatively small. The reason is that feudal consciousness is at work, and cadres Institutional restrictions and secular prejudices shackles. But at the same time, we see that even if female secretaries do their job quietly, they will still suffer from secular prejudice from some people in society. It is true that there are some secretaries with good intentions who take advantage of their positions to engage in illegal activities and unethical transactions to obtain their own interests. It has had a very bad impact on society and people, bringing people prejudice against this profession, and also putting great psychological pressure on female foreign secretaries.

1. Our national conditions are different from those of Western countries. We were once a very closed and ascetic country. After the reform and opening up, our material living standards have improved, and various temptations have also increased. Under this background, it is very possible that some female secretaries have become lovers and mistresses, which has led to the wives of some business owners Neither of them wants their husband to have a female secretary.

2. The society collectively views the profession of female secretaries through colored glasses. A legitimate profession is colored, which is really a very important social issue. At present, the three words "female secretary" have a disgraceful impression in the minds of the public. Some social realities have given these three words a new "meaning", and this meaning is extremely embarrassing. , this meaning is often connected with some ambiguous and disgraceful feeling circles. In this whirlpool of public opinion, even if there is nothing between a leading cadre and a female secretary, it will inevitably cause unnecessary suspicion and deduction among the masses, thereby causing the loss of the leading cadre's image and complicating social prestige. In addition, male leaders and female secretaries are inseparable, which can easily lead to unreasonable suspicion, which in turn affects the authority and image of the leader, and affects the relationship between cadres and the masses.

3. People are distrustful of their leaders’ female secretaries. As you can imagine, if a male leader has a young and beautiful female secretary by his side all day long, not only will his family be worried, but the masses and colleagues will inevitably make some gossip about it. When people think of female secretaries, they associate it with things like Xiaomi, which damages the image of the entire secretarial industry. I think that male secretaries can also do many of the tasks of female secretaries. Why do we have to find female secretaries? Moreover, they must be young and have good facial features. Isn’t the intention obvious?

4. In recent years, there have been quite a few negative views on the profession of female foreign secretaries. In the business world, when it comes to female foreign secretaries, we often think of those women who are flamboyant around wealthy people. Xiaomi (Xiao Mi) has basically become a synonym for the wealthy lover. In the political world, when it comes to female secretaries, we often think of corrupt elements who are fake and powerful, especially after the corruption cases such as the dismissed "big secretaries" Chen Jian, Yan Zhenli, Duan Aihua, He Shiping, Zhu Shengwen... and "Hebei's first secretary" Li Zhen. , there are folk songs as evidence that "female secretaries influence leaders, nannies influence families, small four-wheelers block traffic, and small businesses pollute the environment." This shows that the influence of female secretaries on male leaders is not ordinary. This kind of phenomenon has become more common, causing attracted the attention of many people.

5. From a human perspective, every man has the desire to express himself. When there is a young and beautiful woman next to him, his desire to express himself is even stronger. Therefore, it is easy for them to abuse their power in front of female secretaries and issue arbitrary orders to others. At the same time, male leaders generally find it hard to refuse requests from female secretaries out of favour, so there is a phenomenon of some female secretaries using their power for personal gain. For some leaders who do not have strong self-control, female secretaries catalyze their corruption and degradation.

Being a secretary is difficult, but being a female secretary is even harder. How can I have both sides and be a female secretary that everyone likes? The Oxford Management Review puts forward the following 8 points to note to help women become well-liked female secretaries.

1. Have a normal mind. The position of a female secretary is very special. Although she does not belong to the company's senior management, she often gives the impression that she is beneath the manager because she is directly responsible for her work. Because of this, female secretaries must keep a normal mind: I am just an ordinary employee of the company, I serve my work, and I am nothing else. Otherwise, beware of being scolded behind your back by others.

2. Strengthen work ability. You must be dedicated to your job, be down-to-earth in your work, constantly improve your own quality at work, and be able to take up and let go of things you are responsible for. It is necessary to downplay one's gender and identity, and always remember that the secretary's bounden duty is only to provide good logistics for the manager.

You are not a vase or a waitress. Your only identifier is your ability. The boss hires a secretary to find a capable assistant, not to cultivate a lover.

3. Be dignified and generous, and behave appropriately. No matter what job you do, you have to make certain sacrifices for your career, and so do female secretaries. Clothing should be elegant and refreshing, and professional attire should be worn during workdays. Miniskirts are not allowed, light makeup is not allowed, and do not dress up in a voluptuous manner. Otherwise, not only will your colleagues doubt your intentions, but your boss will also be afraid that you will ruin his wise career.

4. Be strict in your tone of voice. Don’t ask what you shouldn’t ask, don’t say what you shouldn’t say. Due to the nature of the job, the secretary will be relatively well-informed and will know a lot about the boss's business and private matters. Smart people believe that the less you know, the safer you are. When you have to know, you can only keep your mouth shut to protect yourself. Don't show off how well-informed you are to your coworkers, and don't accidentally share your coworkers' secrets with your boss.

5. Affinity. You have to establish your own image and make friends by yourself. If you want people to accept you and like you, you must first have a heart that is kind to others. A successful female secretary should give people the feeling of spring breeze: cheerful and optimistic, smiling like a flower, strict with herself, tolerant to others, considerate, and helpful. Human nature is basically the same. Treat others how you like others to treat you; don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you.

6. Good at interpersonal communication. The most important function of a secretary is to upload and distribute information. Due to various conditions and factors, bosses and employees often cannot communicate and understand well. Sometimes a small misunderstanding can seriously affect the relationship between the team and even the operation of the company. At this time, the secretary should communicate in a timely manner, be emotional and rational, and explain things clearly. The worst thing is to fan the flames from both ends.

7. Have the balancing act of a diplomat. The rat in the bellows is a situation that secretaries often face. Among the various power structures in the company, if you don't grasp the balance well, your boss will suspect that you are being cunning and colluding with your employees to deceive them, and your colleagues will think that you are putting them in dire straits for your own personal benefit. Therefore, you should carefully consider various interests at work and find an optimal balance point.

With the gradual improvement of the socialist market economic system, the knowledge requirements for foreign-related female secretaries are getting higher and higher. Foreign-related secretarial talents are gradually developing towards "complex" talents, and their knowledge systems tend to be larger. and complex. Foreign-related female secretaries must constantly expand their knowledge and update their knowledge structure in practice. Continuously consolidate and improve one's own service capabilities. Invest in secretarial work with an optimistic spirit and a confident attitude, and calmly face the challenges encountered in social development. Only when the knowledge, ability, quality and psychological quality are improved together can we ride the waves of economic development and excel at work. Achieved impressive results. Only such secretaries can become high-quality secretarial talents in the new century, new economy, and new development.