Install Findmino as an app for the best experience!
(Receptionist, Administrative Assistant, Office Administrator, Executive Secretary)
Business & Finance
Salary
€26,000 - €42,000/yr
Level
Operational
Outlook
Stable
Sector
Business & Finance
As a secretary you provide essential administrative and organisational support to keep an office running smoothly every day. Your responsibilities include answering telephone calls, greeting visitors, managing appointments, handling correspondence and maintaining accurate records and filing systems. You are often the first point of contact for clients, customers or members of the public, so presenting a professional and welcoming manner is central to the role. You work closely with managers, colleagues and external stakeholders in settings such as legal firms, medical practices, schools, government offices and private businesses across Ireland.
Listen: a day as a Secretary
You arrive at the office at half eight, hang up your coat and switch on your computer. Before anyone else comes through the door, you check the shared Outlook calendar to confirm today's appointments, flag any clashes and print a schedule for your manager. The phone starts ringing at nine on the dot — a client rescheduling, a courier looking for directions, a colleague asking you to book a meeting room. Each call gets logged in the call register so nothing is forgotten. By mid-morning you are processing the post. You open envelopes, date-stamp each letter and sort them into the correct trays — urgent items go straight to your manager, routine correspondence gets filed or forwarded by email. You update the office filing system, which runs on a shared drive as well as a set of clearly labelled physical folders. Keeping both in order is not glamorous, but an untidy file can cause real problems when someone needs a document quickly.
A Leaving Certificate is the typical starting point, with subjects such as Business, English and IT being particularly useful. The most common entry route is a QQI Level 5 Certificate in Business Administration, Office Administration or Medical/Legal Secretarial Studies, available through PLC courses at Colleges of Further Education and ETBs nationwide. Some employers also accept a QQI Level 6 Advanced Certificate for more senior administrative roles. No statutory professional registration is required for general secretarial work, though specialist roles such as legal secretary or medical secretary benefit from dedicated QQI programmes that cover sector-specific skills and terminology. Short courses in Microsoft Office, audio typing or bookkeeping can also strengthen your application considerably.
Most secretaries begin in a junior administrative or receptionist role after completing a QQI Level 5 PLC programme, often gaining experience across different office environments. With a few years of practice you may progress to a senior secretary, executive assistant or office coordinator position, taking on greater responsibility for scheduling, correspondence and team support. Further study at QQI Level 6 or a part-time business degree can open pathways into office management, HR administration or practice management, particularly in legal or medical settings. Specialist experience in areas such as legal secretarial work or HSE administration can lead to well-established, secure roles with structured pay scales in the public sector.
AI-powered tools such as automated scheduling assistants, voice-to-text transcription and smart email management are increasingly handling some routine secretarial tasks. This means secretaries in Ireland are spending less time on basic data entry and more time on tasks requiring judgement, interpersonal skills and contextual understanding. Familiarity with AI-assisted office software is becoming an asset rather than an option, and those who adapt quickly will find their roles evolving rather than disappearing. The human elements of welcoming visitors, handling sensitive situations and supporting colleagues remain areas where AI cannot fully substitute for a skilled secretary.
→ Secretary (Current role)
Organisations in Ireland that employ people in this occupation.
Dublin city centre and Nationwide
Provide administrative support to banking teams and senior managers.
Dublin and Nationwide
Manage correspondence, scheduling and office operations for financial teams.
Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway
Support partners and directors with diary management and client communications.
Dublin, Cork, Galway
Handle appointments, filing and front-of-house duties for advisory teams.
Nationwide
Provide secretarial and clerical support across health service administration offices.
Dublin, Cork, Limerick
Coordinate meetings, manage records and support consulting and audit departments.
Dublin city centre
Provide day-to-day administrative and organisational support to financial services teams.
Dublin and Regional Offices Nationwide
Support senior staff with correspondence, scheduling and stakeholder communications.
Dublin city centre
Deliver secretarial support to legal and finance professionals in a leading firm.
Dublin
Manage administrative tasks, office records and executive diary coordination.
Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Kildare
Handle front-desk duties, correspondence and scheduling for accountancy teams.
We don't know whether these employers currently have vacancies — always check their own website. And if there's somewhere you'd really love to work, it can be worth applying anyway, even without an open vacancy.
Our tools can help you with that:
Tip: These links take you to current vacancies for Secretary in Ireland
Other studies, careers, ideas and blogs you might not know yet.
We use functional cookies and — with your consent — cookies for preferences, statistics and marketing.