Many legal secretaries will receive in house training at their firm or have taken a Legal Secretary Course at a college. However, these methods of training often mean that you may not have every skill required to be a successful Legal Secretary. Here are some important aspects that you may require to focus on in order to be the best that you can.
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| Author ambro and image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net |
Microsoft OfficeTraining
Many Legal Secretary training programmes cover Microsoft Office Training now, but in the past this was not the case. Also, there are still training colleges that do not have the facilities to offer comprehensive
training in this area. Therefore, be aware that you need to be sure that your Legal Secretary Diploma includes Word training, as this program in integral. However, you should also ensure that you get a good level of Outlook in your course. Outlook is very useful when performing administrative tasks in an
office. It of course does not hurt to cover all of the programmes. I have come across Legal Secretaries who have used Access to manage and maintain database entries on documents. PowerPoint is also common, as your boss may require secretaries to edit presentations for them.
training in this area. Therefore, be aware that you need to be sure that your Legal Secretary Diploma includes Word training, as this program in integral. However, you should also ensure that you get a good level of Outlook in your course. Outlook is very useful when performing administrative tasks in an
office. It of course does not hurt to cover all of the programmes. I have come across Legal Secretaries who have used Access to manage and maintain database entries on documents. PowerPoint is also common, as your boss may require secretaries to edit presentations for them.
Legal Document Production
Legal Document Production is a skill that is sort after by the legal firms, but few courses really address this skill. If you have experience in this area, it can be very easy to find another job. Be sure that you find a course that includes a practical session on legal document production, where you actually get to practice this yourself as opposed to the tutor simply showing you forms at the front of the class..
Author photostock and image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
Minute Taking
Legal Secretarial work still has a large element of administrative work. One aspect that many Legal Secretaries find is becoming a requirement is taking minutes at important meetings. This can be quite daunting if the meeting has a lot of important people present. However, anyone who has mastered minute taking will have a real advantage when it comes to promotion, as you can raise your profile with senior management through circulating good minutes.
There are many more skills that a Legal Secretary will need to accompany the core skill set required, however, these are a few interesting attributes of a complete legal secretary.
