A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evaluation, communication, and/or organizational skills within the area of administration. There is a diverse array of work experiences attainable within the administrative support field, ranging between internship, entry-level, associate, junior, mid-senior, and senior level pay bands with positions in nearly every industry, especially among white-collar careers.
Katie Johnson, left, personal secretary to the president of the United States, with Barack Obama at the White House in 2009
Reggie Love, left, personal aide to the president of the United States from 2009 to 2011
Secretary at work, photo taken in 2007
United States Coast Guard military aide Lieutenant Commander Jayna McCarron, left, serving as part of the White House Military Office is seen meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden about Medal of Honor recipients, Wednesday, October 6, 2021, in the Oval Office
Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek stenos (narrow) and graphein. It has also been called brachygraphy, from Greek brachys (short), and tachygraphy, from Greek tachys, depending on whether compression or speed of writing is the goal.
Dutch stenography using the "System Groote"
Sun Guoting's Treatise on Calligraphy, an example of cursive writing of Chinese characters
Tombstone of Heinrich Roller, inventor of a German shorthand system, with a sample of his shorthand
Yiddish shorthand