Financial Secretary 

(Female, Age 37) from Oxford, MS

This is a REAL-LIFE job profile written by a Female aged 37 who works as a Financial Secretary in Oxford, MS. We have removed all names and personal information in order to protect privacy. This professional kindly spent a bit of their time to complete one of our job profile surveys so that prospective job seekers like you could read their insights. Please excuse any punctuation or grammatical errors in this profile.

At a Glance

Current Job

Basic data on your current job

Job Title Financial Secretary
Salary $24,000
Other Compensation None Set
Hours/Week
Company Size (not answered)
Location Oxford, MS
Years Experience 3 years

Career Ratings

Opinions on your CAREER overall (i.e. not just your current job)

Years in Career 0
Education (not answered)
Income Rating 0 / 10
Interest Rating 0 / 10
Work-Life Rating 0 / 10
Fulfilment Rating 0 / 10

Current job Q&A

Describe the type of organization you work for.
A church with an approximate annual budget of $282,000, a current building project of $425,000 and additional funding of $200,000. The church has 400 members of which approximately 220 are active members. The church has 12 staff persons.

Describe your job role and responsibilities.
Keeping financial records of all donations to the church. All bookkeeping for all church expenses, payroll, donations to various charities (local & worldly) as well as quarterly and yearly giving statements for all donors and notification of memorial and in honor of donations. Pay all the bills and am responsible for all checks written and distributed. Preparing the annual budget and giving projections on various increases and decreases needed on the budget. Prepare the monthly data reports on donations, the budget and spending/expenses and the spreadsheets necessary to explain these figures and percentages. Filing of all necessary tax documents. Filing of all financial documents.

Please list an additional benefits (beyond compensation) that you receive.
2 weeks vacation, 2 weeks sick leave (more would be available if neccesary), semi flexible work schedule

Do you feel you are under/over or well/fairly compensated at your current position?
Under

Does your job entail you working with others on a daily basis? Is this something you like/dislike about your job? Please explain.
I deal with members of the church, the Pastor and various lay people on a daily basis. As with any job dealing with others can be difficult at times but as a whole it is a good job.

Do you work collaboratively with supervisors/managers?

Do you work collaboratively with your co-workers?

Describe your work location (e.g., office, home, theatre, in the field) and what you like/dislike about working in it.
I work within the church building and have my own office.

It is a nice space 10×12 with 2 floor to ceiling plate glass windows and a door that opens onto a small garden. It is wonderful to have such a nice working environment after years of office work within a gray cubicle at a previous employers.

Please rate each of the following aspects of your current job on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the highest/best):
Income: 2
Benefits: 4
Hours: 3
Co-Workers: 8
Supervisors: 7
Job Title: 6
Level of Responsibility: 1
The Actual Work: 5

Table of Contents

How you got your job

How did you get your current job?
Newspaper

What was the application process?
Submitting resume by mail

Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
I was first interviewed by the Pastor over the phone for an hour. I was then interviewed by a church committee of ten people. I was asked various job related and personal questions by all members of the committee.

If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
What I felt my best personal assets were? What abilities did I feel I was bringing to the job? Could I interact well with the public as well as people “less fortunate” than myself? Where did I go to school? What made me right for this position? How many children did I have? Where did I grow up? Where did I go to school?

Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
Not really, I had one day of training from the woman who held the position before me.

Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
Some of the classes I took in high school transferred over to my current job. All of the courses taken from my previous employer did. I also took charge and did research and study online independently. I have many bookkeepers/accountants in my family and asked them many questions.

Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
Yes. But I was very fortunate to have been educated within the private school system growing up. Also without the courses taken from previous employer this job would have been impossible.

If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
N/A

If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
Go to college for an actual accounting degree or take accounting classes from community college while working in an office situation. I was in the tax industry for many years before this position.

What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
You must be able to multi-task, enjoy working with finances (ability with numbers and mathematics are a must), have patience, be able to organize and file, as well as a positive and kind attitude when dealing with co-workers, church members and the public.

Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
Yes-mathematical ability and knowledge are a must.

What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
Come up with a personal plan of action for dealing with your responsibilities, keeping a calendar as well as a daily to do list are a must. Be organized, be thoughtful and be prepared. Remember there is a good chance you will be working on something important at all times and people will interrupt your train of thought regularly in need of a document or record. Keep a sense of humor, always eat breakfast and try to keep good sleep habits as dealing with a computer screen, a constant stream of numbers and documents is quite mentally tiring.

Long-term career plans

Is your current employment part of your overall career plan? Why or why not?
It has become that yes. i have found I enjoy working within the non profit sector. I find that even though it may not pay as well as other positions might, it is emotionally satisfying.

What are your current career goals?
I am hoping to go back to school in the near future for an actual accounting degree.

Is there anything else you would like to share about your career?

Prior work history

Please list your most recent jobs prior to this current job:

Title Length Salary Description
Prior Job 1 Secretary 3 years 14000 Data Entry, filing, Customer relations, reports and summary data, answering phones and dealing with merchant contacts
Prior Job 2 Tax Specialist level 5 4 years 16000 Dealing with a variety of customers, filing tax returns, data entry, company promotions, answering tax questions over the phone

Educational background

Please list your educational background:

High School GPA:3

GPA School Degree
College (Undergraduate)
or Technical/Vocational
3 Memphis State University Early Childhood Education
Graduate or Professional
(Masters or Doctorate)

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