Secretary I - West Hawaii District Annex

Hawaii State Department of Education; Kailua (HI); On-site; USD 38,000 - 46,000; Full time

Job summary

Hawaii State Department of Education is seeking a Secretary I to handle front-desk reception, mail processing, filing, and routine clerical tasks. The role supports a supervisor with scheduling, correspondence, and records management in a school district office.

The position requires solid general/ specialized clerical experience, strong English grammar, and the ability to work with office equipment. Temporary TA duties and salary range are included in the posted information.

Qualifications

• General clerical experience demonstrating knowledge of English grammar, spelling and arithmetic; ability to read and understand instructions.
• Specialized clerical experience including typing, stenographic and/or secretarial work; familiarity with office equipment.
• Substitution of education for experience allowed per policy for equivalent clerical tasks.

Responsibilities

• Greets visitors, answers the telephone, routes calls, takes messages and schedules for the supervisor.
• Receives and processes mail; drafts routine correspondence and ensures accuracy.
• Maintains files and records; provides requested documents to supervisor.
• Procures supplies and services; coordinates with agency channels.
• Relays messages; assists in financial record keeping and cost allocation.
• Performs dictation, shorthand or transcription; takes notes or minutes at meetings.
• Explains services and policies; reviews others' work for accuracy and conformity to procedures.
• Supervises clerical staff in highly complex tasks as needed.

Job description

Salary Range: Secretary I, SR-12: $3,748.00 per month

1. Greets visitors to the office and answers the telephone; refers calls and callers to supervisor and other staff based on knowledge of the work of the organization; takes messages for the supervisor; makes appointments for the supervisor and reminds the supervisor of appointments; gives direct factual information in response to specific inquiry when there is no question as to the propriety of releasing such information;
2. Receives and opens incoming mail and refers to the supervisor unless referral can be made to another staff member; attaches previous correspondence and other related matters to correspondence requiring supervisor's attention; sends routine acknowledgments or selects form letters in response to routine inquiries; composes routine correspondence for supervisor's review requiring specific knowledge of operational methods, procedures, policies or other information; reviews all outgoing correspondence for typographical accuracy and conformance with procedures;
3. Establishes and maintains subject matter, alphabetic and/or chronological files, and supplies records upon request or in anticipation of supervisor's need;
4. Procures supplies, equipment, repair and maintenance services and the like, through agency channels;
5. Consults or studies specific books, manuals, catalogs or other sources in order to obtain desired information;
6. Makes assignments of facilities, vehicles, equipment or similar items to provide for efficient and optimal use;
7. Orally relays messages and instructions to other subordinates of the supervisor;
8. Allocates debits, credits, costs, charges or other similar bookkeeping items of operational procedures to correct accounts or classifications;
9. May typewrite straight copy from correct copy or rough drafts; prepares duplicating machine stencils and/or master copies;
10. May take dictation using shorthand or a steno-type machine and transcribe using a typewriter; takes general notes and/or minutes at meetings or conferences by longhand, shorthand or steno-type machine;
11. Explains details of services, methods or policies;
12. Reviews the work of others, calling attention to the use of incorrect procedures or methods and to correct entries or results;
13. Approves or recommends rejection of applications, requests, claims or other items following operational policies or rules of action;
14. May supervise clerical subordinates and others in the performance of highly complex clerical work (as defined in the Office Assistant series) on a regular and continuing basis.

Experience Requirements

Except for the substitutions provided for in this specification, applicants must have had work experience of the kind and quality described below and in the amounts shown in the following table:

• Class Title
• General Clerical Exp. (years)
• Spec. Clerical Exp. (years)
• Total Exp. (years)

• Secretary I
• 0.5
• 1.0
• 1.5

General Clerical Experience

Work experience which involved performance of tasks which demonstrated knowledge of English grammar, spelling and arithmetic; and the ability to read and understand oral and written instructions; and speak and write simply and directly.

Specialized Clerical Experience

Progressively responsible typing, stenographic and/or substantive clerical work which duties demonstrated possession of, in addition to the knowledge and abilities noted under General Clerical Experience, knowledge of common office appliances and equipment and the ability to carry out procedures in clerical work systems and to perform secretarial tasks including, but not limited to, several of the following: serving as telephone and walk-in receptionist; maintaining a system of files; making travel arrangements; composing correspondence; obtaining and presenting information from files; routing correspondence; reviewing outgoing correspondence for format, grammar, spelling and typography; maintaining a log of pending work; etc.

Substitutions Allowed

Any combination of work experience and/or education, although not cited elsewhere in this specification, which clearly demonstrates the applicant's possession of knowledge, skills and abilities comparable in quality and quantity to that described in this specification may be accepted as satisfying a portion or all of the minimum qualification requirements.

Substitution of Education for Experience

1. Graduation from high school with courses in basic English and arithmetic may be substituted for the six months of General Clerical Experience.
2. Successful completion of a substantially full-time equivalent clerical, stenographic or secretarial curriculum leading to a degree or diploma at an accredited community college, business or technical school which included courses in business English, arithmetic, office clerical procedures, and office machines will be deemed equivalent to one year of Specialized Clerical Experience.
3. Partial completion of a substantially full-time equivalent clerical, stenographic or secretarial curriculum at an accredited community college, business or technical school which included courses in business English, arithmetic, office clerical procedures, and office machines will be substituted for the Specialized Clerical Experience on a month-for-month basis.

Quality of Experience

Possession of the required number of years of experience will not in itself be accepted as proof of qualification for a position. The applicant's overall experience must have been of such scope and level of responsibility as to conclusively demonstrate that applicant has the ability to perform the duties of the position for which applicant is being considered.

Salary: The advertised salary is based on full-time employment and includes shortage and school year differentials, if applicable.

Requirements

Applicants must meet all the requirements for the position they are seeking as of the date of the application, unless otherwise specified. Unless specifically indicated, the required education and experience may not be gained concurrently. Calculation of experience is based on full-time, 40-hour workweeks. Part-time experience is pro-rated. Example: Twelve months of experience at 20 hours/week is equivalent to six months of experience, not one year. Also, hours worked in excess of 40 hours/week will not be credited. Example: Twelve months of experience at 60 hours/week is equivalent to one year of experience, not one and a half years.

Temporary Assignment

Claims of Temporary Assignment (TA) experience to meet the minimum qualification requirements must be verified and attached to the application using one of the options below:

1. A copy of the applicant’s TA History Report or equivalent system-generated report;
2. A signed letter from the applicant’s supervisor that includes the applicant’s name, his/her TA job title, the TA start and end dates (from mm/yy to mm/yy), his/her specific TA duties performed, and either the TA hours worked per week or total TA hours worked; or,
3. Copies of the applicant’s signed SF-10 Forms.

Documents

Attach all relevant supporting documents to your application. Documents that were attached to applications submitted before November 16, 2023 do not automatically attach or transfer to applications submitted on and after December 16, 2023. All submitted documents become the property of the Hawaii State Department of Education.

Information about Temporary Positions

Temporary positions may be extended year to year, dependent upon funding and departmental needs. Making yourself available for temporary positions increases your employment possibilities and may lead to permanent opportunities. A person hired for a temporary position may also become a temporary employee upon satisfactory completion of the initial probation period of at least six months. Once a temporary employee, you would be eligible to apply for promotion and transfer opportunities to permanent as well as other temporary positions. You may also enjoy other rights and benefits as afforded to an employee in a permanent position, with the exception of return rights and placement rights associated with a reduction-in-force.