All change in the office.

Byline: MARTYN LEEK 

DEBBIE Johnson thinks the traditional role of a secretary is changing - and she should know.

The 33-year-old worked in an office for nine years before deciding she wanted to go it alone and offer her services out to hire.

That was in 1995 and it is a decision she has never regretted making.

Debbie now works as a secretary from her home in Northfield, Birmingham, where one of the bedrooms has been converted into an office featuring the latest in clerical and IT equipment.

'Deciding to go freelance was the best thing I've ever done,' she said.

'I have been self-employed for six years now and I love the freedom it gives me. Before that I used to be in charge of a team of secretaries at a city-centre architect's office.

Variety

'In that role, I used to organise the rotas, train the staff and organise temps if there was a shortage.

'It was sorting out the temps that made me think about going it alone and offering my services and skills to a variety of different firms.'

Today, she has several big firms in Birmingham on her books including estate agents, architects and solicitors.

English Heritage and Birmingham University are two of her bigger clients.

'Nowadays the role of the secretary is changing and you don't have to be tied to a desk. A lot of the skills you need are changing too,' she explained.

'Shorthand used to be really important. But now it is a dying art. A lot of conferences and meetings are recorded and I get sent the tapes which I then transcribe at home. Shorthand ties up the time of two people. The boss sits there giving the memo and the secretary has to sit there while he or she does it.

'If it is taped, a secretary can be doing something more valuable with her time at that moment and transcribe what the boss has said later.'

She works from home and, with the development of e-mail and fax, is in constant touch with her clients. They send her rough drafts of letters and memos and she then has to make them more presentable.

'The number of tools a secretary has available now makes the job more flexible,' she said.

'In my office I have two computers and I have three tape machines for listening to the standard, mini and micro-cassettes used to record memos and meetings. I also have a fax machine and a photocopier.

'When I work I do a couple of hours in the morning, then a few more in the afternoon, but the bulk of my work is done in the evening. In all, I probably do a 10-hour day.'

To highlight her flexibility, Debbie says she now does work for a solicitor in Hong Kong who used to be a student at Birmingham University.

'There are no barriers. She knows how I work and how I set things out and I used to transcribe her lecture notes and tapes while she was over here. Now she sends me tapes through the post for me to make into a report and I will e-mail the work back to her,' she said.

To be a secretary Debbie says a person needs to be dedicated, adaptable, committed, professional and accurate.

But she added: 'The most important thing is being able to communicate at all levels.'

CAPTION(S):

GOING IT ALONE... Debbie Johnson has never regretted working from home