Secretaries in some fields may be required to have extensive professional knowledge. Accordingly, duties for these assistants may be more specialized.

In a place of employment, many job descriptions and job titles overlap. However, while administrative assistant is a generic term, not necessarily implying directly working for a superior, a secretary in most cases is usually the key person for all administrative tasks, and often referred to as the "gate keeper". Other titles describing jobs similar to or overlapping those of the traditional