工作難求 男大學生轉型文祕

The position of secretary or personal assistant used to be the preserve of efficient and capable women, loyal foot soldiers with no eye on the boss's job – but now men are muscling their way in. "Hold my calls, Mr Jones" is becoming the new norm.

The change is due partly to the highest rate of graduate unemploymentsince records began, and the growing awareness that salaries for corporate PAs can reach £75,000 a year.

Joshua Watson, 25, has been an executive assistant to a female senior director at Barclays for 18 months, having previously worked as a receptionist and PA. He does not see himself as working in a woman's role.

"I don't feel that I'm treated any differently just because I'm male," he said. "I don't think that is an issue for people from my generation. It's a good job for me because I am passionate about organising. I have good exposure to the top people in the company and I want to climb the ladder."

Recruitment consultants are seeing an ever-increasing number of men interested in PA or secretarial posts. "Out of the 1,000 candidates we've registered in the past 12 months, around 200 are male," said David Morel, managing director of Tiger Recruitment. "It is increasing the whole time. Since 2011, the numbers have been doubling each year, and most of them are ambitious graduates."

Susanna Tait, managing director of Tay associates, agrees. She said she has seen a "huge" increase in numbers of male applicants. "We have witnessed the role of the PA evolve immeasurably and, with it, the pool of applicants it attracts," she said. "As well as organising and managing commitments, they are required to project-manage schedules and communicate with a vast network of contacts. It's an obvious career choice for ambitious individuals keen to operate at the centre of the business sphere."

Quest Professional, which offers training courses for the corporate sector, said this was the first year that men had enrolled on its executive PA programme and that "more and more" men were doing its administrative course.

Top PAs in the City now earn between £35,000 and £75,000, plus benefits – in some cases even more. Morel thinks this is the primary reason why more men are coming into the market. "In the past, men felt the salaries weren't high enough and there was a stigma attached to administrative, typing-based roles," he said. "The secretarial role has changed massively. Gone are the days of the traditional typist, and there is more of a career path. Guys are seeing that they can get to a stage where they are providing a lot of business support to their boss, and that is reflected in their salary."

Barclays said it was committed to encouraging male applicants for PA and admin roles. "It is important to us that we offer everyone – regardless of their gender – the same opportunities to be successful," said a spokesperson.

At the turn of the 20th century, secretarial jobs were well-paid and well-respected, and predominantly filled by men. However, as women fought to join the ranks of the employed, the profession lost its status, pay decreased and men sought work elsewhere. By the mid-1960s, it was a role primarily associated with women. In 1962, a survey revealed that 28% of companies believed sex appeal was a requirement of the PA's job.

Michael, 27, has been a PA at a top management consultancy for over three years. "When I called clients they used to be really surprised that I wasn't female," he said. "Now, we've got five guys in the PA team, which is about 10%. They've all joined in the past few years and they are all around the same age as me."

Currently, more than one in five graduates are out of work and there are typically 84 applicants for each graduate vacancy in the City. Young people are finding new ways to enter the business world, and working nine-to-five in support roles is one way to get on to the corporate ladder.

"I work with everyone in the company," Michael said, "all the directors, all the partners and all the teams. This is a very difficult world to get into and this is the best route in for me. In a few years, I will take this great experience and go elsewhere."過去，祕書和個人助理往往是這些人的專利：她們是精幹高效的女士，還是並不覬覦老闆寶座的忠誠員工。但現在男士們也開始在這一領域涉足。“請別掛斷，瓊斯先生。”如今這種男士擔任助理的現象越來越常見。

這種現象的部分原因是畢業生失業率創下記錄新高，越來越多人意識到個人助理也能每年拿到7萬5千美元的薪水。

沃森今年25歲，之前做過接待以及個人助理等工作，現在擔任巴克萊銀行一位高層女經理的行政助理已經有18個月了。他並不認爲自己在乾女人的工作。

“我覺得並沒有因爲我是男性，就有什麼區別對待，”他說道，“我覺得這對我們這代人來說不是個問題。這個工作很適合我，我很喜歡組織協調，在公司我還能經常與高層人物接觸，我很希望能夠晉升。”

招聘顧問們看到越來越多的男性對個人助理和祕書類職務感興趣。“去年，我們所登記的1000名求職候選人中就有200名是男性，”老虎招聘公司總經理大衛•莫雷爾說道，“這一數字在不斷增加，2011年以來，每年都能翻一番，大多數男性求職者都是具有雄心壯志的畢業生。”

泰聯合公司總經理蘇珊娜•泰特表示同意。她表示男性申請個人助理職務的人數大幅度增加。“我們看到個人助理這一角色發生了翻天覆地的變化，隨之而來的是吸引了一大批求職者，”她說道，“除了有很多組織和管理方面的事物外，個人助理還要管理專案進程，做好大量的溝通工作。很明顯，對那些有志於進軍商業領域核心的人們，這一職業是不錯的選擇。”

爲企業部門提供培訓的“追求專業”培訓公司表示這一年首次有男性報名參加這個行政助理的培訓項目，“越來越多”的男性正在進修行政課程。

高級個人助理除了各種福利外，每年能掙3萬5千美元到7萬5千美元不等，有時候掙得更多。莫雷爾認爲這是男性進軍這一職業的主導因素。“過去，男性認爲個人助理工資低，幹行政和文祕工作不體面，”莫雷爾繼續說道，“祕書這一職務發生了很大變化，傳統的打字員時代已經遠去，他們有了更多的發展機會。很多男性認爲這一職業能爲他們提供平臺，他們可以藉此爲老闆提供業務支持，因而薪水也隨之提高。”

巴克萊銀行表示他們致力於鼓勵男性應聘個人助理和行政助理等職務。銀行一位發言人表示：“無論男女，我們都一視同仁，我們都給與他們成功的機會，這點對我們來說至關重要。”

20世紀之交，祕書這門職業薪水不錯也很體面，男性成了主力軍。但是，隨着女性努力進入職場，這一職業失去了以往的社會地位，薪水也隨之降低，男性也另謀高就了。到了20世紀60年代，祕書就與女性緊密地聯繫在了一起。1962年一項調查顯示28%的企業認爲性感是勝任這一工作的必備條件。

邁克爾今年27歲，擔任高層管理顧問的個人助理已有三年了。“過去每當我給客戶打電話，發現個人助理不是女性，他們總是很驚訝，”他繼續說道，“現在我們個人助理小組已有5位男性助理，佔總人數的10%，他們都是近幾年加入的，年齡也和我相仿。”

目前五名畢業生中至少就有一名失業，通常每個畢業生崗位就有84名畢業生角逐。年輕人正在尋找新的方法進軍商業領域，而那些朝九晚五的協調性工作正是踏上企業階梯的一個途徑。

邁克爾說道：“在公司裏我與每個人都共過事，例如各位領導、所有夥伴、所有團隊。要進入這商業領域非常困難，這個職業是我最好的途徑。再過幾年，等我積累了經驗，我會去別處發展。”