How to hire medical secretaries and administrative assistants

Job description template

Copy it, fill in the brackets, and remove anything that does not fit your job. Keep only must-haves you would really turn someone away for.

[Job title] at [Company name]
[City, State] · [Full-time / Part-time] · [Pay range]

About the role
[Two or three sentences about your team, the work and why it matters.]

What you will do
• Answer telephones and direct calls to appropriate staff.
• Complete insurance or other claim forms.
• Greet visitors, ascertain purpose of visit, and direct them to appropriate staff.
• Interview patients to complete documents, case histories, or forms, such as intake or insurance forms.
• Maintain medical records, technical library, or correspondence files.
• Receive and route messages or documents, such as laboratory results, to appropriate staff.
• Schedule and confirm patient diagnostic appointments, surgeries, or medical consultations.
• Transmit correspondence or medical records by mail, e-mail, or fax.

What you bring
• [Required license, certification or years of experience, if any]
• [Education, only if you truly need it. Typical to start in this job: High school diploma or equivalent]
• Strong speaking, active listening, reading comprehension, critical thinking, writing and monitoring skills
• Working knowledge of customer and personal service, English Language, administrative and medicine and dentistry
• [Anything else you would really turn someone away for]

Pay and benefits
[Pay range]. For reference, the U.S. median for this job is $22.08 an hour ($45,930 a year).
[Benefits, schedule and anything else candidates should know.]

How to apply
[Apply on JAI Bot. Every applicant hears back.]

Copy the template Check your finished job post

Interview questions for medical secretaries and administrative assistants

Ask every candidate the same questions, in the same order, and write down what they say. Questions about past work show what someone has actually done.

1. Tell me about a time you had to answer telephones and direct calls to appropriate staff. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
2. Tell me about a time you had to complete insurance or other claim forms. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
3. Tell me about a time you had to greet visitors, ascertain purpose of visit, and direct them to appropriate staff. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
4. Tell me about a time you had to interview patients to complete documents, case histories, or forms, such as intake or insurance forms. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
5. Explain something technical from your last job as you would to a new coworker.
6. Tell me about a time you had to understand a request or problem that was explained poorly. How did you make sure you got it right?
7. Tell me about written instructions, a policy or a manual you had to follow closely. How did you make sure you followed it correctly?
8. Why this job, and why now? What would make you stay here for the long term?

Good answers name a real situation, what the person did themselves and what happened. Avoid questions about age, family plans, religion, health, national origin or anything else unrelated to the job.

What medical secretaries and administrative assistants do

• Answer telephones and direct calls to appropriate staff.
• Complete insurance or other claim forms.
• Greet visitors, ascertain purpose of visit, and direct them to appropriate staff.
• Interview patients to complete documents, case histories, or forms, such as intake or insurance forms.
• Maintain medical records, technical library, or correspondence files.
• Receive and route messages or documents, such as laboratory results, to appropriate staff.
• Schedule and confirm patient diagnostic appointments, surgeries, or medical consultations.
• Transmit correspondence or medical records by mail, e-mail, or fax.

Skills that matter most

SpeakingActive ListeningReading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingWritingMonitoringCustomer and Personal ServiceEnglish LanguageAdministrativeMedicine and Dentistry

Education, experience and outlook for medical secretaries and administrative assistants

• Typical education to start: High school diploma or equivalent (BLS)
• Related work experience most have: 1 to 2 years (O*NET)
• Training on the job: Moderate-term on-the-job training (BLS)
• Job outlook: +4.8% over ten years, about as fast as average · about 89,200 openings a year (BLS)

What to pay medical secretaries and administrative assistants

Pay depends a lot on where the job is. Highest and lowest median yearly pay by state:

See medical secretaries and administrative assistants pay in every state

Related hiring guides

• Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants
• Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
• Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive

Job duties and skills: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. JAI Bot has modified this information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025. Interview questions and the job description template: JAI Bot, based on the duties and skills above.