PA and Secretary Community - Deskdemon.com

 I was chatting on-line the other day and someone claimed to have a typing speed of over 100 words per minute. I'm not sure whether to believe this or not. I hit 60wpm and that seems to be considered a crack typist in my city. Are Admins still queens of the keyboard or have we spent too much time pushing the mouse?

Results (total votes = 66):

45wpm or below	3 / 4.5%
46-65wpm	19 / 28.8%
66-85wpm	18 / 27.3%
Over 85wpm	20 / 30.3%
I have no idea	6 / 9.1%

 

Last time I had a typing test I was in the over 85 range, but it's been so long and I do more number input now than anything.  But I'm sure once I start using it all the time my speed would go back up.



Chris68

 

When I interviewed for both of the admin jobs I've held, both bosses said that they were more concerned with someone who could "keep things organized" than someone who could type fast.  One said, "As long as you know your way around a keyboard, that's fine."

I never typed properly, even on my electric typewriter in school.  But when I got my first internet-ready computer, I learned how to "chat type", which is typing quickly, but still looking at the keys.  One day I was in CompUSA and I saw a Mavis Beacon typing teacher software set (translation: CD-ROM) and I bought it.  With the markdown and rebate, I ended up paying about $5 for it.  And I learned where MOST of the keys are and I type pretty well now. Unless my boss is standing over me, dictating.  Then I have 6 thumbs.

but I do know that when he gets going, my bossman can type faster than I can!

I knew a girl in school who could consistently type 100 words a minute w/out mistakes - we were all in total awe of her.  I think I'm pretty fast but not up in that range!



I do believe that typing speed has fallen by the wayside in this profession with the advent of computers and the word processing programs.  I know with my current job, typing speed is rarely a necessary skill, keeping my boss on time, on track and organized is the main focus of my job.  But I do know that my typing speed does come in handy for some of those last minute, got-to-be-done-now-or-the-whole-world-will-cave-in-and-we-will-all-perish jobs.



nc

In high school I was always the SECOND fastest typist.  I was SOO jealous of the one girl who was always faster than me.  She, I know, did over 100wpm, I could do about 95.  This was in about 1980, when our school had manual typewriters.  However -- we were were all in awe of our teacher - a man - who consistently typed accurately at over 130wpm.  He was absolutely amazing!  He had been teaching typing for eons...

Last time I tested, I was at 70 WPM. But that was in 1998, and I it was just prior to my first "admin" job. I think now I am quite a bit faster (unless of course someone is standing over my shoulder. Like Yank said, then I'm all thumbs).



My mother was tested a few years ago, and tested at 110 WPM. She's my hero. LOL    

I've been timed at over 100 wpm.  I don't like to be competitive in many things, but typing is one of them.  : - )

My last typing test was about 1-1/2 years ago, and I did just over 65 wpm, with errors factored in. Not bad for a girl who failed typing in 9th grade.



I like to type, and just don't get much of these days. Everyone who says you don't need the speed as we did in the "olden" days is right - what you need most is to know your way around a computer.



(happy today because I get to wear bluejeans, got my paycheck, and am looking forward to the weekend!)



Elaine

In my prime, my best typing test was 95 wpm.  But, as most of you said, with the computer, speed is not as important as it used to be, so I know I've slowed down.  I LOVE to type, and miss the quantity of it that I used to do.  But I don't miss carbon paper, (am I dating myself? ) wite-out, and correction tape!  

Wow!  I failed typing in ninth grade also.  Our classroom was the last in the school to still have manual typewriters, and my pinky fingers were so tiny and weak that I just couldn't type that way.  

The last time my typing speed was checked, I was around 90wpm, but I just don't type as much as I used to (and I still don't use my pinkies!).

  Trish

I too failed typing in school and have gotten incredibly lax about my typing these days.



 I'll let you guys in on a lil secret though, my copy typing speed is much better than my "posting" speed, know why?



I look at my hands! It's VERY odd, I read the first paragraph, and for some strange reason am able to memorize it, (and my reading speed has tested at something phenominal, Im one of those folks who can off a fair sized paperback in a few hours, a regular Evelyn Wood Poster child, but not a skimmer a READER... who KNEW?!) then on the last line of the recently completed paragraph Im able to assimlate the upcoming paragraph the same way.  I manage COPY typing at about 80 words a minute with about 97% accuracy, ( a far cry from my post typing which is oft riddled with typos because my brain engages so much faster than my fingers will allow it too!)



:snicker: ask anyone who communicates regularly by ICQ with me, it's fast but it darn sure isn't accurate! Anyone else have this strange skill?



spell check? I dont ned no stinkin speel chek!   in Charleston

Typing Speed was important when I first started working for Civil Service back in 1970.  My test speed was 120 wpm, but I had taken the state championship in typing the year before in High School at 140 wpm; that was on a selectric typewriter.  My mother was a secretary for 40 years and she can out type me, so over 100 wpm isn't really that unusual.

Andrea,



Well you saw my post earlier, but hubby has the same thing you do to some degree.  Maybe not as good as you, but he has this ability to look at something on print (especially dates of movies) and look at it and read it later. He is amazing with that, roman numerals even.



He's a self-taught typist (thank you Mavis Beacon).  Not very fast, but pretty darn accurate, and I guess that is an important thing, esp. when you are an Engineer.



Anyway....nice to know he's not the only one with that ability.  It's amazing what you can learn to do, or find you already have the skill to do.



Chris68

 

My most recent typing test I did 90 words per minutes with 1 error.  And I apologize here if I offend anyone because it is not my intention, but why are there so many responses to questions like this - what's your typing speed as opposed to questions by someone who needs advice on an concern they have, for example, interviewing?  I sure would like to get more responses and support when I pose or have posed a question.

I'm not that fast anymore!  I'm really typing at 45 wpm but that's going to change because I also bought Mavis Beacon to improve.



:)

You know Pengy, I thought about your post and I think I most often DON'T respond to a post when I feel someone's already covered my "take" on a subject in one of their posts.  If you have something specific you'd like to discuss you can ALWAYS email me at Andrea@administrative-assistants.com!

Andrea--last time I had my reading speed tested it was off the charts and I have to counter that too when I'm typing.  But I still manage 90 - 100 wpm with few errors.



What a useless skill huh?  ;-)  The reading thing kicks butt though.  I read North and South in one day.  (800 pages methinks)  That's the only way I have time to read LOL



Shannon

Me..well, I'm probably a negative three after you factor in the errors.(Do errors count if they're not typos, but real spelling and grammar errors? If so, then call my speed negative 12!)  I took typing in high school, and because I only took a semister, we learned on manual typewriters.  I could never build up speed, because almost as soon as the bell would go off, my fingers would get stuck between the keys! (Small enough to get in, harder to pry them out!)  But with the advent of the word processing system, and light touch keyboards, I would venture a guess of about 50 WPM.  I've always admired anyone that could type more than 75 WPM.  Especially with no errors!



Daisylee...(I HATE spell check...takes three days to run after one of my letters!!)

My typing speed is about 75 wpm, at least on the last test I took....which could be inaccurate because, I'm not sure why, but as soon as I know I'm being timed? I forget how to type, it seems!



I like to type also, and sometimes do quite a bit of it.  Other times, it's a few days before I really have to type anything.



My mother was a secretary for 30+ years, first on manual typewriters, then the new selectrics.....she was AWESOME!  She's retired now, but I bet she could still do it...I've never had the nerve to challenge her to a typing test!



My son learned typing in school...he was learning on computers in kindergarten (knows a LOT of stuff I don't know!)  He types pretty fast, but only uses about 4 fingers!  I've never clocked him but he's probably in the 50 wpm range!  My ex-husband was a "hunt and peck" typist....used to drive me CRAZY!



I don't have the ability you were talking about Andrea, but I when I'm typing a letter or something, I can continue to type (and type correctly) while talking to someone who has asked me a question.  Course, they think I'm just typing, and don't realize that I'm actually trying to finish what I'm doing while being so rudely interupted!  



tlc  

Thanks, Andy.  I'll take your offer into consideration, but I did send an e-mail in the past and did not receive a response.

 

What a response! C'mon, everyone, vote. I look far too bad now. You don't have to post to vote, but let's make sure the figures are representative.



I have never heard of such typing speeds! There must be some more admins out there who do less than 60!



I am humble in the face of such greatness.



Liz

 



 

Funny thing, someone started a rumor around the office that I type 100 wpm, and it's stuck in everyone's head now, but I know I'm only somewhere between 70-80 tops. Oh well..!   I'm a bit envious of your reading speed, Andrea. I read fast but have to slow down in order to comprehend and remember what I'm reading--my memory lousy at tiems. My sweetie gets frustrated because he reads "slowly" but his retention rate seems phenomenal to me.  It bugs me when I'm conversing with friends and straining my brain to remember something from a book, and they can remember what they read almost down to the letter!  

I never took typing in high school (another thank you, Mavis Beacon), and I think I manage well enough for what I need.  One of my friend's moms could get over 120 WPM on the old manual typewriters.



I have a thought -- since Liz is amazed at these high speeds, is it possible that a US WPM is different from a British WPM.  Isn't it like 4-5 characters or something?  (I skipped over that part when my mom tried to teach me to type.)



And a bit of trivia -- Did you know that the QWERTY keyboard is statistically one of the slowest to learn/type?  When typewriters were first invented, the little gizmo's attached from the keys on the keyboard to the faceplates the letters were on were constantly getting jammed.  This was with the keyboard done in alphabetical order.  To solve this problem, the typewriter manufacturers decided they needed a keyboard that didn't have letters used commonly together in typing right beside each other.  We now have the QWERTY everbody knows and loves.  And it's since been proven to be one of the hardest arrangements to learn.

Hi Craftygirl,



Maybe I misunderstood what you were saying, but it sounds like you are saying that typing is a useless skill.      



I think typing is the best skill a person can have.  It has been my bread and butter for more than 25 years. I thank God that I took typing in High School.  It is a skill that has enabled me to work, live, pay bills, eat and have a roof over my head.



I have been able to help other people using my typing skills. I find it very relaxing and I get a feeling of accomplishment when a document turns out just right.



If someone asks me what the most important skill I ever learned was, I would have to say, "To type".



 

Well Girl Email me again, cause I SURE don't recall getting anything from you, but I suppose it's possible, if that Happened, please accept my sincere apologies, sometimes the dearest people get lost in the sheer volume of email I manage to acquire in the course of a day :( !

I have to say that I came it at 60 wpm on an agency test, and they said, in spite of the fact that I got high 90s on their MS Office tests and in spite of all of my other qualifications, I wasn't qualified to be an executive assistant, because I didn't type fast enough. Needless to say, I never called them back.



I spent many years doing data entry on a 10 key and my 10 key speed is 20,000 keystrokes an hour with 0 errors. Now, if I could just type that fast!  



I know that our senior word processors type well over 100 wpm, and I am totally in awe of them!

I dunno, typing is cool but no sense in doing it this fast.  The really neat thing is that I can type one thing and look in a different direction and have an unrelated conversation and still get most of the typing correct.  Pretty neat stuff huh?  *grin*  High on the freak-out scale if nothing else.



:-)  But I still think typing faster than 60 wpm is only helpful if you're chatting with someone else who types that fast.  LOL



~shannon

I know that the people who do the closed-caption typing for the news are incredibly fast.  You may not know this, but the news is on about a 6-10 second delay, and that's all the time they have to type.  So having a fast typing speed is still important.

Back to you, girl.  I understand, I already chalked it up to the huge amount of e-mail you say you get.  We all have such things that we have to deal with.  No biggee!

I think that the UK is on six characters, that is five letters per word and a space. I'll have to ask my agency.



I have a copy of Mavis Beacon somewhere. I shall have to have a look at that and see how fast I come out. That's probably US speed.



It's the punctuation that trips me up the most. The common ones are fine, but throw in a % or a * and I'll be there for ten seconds, hunting it down!



I think there is a skill to taking typing tests. I've done so many and they all seem slightly different. If I'm typing and I make an error I go back and correct it, but some tests don't let you go back. Also, on some tests, if you put in an extra character by mistake, you have to notice it and re-adjust your thinking.



I much prefer audio typing. Then I can look at the screen rather than the paper that I'm meant to be copying.



I shall go and practice.



Liz

Guess I'm in the slower crowd.  My speed is just about 60, maybe 65 on a good day.  I also don't touch type.  Surprisingly, I didn't flunk typing in high school!  And, when I entered a county college Office Administration program after I graduated college, I was the ONLY ONE who was allowed to look at my fingers-because I'd been typing that way since high school-8 or 9 years!!!  They figured it didn't make sense to try and undo my ingrained style of typing!  Maybe if I touch typed in the first place, I'd have a better speed, but you can't teach this 30 year old dog to touch type after 15 years!    

The last time I was tested was 8 years ago, and my speed then was 72 WPM.  Most of what I type now is done for accuracy rather than speed, so I don't really know if my speed has increased or decreased over the years.  I suspect that it is about the same.



I've noticed that most want ads in the paper don't even list a typing speed as a requirement anymore.  More are interested in multi-tasking capabilities (read: do the work of the 4 or 5 people we "downsized," and I'll pay you for one).  The few that do require a certain typing speed really want an entry level (read: low pay) person they can work to death.  The real "Admin" jobs are usually found through agencies anyway -- the ones that are advertised in the want ads don't want to pay the agency fees. And if they won't pay to find good people, what makes you think they'll pay well once they get you???



Boy, didn't mean to get on a soapbox there.  Sorry about that!  

I'm at about 75 wpm, with very few errors.  I had one heck of a typing teacher in college (I had taught myself in high school on a manual), her goal was NO errors, ever.  One time she threw a typewriter across the room because someone had whipped the paper out of the machine without using the release!  I heard later that she kept an old typewriter to use for her throwing exercise.  



CraftyGirl, I too type without reading.  I can carry on conversations, daydream, listen to music etc... while typing.  I bet you're the type that can read and watch tv and listen to your kids in the next room right?  



Regarding agencies... I recently decided to look for a new job closer to home.  I signed up with three agencies, Adecco, Office Team and a smaller privately run shop.  Adecco sent me out on bogus interviews several times, and continued to advertise a non-existent jobs on their website and monster.  I also posted my resume on Monster and that's where I got all of the best interviews and the job I have now.  Office team was the only one that had me tested for application skills.  They also gave me a test for legal secretaries and I got a perfect score!  I can only explain it by saying I watch court tv sometimes.  So  they kept trying to talk me into a legal position.  It was as if they thought I didn't know what I wanted and when I kept refusing they didn't call about any position.  So I'm a little leery about agencies.  I always feel like they don't really care about what you may be looking for, only in making their commission.

LOL Hupawoman.  If I had kids or a TV probably so.  ;-)



~cg

Back when I took typing on a manual typewriter, 1971, I was tested at 70 words per minute.  Over the years and with computers, I could type much faster than that.  I used to have an OPAC testing disk from IAAP and I consistently typed over 100 WPM.  Now that I don't do as much typing as I used to, I'm probably closer to the 80-85 WPM range.

You can take a typing "test" for a certificate at Brainbench.com....I think it gives you your wpm when you're done.....



Just a suggestion if someone's wondering what their speed might be.



tlc (FINALLY warming up in TN)  

KSmile - good to see you back!  Haven't heard from you in awhile!  



I took the test at Brainbench and got the certificate....now I'd like to try for the "master" typist, or whatever they call it.....just for my own satisfaction.....it's not really an issue where I work.



It IS kind of fun!



tlc

The poll has been up for a week now, and 64 people voted - which is excellent!



The results were evenly split, with a small minority being below 45wpm and slight more people not knwoing their speed. The other three catagories were almost identical.



This makes me feel a lot better!



Thanks to everyone who took part.



Liz



Off to brainbench.com to get tested!

When I was in admin. school, I believe we used a Cortez-Peters typing book, forgive me if that is the wrong name (check with your local community college bookstore, I'm sure they'll know the right one). They have some awesome drills for concentration typing, accuracy, and speed.  



Everyone is right, typing speed doesn't count all that much anymore (but it could eliminate you from another candidate for a job, if that is the only factor that isn't the same), it's where and what you do on a daily basis in your position that is most important. I can't imagine someone getting hung up on this one particular skill! Don't worry too much!