A survey was conducted of the want ad sections of Sunday newspapers in 14 cities in the United States and of Saturday newspapers in 3 Canadian cities in February 1990 to determine what qualifications employers required of secretaries. Data from 4,500 individual ads were tabulated. The survey tracked 34 types of information in secretarial ads relating to skills and qualities required, job duties, salaries, and industry of the employer. Key findings included the following: (1) word processing is still the most-requested skill for secretaries, appearing in 54 percent of the ads; (2) many ads prefer backgrounds in specific software programs, especially WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3; (3) only 11 percent of the ads ask for shorthand or note-taking skills; (4) a good personality is a hiring factor in more than 18 percent of the ads, triple the number of a year ago; and (5) a large and varied repertoire of computer experience is the most essential career tool for today's secretary. Salaries ranged from $10,000 to $70,000, with most falling in the $20,000-$30,000 range. (KC)