Sihteina

Sihteina is a Finnish expression that means acting in the capacity of a secretary or serving as a secretary. It is the essive case form of the noun sihteeri and is used to describe a person’s role or function at a given time, often in a temporary or situational sense.

In Finnish, you commonly say toimia sihteerinä to indicate performing the duties of a secretary. For example, “Hän toimii sihteerinä kaupungin hallinnossa” means she works as a secretary in the city administration. The form sihteerinä is singular; the plural form is sihteereinä when referring to multiple people acting as secretaries. The related translative form sihteeriksi is used to express becoming a secretary, as in “hänestä tuli sihteeri” in the sense of becoming a secretary.

Functions and scope of the role vary by context. A secretary typically handles administrative tasks such as correspondence, scheduling, document filing, and meeting coordination. In larger organizations, roles may include executive assistant duties, project coordination, or liaison work, sometimes overlapping with administrative assistant positions. The title can also appear in organizational contexts as part of a formal job description or a temporary assignment during staff shortages or interim periods.

Grammatical notes: sihteeri is the base noun; sihteerinä denotes the role in the essive case, indicating “as a secretary.” The term is common in everyday Finnish and appears in CVs, job postings, and descriptions of duties. Related terms include the generic secretary (sihteeri) and more specialized titles such as pääsihteeri (secretary-general) or toimistosihteeri (office secretary).