Open up any A-Z of career opportunities and Administration will be sitting right there at the top, but it’s often a job description that people pass straight over, thinking they know everything about it already. But with entry opportunities at all levels, a wide variety of industries available to work in, and a hole host of new skills to be learnt on the job, admin has much more to offer than many people realise.
Build a career that has variety
Administration is not so much a career area, but a job that can lead you into any business sector in the job world. Whether it’s education, travel, medicine or retail, businesses and services depend on administrative duties being carried out properly in order for them to run smoothly and efficiently.
Just as there is variety in industry, there is also variety in the content of your day-to-day duties. Common tasks may include completing forms, taking internal phone calls, creating reports and organising data, but there will also be customer-facing duties, dealing with customer issues or complaints, and bookkeeping.
Earn Early
The average pay for an administrator in the UK is £17,966 per year, but salaries do not directly increase in line with years of experience, meaning that you can earn that salary from day one. While the lack of increased salary may seem like a disadvantage after a few years, the way that administration roles teach transferable skills means that you will have opportunities to move on to higher paying jobs in admin or even in other lines of work.
Make the most of your skills and learn new ones
Many of the computer skills that admin workers depend on are ones that people nowadays have grown up with. Computers are second nature to us now, and strong typing and numeracy skills, data entry, computer-based record-keeping and more, are all teachable, if not already known, for most people.
Beyond that, if you're a naturally organised person, then admin will suit your personality. You'll be able to sort through and process information, have a keen eye for detail, and the ability to manage your own workload.
Be a people person
If you can communicate effectively, both written and verbally, the job will also come naturally to you. Working in an administration department, or even if you’re the company’s only administrator, you’ll be working with a wide range of employees, and communicating easily will make many processes a lot smoother.
Working as a PA
Depending on who you work for, a career as a PA is often seen as the most glamorous role in Administration, and it’s not necessarily as unlikely as it might sound. Being PA to celebrities, pop stars or sporting icons might seem unlikely, but working as PA to business leaders in industries such as fashion, music or even law is an exciting career that would involve plenty of variety in your everyday working life.
And who knows, that job as a celebrity PA isn't impossible, and with plenty of good jobs to take up while you wait for that dream role, there are certainly plenty of reason to consider administration.
The OCR Level 2 Diploma in Administration (Business Professional) at South West College recognises learners' understanding of administrative functions and activities. It accredits learners' abilities to carry out a range of administrative tasks autonomously and has been designed to accredit their achievements in a modern, practical way that is relevant to the work context. The qualification is flexible, allowing learners to choose units that best fit their needs and level of achievement.