A Comprehensive Career Guide About Jobs in Admin

01st Jun 2022

Admin Jobs: A comprehensive career guide

A position in admin can require both clerical and administrative skills and providing support to management personnel or entire departments. The work may be performed individually, with colleagues, or sometimes as part of a larger team or department. Admin tasks involve the coordinating and implementation of standardized office procedures and people in this role will manage several different functions and often oversee specific projects and tasks.

Depending on the industry sector, size of the employer and levels of responsibility, the role of an admin person can be quite broad and varied. But basic skills needed will include good levels of written and oral communication, and organisational and presentation skills. Admin employees will need the ability to multi-task, manage different relationships, and work well under pressure.

In some cases, specialised knowledge or industry-specific qualifications may be required to perform regulated or legal work. This can be especially true if the admin role is within a legal or medical environment, with employees needing knowledge of things like client confidentiality and data protection expectations to maintain standards of compliance.

What type of skills are needed for a career in admin?

For a position in admin, you will need to possess a healthy mix of technical, organisational, and communication skills and time management capabilities. Providing ongoing support to senior managers, executives, and other members of staff requires someone with the ability to multi-task and handle a wide range of responsibilities along with being accommodating and personable to interact with team members, management personnel, and customers.

Time-management and scheduling tools can be used to plan weekly events and meetings, or track appointments and admin staff should be familiar with the typical office software packages that most companies use like Microsoft Word, Email, Google Docs and spreadsheets. A good typing speed will be necessary to write emails, messages, memos, or copy documentation and transcription skills can be useful to convert audio information from things like meeting minutes into written documents.

Administrative staff are frequently the initial point of contact for a company, handling customer inquiries and cold calls. Clear speaking skills and the capability to deal with different personalities, field phone calls, and direct requests to the correct department will be essential as will the ability to assess and interact appropriately with sales calls, complaints, and questions. Tracking calls and arranging appointments may be handled using standard calendars or even proprietary or dedicated software.

General office work is a part of any admin worker's day and individuals working in an admin role can expect to handle things like photocopying or printing on the behalf of managers or colleagues. Filing will also be a task managed by the admin employees, often daily, to keep documents and notes stored in an orderly manner. Some large corporations have teams of admin people dedicated to the management of this task alone.

Creating and maintaining a comprehensive filing system can fall under the scope of an admin job, and this may require liaising with staff or even external entities to track down the information needed. Data entry skills will be required to keep up with items such as sales listings or to input and track important figures on behalf of the company.

Work duties for an administrative employee can be broad and varied and include crossover into areas like personal assistant or event management. Admins who work for large organisations may manage appointments for a CEO and arrange conferences or off-site meetings, facilitating organisational events and sourcing locations for things like seminars, company days, or annual reviews. As part of event organisation and planning, admin staff may need to arrange travel and accommodation for several colleagues, managers, and/or customers.

Job titles and description

With such a wide range of duties, it is easy to see why so many job titles are associated with administrative roles. Admin positions can range from entry-level up to senior management or specialised roles, with responsibilities, expectations, and salaries increasing with each level.

Many jobs will be titled ‘Administrative (X)’ and commonly used job titles are:

Administrative

· Assistant

· Coordinator

· Director

· Manager

· Services Manager

· Services Officer

· Specialist

· Support Manager

· Support Supervisor

For more generalised admin, receptionist and secretarial roles, job titles are more non-specific like:

· General Administrator

· Executive Assistant

· Services Administrator

· Secretary

Positions which require specialised administrative skills or training will include the area of expertise or related to the job title. So for admins in HR positions or those working in a legal or medical environment you can expect to see:

· Human Resources Administrator

· Legal Secretary

· Medical Secretary

· Technical Program Administrator

Admin employees who offer business support for specific tasks and functions may have a job title that doesn’t necessarily convey their administrative skills and can include roles with titles such as:

· Events Coordinator

· Support Assistant

· Support Specialist

· Programs Coordinator

Many of these job roles can travel through an employment arc of entry-level, mid-level, and senior roles so for example, a new admin associate may have the title ‘Administrative Services Assistant’ while an employee with many years of experience may have elevated to the role of ‘Senior Administrative Services Manager’ and be responsible for entire teams of admin staff or departments.

Where to find admin jobs

While there are a large number of admin jobs available, finding the one that is right for you may take a bit of research. Apart from having the necessary skills and training, there are things like salary, promotion opportunities, and company culture to consider.

If you are seeking admin work and need to find the latest and most up to date job listings then a good place to start is one of the internet job boards.

Try searching for your desired role or admin job title on these sites:

Indeed
Monster
ZipRecruiter
Glassdoor
Simply Hired
Reed

Alternatively, you could use a specialised job board that solely deals with admin staff and finding appropriate placements for qualified candidates, or use a recruitment company to help you in your search. This can work especially well if you have unique skills or industry experience in a specialised area.

Companies that need admin to perform specific job duties invest a lot of money in sourcing the right people for the job, and using a recruitment service can connect qualified admin candidates with organisations who are hiring for open roles.

Which employers have admin roles

Almost all companies require administrative support staff of some description. Regardless of the type of business or industry, all organisations have tasks like calendar management, emails, phone calls, and filing that needs to be handled. This means that there is a constant need for good admin staff to perform the work duties and support business operations.

Every company from legal to medical, from manufacturing to IT will require administrative functions to be performed if they hope to keep day-to-day organisational tasks in check. Without admin people or teams in place, things can soon get off track, so a good admin team member can be a high-value employee within the broader scope of the organisation.

Some larger businesses will have their own company recruiter who is dedicated to identifying and hiring well-qualified administrative employees. It can be advantageous to those candidates seeking an admin position to locate the recruitment specialist and reach out to them with an email and CV to inquire about open positions within the company.

What qualifications, experience and other qualities are needed for admin work?

The level of education and experience required for admin roles will purely depend on the kind of job being sought. Candidates who wish to work in a general entry-level role may only require basic skills and education.

For those who wish to pursue a career as a specialised administrative operative, or manage a team, higher education and several years of experience within an industry maybe some of the skills that an employer will seek.

Many admin positions do not require formal education but the level of speech, writing, and communication will need to be appropriate, and it will be beneficial to have some sort of business training such as a vocational qualification (NVQ) or a work based qualification to demonstrate your skills.

Higher-level positions may require a bachelor's degree or formalised training in business administration. There are a large number of certificates, diplomas, or industry-specific qualifications available such as those from IAM - the Institute of Administrative Management - which is dedicated to the training and professional development of admin staff.

How to develop a career in admin

Charting a career path in admin can be achieved by starting at an entry-level position and gathering the necessary skills and experience to earn promotions and advance to more senior levels within the organisation. This can be supported by a strategic selection of courses, certificates, and training to upskill existing abilities and learn new ones. Specialised skills can be learned and industry-based training can help to perfectly position candidates for new or open roles in their existing company or for opportunities with new organisations.

Alternatively, admin employees who wish to start at a higher level can opt for the educational path and devote their time to college or university training to acquire the knowledge needed for the role. While the time spent learning may not yield much in the way of earnings or salary, it will allow the candidate to enter administrative roles at a more senior level and achieve better income levels than would be available from working in entry-level roles.

Salary and benefits

With such a huge range of opportunities and entry-level through senior-level roles, salaries for admin jobs can be dependent on the kind of tasks performed and the responsibilities that are associated with the role. Generally speaking, a senior medical secretary will earn more than an admin coordinator, but that can be affected by the size of the company.

Small family-owned businesses may not have the financial capacity to pay as much as a large corporation for an admin worker hired to perform the same role. Therefore, admin positions should be reviewed and assessed before committing to an offer of employment. Geographic considerations will also come into play.

As an example, a medium-sized tech company in London may pay more for their admin staff and teams than a medium-sized tech company in Liverpool. This fluctuation is based on the cost of living, property prices, and other regional factors. In the UK, the average salary for an administrative worker according to Reed is £31,422 with an overall range of just over £19k on the low end, rising to just above £58k so the difference in earnings for admin staff can be broad. Salaries will increase along with skills and education, and the role being performed, Senior Program Administrators can expect to achieve a salary of around £50k, and a Senior Admin or Office Manager can earn a salary in the region of £40k.

There are some benefits that come along with an admin job, often the role can be somewhat autonomous, leaving the admin professional to manage their own day and task schedule, and there is the opportunity to build relationships with senior leaders or members of the management team. Other benefits come in the form of paid annual leave, promotional opportunities, and possible profit share or company bonus schemes. If the admin position is based upon hourly pay rather than salary, then overtime may be available and will give a boost to weekly earnings.

Different companies offer their employees different incentives, and company perks that are made available to employees could be things such as subsidised meals, employee discount programs, subsidised or on-site gym membership, or free company events.

Admin Jobs FAQs

How can I get a job in admin with no experience?

Admin jobs are in high demand with companies continuously needing staff who can handle daily office tasks and help with organisation. For an entry-level admin role, basic high school education and a good level of literacy may be all that’s needed along with the ability to follow instructions and a willingness to learn.

Do I need to write a cover letter for an admin job?

When applying for any job it is always a good idea to include a cover letter with your CV. It looks professional and it is an opportunity to tell your employer more about yourself than the information contained in your curriculum vitae. It is a chance to show who you are, and demonstrate to your potential employer how you fit within their company.

How much do admin jobs pay?

Salary ranges are broad for admin positions with the type of job, geographic considerations, and regional salary averages affecting pay scales. Some research should tell you what the industry averages are for your area, and you should be able to compare rates for different types of industries and organisations relatively easily.

Is admin a good job?

If you like to keep busy and manage a number of different tasks in a support capacity then admin may be the ideal position for you. With the easy availability of ongoing training and a respectable amount of admin roles available, promotional opportunities should not be hard to come by. Career advancement can be quick and almost unlimited for the right candidates.

What kind of entry-level admin jobs are available?

It is still possible to work in admin even with limited skills and education. If you are fresh out of high school and don’t have any experience there may still be some admin jobs open to you. Look at your local job listing for things like ‘office assistant’ ‘general admin’ assistant’ or even ‘receptionist’ to find jobs which may not require formal training or qualifications.

How can I write an admin job description?

For companies hiring admin staff, the job description should include the scope of duties, expectations, and information about working hours. Details of salary may be included and any job bonuses, incentive schemes or company perks should also be included along with instructions for application steps.

What is the job of an admin assistant?

Admin assistants keep an office running and handle important tasks like document management and general organisation. Most administrative assistants will handle several clerical tasks like filing, appointment scheduling, and helping other staff members. They may draft memos, email and other correspondences and work with spreadsheets, and databases, or use design software to create presentations and reports.

What jobs can I get with a business admin degree?

Having a business admin degree will open up a wealth of possible opportunities in the administrative world. An admin degree will qualify someone to work in fields like business consulting or project management, and for admin jobs, it will allow access to higher-level positions. Jobs like Program Manager or specialised admin management positions will be easily achievable.

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