Totaljobs.com > Career Advice > Careers in... > Careers in Administration > Administration job description
Job description: Administration
Working in administration you are the lifeblood of an organisation, keeping it running behind the scenes. You could have a variety of job titles - Clerical assistant or office administrator are just a couple of them. Your main role is to provide administrative support for an office or department.
A day in the life of an administrator usually includes at least one or two of the following tasks:
- Filing and retrieving information and documents
- Data entry
- Typing letters
- Managing diaries
- Booking travel
- Maintaining office equipment
- Answering the phone and providing switchboard cover
- Looking after visitors
You role will depend on the size of the organisation you work for. Wherever you work, one thing is for sure - because of the support you'll provide, you'll be in great demand with other team members.
Hours and environment
Work/life balance is a perk of the job. Full time you'll work 9am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday but there are plenty of opportunities out there if you'd prefer to work part-time, flexi-time or job share.
As the work is mainly computer based, you'll be in the office pretty much all the time.
Skills and interests
You'll need to be a people's person as your role involves working with people from all levels throughout the organisation to help them in their daily jobs.
You'll also need to be super efficient to make sure you can balance your own workload with all those extra little requests that will come in from round the office during the day... 'Please can you order some more pens as I've just taken the last one?' 'Can you show me how the fax machine works please...'
This list covers the usual set of skills that employers ask for:
- Methodical and organised
- Good at juggling tasks and prioritising
- A good team player
- Computer literacy and good typing skills
- A good level of English spelling and grammar
- Accurate with good attention to detail
- Focused
- Show initiative
Entry
Most levels of qualifications and experience will count. Some employers will prefer you to have GCSEs including maths and English but others will be more interested in your keyboard, filing and telephone manner.
Getting some work experience is by far the best way of showing off your abilities and sprucing up your CV. Helpful but not essential, you could also think about taking a course in administration. Pitman, OCR and NVQ courses are the most popular in this field.
Apprenticeships are an increasingly popular way in for younger job seekers who want to learn whilst they earn. Go to www.apprenticeships.org.uk for more information.
Administration is not just an industry for young people. More experienced, mature applicants are welcomed as relevant work experience is a real asset.
Training
You will do most of your training on the job, learning from more experienced colleagues.
If you work for a bigger company you may get the chance to work towards some vocational qualifications either on a part-time or full-time basis:
- NVQ levels 1 and 2 in Business and Administration
- Certificates/diplomas in office work from Pitman, OCR (RSA) or Education
- Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Administration (CIPFA)Development International LCCI
- IT qualifications such as RSA Computer Literacy and Information Technology(CLAIT) Plus or the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL).
Opportunities
You'll be in good company if you work in administration. Approximately 13% of the UK's workforce are admin based, working in just about every kind of company and public sector organisation imaginable.
The skills you'll learn on the job are highly transferable and will open doors for you to become a secretary, supervisor or office manager.
You might also be able to move to a specialist department, say marketing, HR or finance, and build a whole new career.
Annual income
Starting salaries are quite modest, usually around the £12,000 to £13,000 mark but with experience can quickly rise to £18,000 to £22,000.
Senior administrators can earn upwards of £25,000 reflecting the fact that businesses need good administrators to keep them running efficiently.
Jobs in Administration
Other Careers in Administration
