Hunters’ Career Profile – Administrator – **This is not a job advert**
The term “administrator” is quite a broad term covering a spectrum of responsibilities. Hunters’ finds that many candidates state a preference to work as an administrator as a cover-all for office work. We find that the best candidates are those able to articulate their skills and experience in relation to specific administrative tasks. Our advice is that candidates should be open to experiencing all aspects of administration, including the inevitable phone and customer service elements, and not hold out for such wispy concepts as “pure admin.” The best administrators are well aware that their chosen career path is hard work and requires focus and high levels of organisation and, usually, numeracy.
The entry level route into an administrative career can be as an “administration assistant.” Duties usually include plenty of data entry and database work, therefore it is essential that administration assistants offer expertise in IT including: MS Office, especially Word and Excel, Outlook and basic databases such as Access.
It can be tricky to break into an administrative career without prior experience, however our advice is that it is possible to present your CV in such a way that may help you secure a more entry level administration assistant opportunity. For example, you could demonstrate your IT prowess by taking the Hunters’ MS Office tests and recording your scores on your CV. These are free; just ask us. Alternatively, is you would like to polish up your IT skills then we have fantastic online MS Office training we can assist with.
Typical Sussex salary range: £16,000 – £28,000
You could do a college course, which would teach you some of the skills and knowledge you need in this job. Relevant subjects include a Level 2 or 3 Diploma in Business and Administration. Many employers look favourably on graduates.