Admin jobs - qualifications?

santacruz_2

I'm in the same position. I'm in debt due to traveling and need a steady job for at least 2 years but no one will touch me because I've got an art degree. If you think getting a normal admin job is hard then getting an art related job is even harder. So its lose lose for us arty graduates!

Savvy_Sue

Apolonation wrote: »

Admin qualification? what is that a test at shuffling paper... ?

Not quite: there are NVQs, and the ECDL already mentioned, and I have an RSA certificate for audio typing, which just shows my age ...

Cornball

I've hired 6 admin in the past 3 months and to be honest their qualifications didn't matter as much as their experience and attitude.

Don't lie but really tailor your experience to what is required. When I first started out applying for Admin roles 5 years ago I had some retail and some volunteer work behind me so I played up the office side of both and left off the non-requisite stuff.

My other big advice is to tell everyone you know you are looking for an Admin role. Post it on facebook, send out an email to all your contacts (seriously, I gave a girl a £26K job after an email that was forwarded to me from a mutual contact). I have grown tired of Agency fees and hired all 6 of my staff via word of mouth recommendations.

Good luck.

brightonman123

for anyone long term unemp, ask at job centre for details of / referral to, any local college courses- i did first aid, and health and safety (day courses), all fully funded..

adding this to my cv got quick interest from two agencies i sent it to, and now a job starting next week!

keep plugging away!

santacruz_2

KarrieBee wrote: »

This may sound odd but you could be aimign too low. I was in a similar position, good educational background temp experience etc and when I applied for lower level admin jobs the feedback I often got was "you are overqualified" or "we think you'll move on to something better". This was very frustrating but ultimately probably true - employers aren;t daft!
Anyway I applied for and got a very specialised admin role in science communication (I did an English degree and worked as a researcher for a while) and I love it. When I saw the job ad I was reluctant to go for it as it was a higher grade than any of the work I had done previously.

Are there skills you learned at Uni/in volunary work such as events management, web development which you could offer to employers as well as admin skills?
I would also strongly recommend getting ECDL or CLAIT - some colleges offer it for very minimal fees and it is concrete proof that you are computer literate.
And most of all don't get downhearted, the right job is out there!

Having an English degree is pretty open and there are obvious transferable skills from that that you can take to almost any profession..where as art is quite particular..or it is to people who don't see the broader picture!

I'm struggling with where to apply too because I'm 'over qualified' for basic admin jobs (although most ask for experience) but not qualified enough for art type jobs and jobs that require admin experience....:(

LondonDiva

Will you stay?

Just spent two days interviewing for an admin job & the biggest reason for not shortlisting or making the final cut, was thinking 's/he's movign on in 3-6 months or so and I'm going to have to go through this nightmare over again'.

Convince me you're here for at least a year and you've got a shot.

blckbrd

Just hang in there OP. I once hired a temp admin who had a masters in Conflict Resolution... Not a clue what we did or how we did it but after a bit of training he just blew us all away. All sorts of people get temp LA work - some stay others just pass through.

If you can use a keyboard competently and have familiarity with MS Office and/or any in-house software, you don't need qualifications. I'm told the way I type is 'unique' but it does the job - cannot for the life of me get on with touch-typing...

Morgan Hunt, Badenoch and Clark, Hays, Edward Selden were the agencies we went to most often - visit their sites/sign up if you haven't already.

Perhaps look at LA websites too. They may not be offering temp roles but you don't have to stay forever if you get a permanent job.

What about museums/galleries? Not sure where they advertise though.

Anyway, Good luck.

Savvy_Sue

LondonDiva wrote: »

Will you stay?

Just spent two days interviewing for an admin job & the biggest reason for not shortlisting or making the final cut, was thinking 's/he's movign on in 3-6 months or so and I'm going to have to go through this nightmare over again'.

Convince me you're here for at least a year and you've got a shot.

True enough, but I remember interviewing 3 people, 2 of whom appeared to be unable to type or string a coherent sentence together even though their forms must have made them look half-competent, so I don't know where we went wrong there!

Anyway, the 3rd had a 'job-hopping' work history with bits of travel thrown in, but I said to the manager I was interviewing with "I don't care if they leave in 6 months to go travelling again, this person is SO good that I'd rather take that risk than go through this again immediately because we don't appoint." Fortunately they were at the 'settling down' stage and were superb in the role for several years.

Anyway, for the OP, we did take on some permanent staff that we'd had as temps, and if you're interested in local authority work you may find they have their own agency arrangements, through which you'll gain more experience AND become known. Also think about Housing Associations, Universities, and colleges of FE.

And don't undersell yourself. While a degree doesn't automatically mean you're somehow entitled to a much higher salary, it does mean you should be able to demonstrate qualities of organisation and a level of intelligence above the 16 year old school leaver with 3 GCSEs.

wontfallforit

My first job out of uni was a shop job.

I missed my degree off my application, and landed the job (luckily I'd been working PT to cover the gap).

Slightly unethical, I know, but I have a very strong feeling that I wouldn't have been hired if I'd stated it.

I came clean in the end, after my 12 week performance review , and I stayed working at that shop for three years!

I put the hours in (often backbreaking!), and managed to scrape a fulltime job with slightly better than NMW pay, as I'd took on management responsibilities. It funded my masters degree which I painstakingly studied during the evening, and it left me with some really good points for my CV when I moved on.

I could - if a vancancy ever did arise, which only happens when someone dies or retires! - always go back and take up a proper store management job, thanks to the commitment I put in during those 3 years.

spikeycat

santacruz wrote: »

Having an English degree is pretty open and there are obvious transferable skills from that that you can take to almost any profession..where as art is quite particular..or it is to people who don't see the broader picture!

I'm struggling with where to apply too because I'm 'over qualified' for basic admin jobs (although most ask for experience) but not qualified enough for art type jobs and jobs that require admin experience....:(

I know... I would say my Fine Art degree has a lot of transferrable skills, it annoys me that employers might think that I spent 3 years painting pretty pictures! I would say I have gained excellent research skills (from researching artists and media for my practice and my dissertation), constructive criticism skills (means I can present my work to people and take on board suggestions and criticisms as well as being able to criticise someone else's work without offending them...), I can build artificial walls, plaster and paint them, make canvas stretchers, and all kinds of problem solving things involving DIY and hanging paintings etc. I can write quite well, as I had to present a lot of essays about my work, and other artists work. Not all painting pretty pictures

I feel really frustrated and stuck in a rut...