Business/Admin - Professional Qualifications Advice

Thatchapdean

Hi Everyone,

I was after some advice or guidance if possible in relation to professional qualifications for business/admin.

I worked for an energy company for nine years in various roles. Of the nine years, seven of those were in newly created Administrative roles due to different company department changes etc.

In my roles I covered procurement, expenditure/performance reporting, cost saving measures, scheduling meetings/travel/hotels along with other tasks. I left the company in 2009 to become a full-time carer for my elderly mother, who has since recovered so I am now looking at returning to work.

At the age of 32 I have decided to look into a career change(somewhat). My hope is to work as an administrator/project work within the charity/non-profit sector but am a little flummoxed of how to approach this or what relevant qualifications I would need.

My previous roles had no training attached to them, since then the company has introduced the option to gain NVQs etc

I have been looking at administrative roles in general but the gap on my CV is a stumbling block and the lack of a professional qualification on my CV even though I have the experience.

So my question really is does/should the qualification matter? If so, any suggestions of the best option and previous experience i.e. costs etc.

Apologies if that seems a little all over the place but I hope you get the idea.

Edit: just to add I have been looking at OU courses, had a meeting with a next step advisor and have been searching anywhere and everywhere on the internet to gain a better understanding. I think I may have info overload so aanother persons perspective may help a great deal.

soupdragon10

1. What qualfifications do you currently have, as this may affect the courses/qualifications that you can do (apart from the OU of course).

2. Are there any voluntary organisations where you could work and gain relevant qualifications at the same time? For example some allow volunteers to use the placement to undertake qualifications for example NVQ's with remainder of course being run by local provider.

3. Do local Adult Education / FE college run IT courses, as it can be relevant to have IT qualifications as well as business/admin qualifications.

Just a few ideas.

Thatchapdean

soupdragon10 wrote: »

1. What qualfifications do you currently have, as this may affect the courses/qualifications that you can do (apart from the OU of course).

2. Are there any voluntary organisations where you could work and gain relevant qualifications at the same time? For example some allow volunteers to use the placement to undertake qualifications for example NVQ's with remainder of course being run by local provider.

3. Do local Adult Education / FE college run IT courses, as it can be relevant to have IT qualifications as well as business/admin qualifications.

Just a few ideas.

Hi Soupdragon.
To answer your points.

1. I have the standard 'formal' qualifications - GCSEs(inc Maths and English) and A-Levels (Theatre Studies and English Literature). I recently undertook and passed an ECDL level 2 (not that it means much)

2. I had a meeting with the local Community and Voluntary sector a few weeks ago. To be honest the lady that I met was not overly helpful and I walked away feeling more confused then before I went in. She gave me info on roles based on my previous experience i.e debt management/energy advice (which ideally I don't want to do) rather then new/fresh roles which I can gain new experience and learn about the charity sector. I am going to write to charities directly and see if I can create some openings that way.

3. I have been looking at Adult Classes and the local college. I had been contemplating an Access course in September or the Next Step advisor even suggested a Foundation Degree or Professional Qualification.

The general feedback I get from companies even for administrative roles outside of the charity sector is that I have the experience but nothing 'formal' on my CV in relation the roles which is frustrating.

sagalout1954

See if you can get better info on suitable volunteering opportunities here http://www.do-it.org.uk/

Don't rubbish your ECDL, I was only able to complete 5 of my required 7 modules so technically I haven't even passed it, still has value of my applications/CV though (I do say that redundancy interrupted my studies).

I've found that for admin based roles a good competency based application seems to work. Don't even have an 'O' level or GCSE to my name, emphasising EXPERIENCE seems to be going a long way for me. That and a couple of NVQ's in Business Admin and Customer Service done at the expense of a previous employer has come in handy, along with a CLAIT and the half done ECDL!

Good luck