Men is admin roles?

hcb42

I did rsa 1 and 2 years ago too, was sweet 16 or something all they do is give keyboard skills, nowadays as most people are used to using key boards they are less relevant

KiKi

I agree that there are fewer men in admin (in my experience), and that specific 'secretary' roles do still tend to be held by women.

But there are still plenty of men in admin, particularly in HR, legal and financial environments (that I've worked with).

As others have said: 'admin' doesn't mean secretarial these days (in case anyone thinks it does). My admin at work co-ordinates training programmes, works with my assessors, does all the finances for our team, organises our meetings, is the first point of contact for all queries relating to my team. She has a degree, a Masters, and 20 years' experience in hugely different environments. I can give her anything and know that it will be completed to the right level of competence, and with excellent customer service.

KiKi

Deep_In_Debt

15 years ago I worked in a firm and the MD's PA was a bloke and damn good he was too! Same company also had a part time male receptionist too.

I work in a PA role in HR for a large blue chip company and we have a male training administrator. He mainly deals with the graduate training but is very versatile and helps out with whatever is needed especially with statistics and scary spreadsheet stuff! He loves the job and he's great. Gets the job done with excellent results and with enthuisasm.

DirtyDick

How many boys were taught typing at school? Not many, I assume, whereas it was commonly taught to girls so they'd have a job (which they'd give up as soon as they married and had children, of course).

It both perpetuated the idea of the female secretary as merely a typist, whereas hardly any places need massive typing pools these days - and learning to type quickly on a computer is a doddle.

Emmzi

about a third of my admin team are male.

Falko, you have some very outdated gender ideas.

gibson123

VfM4meplse wrote: »

It's also very unattractive - I can't imagine fancying a male secretary because I still see the role as being intrinsically "female".

You are joking of course? or perhaps you also expect to be clubbed over the head and dragged into the cave, where you would then be chained to the sink to cook the Tyranasaur steaks...:D

duckandcover

I think some of you are being a bit harsh to the OP and have misinterpreted his question and jumped to conclusions.

Falko, I'm male, 23, and work in a relatively admin-y role (roughly 60% admin, 40% projects-based). In my immediate team, there is another female admin person, a female accounts assistant, and a female manager. Elsewhere in the business it's also pretty much all female apart from one male accounts assistant. But I don't....*notice* it if you know what I mean. I suppose I've never seen it as an issue whether colleagues are male or female. And from the employer's point of view, they're just going to want to someone who they think can do the job, and gel well with the rest of the team. Don't let gender concerns affect your applications

Janey7

VfM4meplse wrote: »

It's also very unattractive - I can't imagine fancying a male secretary because I still see the role as being intrinsically "female".

I remember Rachel's lovely male secretary in Friends ...

Where I've worked there have been comparatively fewer men than women in admin/pa jobs, but there have still always been a fair few. In my experience at least, I think one reason is because the secretarial roles are quite likely to allow more flexible working patterns so are likely to suit mums (and increasing numbers of dads as well I know!) with small children.

heretolearn_2

I have to disagree with those on here who think touch typing skills are not helpful these days as 'everyone can use a computer keyboard'. Yeah, and I'm sick and tired of hiring people who tell me they have excellent computer skills and a good speed only to have them turn up and two finger pick their way round at the speed of a snail. Most of them genuinely believe they are fast. Some of them actually are fast - for two finger typists. Then they hear me typing away and their jaws drop and they ask 'how do you do that?'. If you can touch type you are much faster and so more productive. I really get cross with the people who pick pause pick pick pick pause pause hunt pick pick pick. It's like being expected to employ someone in the pre-PC days who couldn't hold a pen properly. 20 words per minute is SLOW people. SLOW. Even 30 isn't exceptional at all. If you can only type at half the speed you can only do half the work in the course of a day, simple logic. Therefore I'd have to employ twice the people, at twice the wage bill, twice the space and equipment and costs, and destroy my firm in the time being.

Seriously, if you want to work in an office, unless you are one of those really unusual people who can pick their way round a keyboard at a reasonable speed of say, 40 words per minute, learn to touch type! your employer will love you for it.

I now make everyone - coming for any role at all - sit and do an IT test in my room so I can listen to them. The slowcoaches are automatically out, I don't care how good they are in other ways, I don't see it as any different to not being able to write.

falko89

heretolearn wrote: »

I have to disagree with those on here who think touch typing skills are not helpful these days as 'everyone can use a computer keyboard'. Yeah, and I'm sick and tired of hiring people who tell me they have excellent computer skills and a good speed only to have them turn up and two finger pick their way round at the speed of a snail. Most of them genuinely believe they are fast. Some of them actually are fast - for two finger typists. Then they hear me typing away and their jaws drop and they ask 'how do you do that?'. If you can touch type you are much faster and so more productive. I really get cross with the people who pick pause pick pick pick pause pause hunt pick pick pick. It's like being expected to employ someone in the pre-PC days who couldn't hold a pen properly. 20 words per minute is SLOW people. SLOW. Even 30 isn't exceptional at all. If you can only type at half the speed you can only do half the work in the course of a day, simple logic. Therefore I'd have to employ twice the people, at twice the wage bill, twice the space and equipment and costs, and destroy my firm in the time being.

Seriously, if you want to work in an office, unless you are one of those really unusual people who can pick their way round a keyboard at a reasonable speed of say, 40 words per minute, learn to touch type! your employer will love you for it.

I now make everyone - coming for any role at all - sit and do an IT test in my room so I can listen to them. The slowcoaches are automatically out, I don't care how good they are in other ways, I don't see it as any different to not being able to write.

I had a wee go at this test http://www.typeonline.co.uk/typingspeed.php I hit 55 wpm with 3 mistakes so I guess i'm not to bad, that's on a laptop to which is a bit harder to type on I find.