What to do next? NVQ level 3 or 4 in Biz & Admin

Pthree

Good afternoon,

I have done admin work since I left school 20 odd years ago (:eek: where did that time go??!!) anyway it was never a passion just something I fell into and stayed in as well.......... I guess I'm pretty good at it. I have a decent enough job and earn an alright wage for London. My issue is I want (need) to move back North, where the wage drop is huge for a simular type of position and while I realise the cost of living is a lot less, it does not equate to the loss of money.

Since I started work I havent really done anything to add to my skills and anything I have learnt has been on the job as opposed to proper qualifications. So in a bid to make my CV look a bit more appealing I recently completed a free NVQ Level 2 Buisness and Administration course. Which, after I got the hang of how they wanted the questions to be answered, I found very easy.

Most jobs advertised require level 3 but I level 2 was free and I thought it would be a good intro back into learning.

After all that waffle my questions is -

Is it worth doing level 3 as from what I can tell it is very simular to level 2 or should I just jump to level 4 which seems to have a bit more meat behind it (I am not even sure if you can actually do this, I am just pondering the idea at the mo).

I have to admit half of me just wants to do something totally different like photography or extreme cake making but I need to keep paying the bills. It's a problem when you dont know what you want to do when you grow up when your 38!

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks
P3

SuzyZ

Many years ago I did the Level 3 at college.

I don't know whether you can do this online/evening course now. But back then it was a WP/typing/office skills course.

The Level 4 course was more office management.

There should be a National Careers Advice (I think) person on here who will sometimes post careers advice.

About 4 years ago I did a 3 month after work Legal Secretarial/PA course - through Institute of Legal Secretaries and PAs. But I'm not 100% happy in this field.

I haven't always been asked about NVQ 3 Business Admin course/qualification, sometimes it comes in interviews, sometimes not but it could well be a worthwhile qualification to bank for future use, if that's where your skills/aspiration lies. Good luck.

SuzyZ

Pthree wrote: »

Good afternoon,

I have done admin work since I left school 20 odd years ago (:eek: where did that time go??!!) anyway it was never a passion just something I fell into and stayed in as well.......... I guess I'm pretty good at it. I have a decent enough job and earn an alright wage for London. My issue is I want (need) to move back North, where the wage drop is huge for a simular type of position and while I realise the cost of living is a lot less, it does not equate to the loss of money.

Since I started work I havent really done anything to add to my skills and anything I have learnt has been on the job as opposed to proper qualifications. So in a bid to make my CV look a bit more appealing I recently completed a free NVQ Level 2 Buisness and Administration course. Which, after I got the hang of how they wanted the questions to be answered, I found very easy.

Most jobs advertised require level 3 but I level 2 was free and I thought it would be a good intro back into learning.

After all that waffle my questions is -

Is it worth doing level 3 as from what I can tell it is very simular to level 2 or should I just jump to level 4 which seems to have a bit more meat behind it (I am not even sure if you can actually do this, I am just pondering the idea at the mo).

I have to admit half of me just wants to do something totally different like photography or extreme cake making but I need to keep paying the bills. It's a problem when you dont know what you want to do when you grow up when your 38!

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks
P3

I just thought (also) what sort of industries are *up North* - is it eg like Slough, lots of retail parks with IT/telecomms. Are there certain employers you know would be hiring? This could be a good opportunity (if you're this way interested) to say get a job as HR Secretary etc and then go for the relevant HR training or other training eg marketing etc if you fancy working in that department (I was once offered this when I temped for a subsidiary of Laing O'Rourke but I wasn't interested).

saintjammyswine

You can likely get Level 3 fully funded as well.
You are over 24 so there is the 24+ Advanced Learning Loan https://www.gov.uk/advanced-learning-loans/overview
or you could speak to your local FE College about other options.

Pthree

Thanks for the replies been away for a few days so not had chance to respond.

There do seem to be a few HR roles in the area I am looking to move to, but it is not a subject that excites me, I have done a small amount in my current job and to be honest it just seemed to be a lot of people moaning about stuff.

I am am going to try for a webchat with a carrers advisor later on today - see if they can come up with something!

tommytynan123

Its not just what you want to do but also what your role can support regarding NVQ level.

A good assessor will come out and compare your job to each level and ascertain which level you can achieve. Level 4 will have a fair bit of ''management'' so if you have no staff then level 4 may be beyond your role.

Also. NVQ is work based in your workplace and so your present organisation will only lose you for about an hour every 2 weeks when your assessor calls and even then you could arrange the meetings for a 'quieter time'' of the week. When I assessed, in general, it was actually at the candidates desk and work continued. That also doubled as me seeing the candidate doing work which I may have been able to use as evidence.

Other qualifications will probably mean evening work and as already suggested check out your local college. If there was 1 area I would say is very important it's IT and you saying ''I'm good'' is outweighed by someone saying ''I've got ECDL'' or ''Certificate in advanced Spreadsheets'' etc

Check out the jobs up north and see what qualifications they ask for - then go get them.

Pthree

tommytynan123 wrote: »

Its not just what you want to do but also what your role can support regarding NVQ level.

A good assessor will come out and compare your job to each level and ascertain which level you can achieve. Level 4 will have a fair bit of ''management'' so if you have no staff then level 4 may be beyond your role.

Also. NVQ is work based in your workplace and so your present organisation will only lose you for about an hour every 2 weeks when your assessor calls and even then you could arrange the meetings for a 'quieter time'' of the week. When I assessed, in general, it was actually at the candidates desk and work continued. That also doubled as me seeing the candidate doing work which I may have been able to use as evidence.

Other qualifications will probably mean evening work and as already suggested check out your local college. If there was 1 area I would say is very important it's IT and you saying ''I'm good'' is outweighed by someone saying ''I've got ECDL'' or ''Certificate in advanced Spreadsheets'' etc

Check out the jobs up north and see what qualifications they ask for - then go get them.

This has given me something to think about, my NVQ 2 was online only, I hadn't thought about an assessor needing to come out to my work place. Level 4 may be a bit beyond me my job title is Office Manager / PA but am pretty much equal to the others in the office (other than one person) as it's only a small company.

I really cant commit to a "go to college" course as I never know what time I am going to leave work (one of the reasons I want a change!) and would hate to start and pay for something I skip out on. A distance learning course would be much better as on the whole my wkds are pretty free (no life another reason to move up North lol)

I always thought ECDL was for people without a clue of computers, would future employers rather have than 20 yrs of experience?

I have found a chance to do Level 1 & 2 ITQ Certificate in IT User Skills (QCF) but I have never heard of it so don't know if it is worth the paper it's written on?

I guess there are certain skills I could do with brushing up on but need to do it as cheaply as possible as am saving for a house deposit for when I move, then again, if I cant get a job I cant move....:(

The careers advice people were as much use as a chocolate fire guard!

tommytynan123

I've been out of the loop for a while but ECDL is not for ''the terrified''

I would talk to a local college about IT courses and explain your position. They should advise what is best.
Also check out distance learning providers because then it won't be fixed timings.

Caroline_a

I work in a senior administration role for a global IT firm and have been involved many times in recruitment for admin and secretarial people. To be honest, it's not really about the qualifications - it's far more about experience. So, experience of using SAP, Siebel, different types of databases, being fluent in Excel, with pivot tables and charts - if you can show those sort of things on your CV then you are much more likely to be successful in getting a job than a raft of admin qualifications.

slenderkitten

I would second what the last poster wrote. I too did an NVQ Level 2 Administration course as it used to be called in mid 90's also my RSA Word/Text Processing and RSA CLAIT.

I am looking at improving my skill set. IT is very important if you train to the highest level in MS Word, Powerpower, Excel, try doing SAGE if you can afford or find funding for the course.

Unfortunately, these days; companies no longer value qualifications in general. Yes of course it underpinned that you understand the principals of the vocation but really its the PRACTICAL experience that employer values the most.

Good luck

makeyourdaddyproud

slenderkitten wrote: »

I would second what the last poster wrote. I too did an NVQ Level 2 Administration course as it used to be called in mid 90's also my RSA Word/Text Processing and RSA CLAIT.

I am looking at improving my skill set. IT is very important if you train to the highest level in MS Word, Powerpower, Excel, try doing SAGE if you can afford or find funding for the course.

Unfortunately, these days; companies no longer value qualifications in general. Yes of course it underpinned that you understand the principals of the vocation but really its the PRACTICAL experience that employer values the most.

Good luck

Employers now want you to teach the computer to talk and have it provide answers ready for questions not yet thought of.

I worked in IT, and 85% people have degrees - the Bronze standard. Silver is your 5yrs experience and the Gold is getting that server computer to do what I said earlier.

The NVQ4 only earns you a ticket to the parking lot of a tech firm nowadays - sorry. It's just too easy to obtain one.