Training and breaking into a new sector.

GazRoberts

Hi,

My girlfriend is looking to change directions. She is 25, currently working in retail and looking to move towards an admin, office based role. She's applying for roles but due to the lack of experience and no training, is hearing very little in the way of responses and has only had a couple of unsuccessful interviews in call centre roles.

I believe she needs to do some form of formal, recognised training to give her a good chance. The problem lies in finding a good course which is recognised and might give her a better chance at finding work. We've looked but are struggling to make heads or tails of the information and various companies offering training. The last thing we want is to waste our time and money on a course which is going to be ignored by recruiters.

Any help and guidance is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

april87

I wouldn't say you need to do a course. I was previously retail and it took time but eventually got a job with my local council. Quite a few of my friends have followed suit. I would say it'll be down to what she has on her CV. I took a hefty pay cut for an entry level job, 6 months later I got a job in the finance dept. It just takes time.

dancingfairy

The things I can think of is sort of qualification in microsoft office. Just a basic/starter qualification from the local college. Word and Excel are the most important ones (Along with using email). You don't need a qualification but it may help slightly.
What level qualifications has she got? She could consider something like an NVQ in administration but it depends on her previous qualifications and I'm not sure if there is an age barrier.
She could consider temping for various agencies, although obviously the hours are not guaranteed for this.
She presumably has great customer service skills (which she should really sell) which would stand her in good stead for a receptionist role, from there should could try and step into an admin role?
Does she have any free time to do any work experience/temping etc at the moment so she can build her experience up?
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Polarbeary

Good advise above!

https://www.vision2learn.net/courses do free (funded by the government, depending on area) courses which will get your girlfriend a level 2 certificate. There is a Business and Admin one. I did this to put on my CV even though I was employed as a PA at the time! They also do IT ones.

Temping is always a route - if she can get a long term position, say 3 months, that may open doors. Once she has completed a contract and got good feedback she may either be extended or offered other temping work. Of course, it's not guaranteed.

Reception work could be a way in to a more general admin/PA role.

The NHS is a good place to start. She could join a hospital's admin bank and many people can get full time work from this and then become permanent but I should stress that it's a zero hours contract on the bank and not guaranteed.

There always seem to be NHS perm jobs going though. She could start as a band 2 outpatients clerk/ward clerk with her customer service skills and then progress to say a band 3 or band 4 medical secretary/admin co-coordinator role. They pay isn't brilliant but more than retail and after getting good experience in the NHS she could go onto other companies.

I would advise her to put her IT skills on her CV. Can she use Microsoft packages? To what level? Typing speed? Your girlfriend should also stress any admin skills at her current role. Can she take on any extra paperwork tasks?

If all else fails, back to the NHS! They often need "admin volunteers." Two hours a week say, possibly an evening where she could help out making up packs for patients, assisting patients at the reception desk, printing, running errands etc. If she does that well for 6 months she will get a reference when she applies for full time admin roles.

Longer term, what is her plan? I don't know where you live but in London especially, there are many roles, paying quite well for more experienced job-hunters. PA/senior secretary/executive assistant, office manager, senior administrator etc.

PenguinOfDeath

I was in a similar position a few years ago, although I mange to get an NVQ qualification through work. I got a temp job in the civil service and that set me on course for admin/office work for a while