Sick of office work and being a glorified secretary

missbiggles1

greenbee wrote: »

I've got one of those. Totally useless

Although obviously the process of studying for your degree gives you research and analysis skills and an ability to write coherently.

Think about your skills rather than your knowledge. What are you good at? What are you interested in? What do you enjoy? Ideally you would look for something you are good at and enjoy... but there might be things you enjoy but aren't good at which you could think about developing to help improve your options.

So if you enjoyed the research and analysis aspects of your degree, then maybe look for a research role. Ideally in something you have an interest in and knowledge/experience of.

Do you speak any languages? Those always improve opportunities, so if so, maybe spend some time getting them up to interview standard (we interview anyone who says they speak another language in that language as well as English).

Use your network too. Get your linkedin profile up to date (including interests, as a career change means these are more important) and start connecting with people as the more visible you are the more recruiters you are likely to find contacting you.

If you want to improve presentation skills, try something like Toastmasters.

So've I. Served me well as an entry into graduate careers (not teaching English) for over 30 years.

Polarbeary

DKLS wrote: »

What level of PA?, there are various levels of PA and duties, some of them can get very interesting, usually indicated by salary, from the companies who don't know what a PA is and pay 16-25k, those that value PAs up to 40k and this that earn 50k++

Mid level I guess. 32k at the bottom of the pay scale and a one to one role. Most of it it just diary management and travel booking. But it's a quiet job. I do offer to help other PAs out and then I just get a load of photocopying or binding to do. There's not really a lot of scope to move up. There are a few executive assistant roles at the next band up but they are few and far between.

If I was perm I could in theory be sponsored to do professional courses like project management or compliance and move into an analyst role but that doesn't interest me as it's just more office work.

I try to make the most of working from home when I can.

In the back of my mind is the issue that as time goes on, secretarial and admin roles are more likely to be automated or outsourced. I went to an interview at one of the Big 4 firms and they are having a trial of having a few secretaries based in India, supporting UK partners...

greenbee

missbiggles1 wrote: »

So've I. Served me well as an entry into graduate careers (not teaching English) for over 30 years.

If you read the rest of the post, hopefully you'll have seen that this was intended to be slightly tongue in cheek...

The subject itself isn't helpful in choosing a career, but the skills are.

That said, for many roles we're now looking for degree/equivalent or experience. And focusing for skills and soft skills as subject matter expertise can be taught to someone with the right skill set. In many cases we're finding that graduates aren't necessarily performing as well on the selection criteria as others.

For analytical roles though, we do still require degree-level education as this is generally where these skills are developed.

Then again, I'm recruiting for diversity rather than trying to find a whole lot of people who think the same way.

The point is that the OP should try to look at her CV differently. What skills does she have, regardless of context? Then think about what they might be useful for.

(I could really, really do with someone with travel arranging skills... it seems to take half my time just getting people to tell me what the schedule is so I can get it booked.!

Double_V

I love working in an office.
I work in an admin but ideally I would love to work in HR department.

DKLS

Polarbeary wrote: »

Mid level I guess. 32k at the bottom of the pay scale and a one to one role. Most of it it just diary management and travel booking. But it's a quiet job. I do offer to help other PAs out and then I just get a load of photocopying or binding to do. There's not really a lot of scope to move up. There are a few executive assistant roles at the next band up but they are few and far between.

If I was perm I could in theory be sponsored to do professional courses like project management or compliance and move into an analyst role but that doesn't interest me as it's just more office work.

I try to make the most of working from home when I can.

In the back of my mind is the issue that as time goes on, secretarial and admin roles are more likely to be automated or outsourced. I went to an interview at one of the Big 4 firms and they are having a trial of having a few secretaries based in India, supporting UK partners...

Keep looking am sure there is a more interesting and fulfilling role out there.

My wife spotted a role recently, advertised at 80k plus package and bonus but was one of those roles were your life wouldn't be your own, it was looking after him, his family and business interests, as well as managing his international properties and boats, my wife said amazing job but for someone with little or no ties.

greenbee

DKLS wrote: »

Keep looking am sure there is a more interesting and fulfilling role out there.

My wife spotted a role recently, advertised at 80k plus package and bonus but was one of those roles were your life wouldn't be your own, it was looking after him, his family and business interests, as well as managing his international properties and boats, my wife said amazing job but for someone with little or no ties.

I saw one about 15 years ago where it pretty much said you had to have no life... and also to be able to ski, sail (Yachtmaster), dive, fly small planes and helicopters. Oh, and drive and type.

flea72

I went from PA to Radiographer. Yes initially it was a pay drop (unsocial enhancement means you actually earn more than the baseline figures, and theres always OT). But within 18-24m you can be Band 6, so you aren't stuck at 21k, longterm

Not sure what you expected to achieve from the Masters. If you want to do healthcare, then getting the practcial experience is more important than the grades/qualification. I cant think of any healthcare roles where you would go in at Band7 (which is what the masters translates to). Most people i know, did the masters alongside their dept role, as a step into teaching/management, within their chosen field.

You definitely dont go into healthcare for the earning opportunities, you need to have an apptitude/calling for it and accept you do a job you love, for a reasonable amount of money

Sncjw

When I was applying for uni I was advised to know what course I wanted to do because putting multiple courses down can make it look like your not sure what you want to do. They will think you haven't thought it through. I would say the same if your applying for another healthcare course and you have completed something in a different field

Sncjw

If you do radiography you need a strong physics background.

I very much doubt you will get a research role in the NHS from just walking in. They would ideally like experience in that field and also you would need to know all about the area your researching on.


Also say a nursing researcher well you would need certain qualifications in maybe the treatments given as a lot of research nurses give treatments. They would also like you to have a vast experience in the area.

Polarbeary

flea72 wrote: »

I went from PA to Radiographer. Yes initially it was a pay drop (unsocial enhancement means you actually earn more than the baseline figures, and theres always OT). But within 18-24m you can be Band 6, so you aren't stuck at 21k, longterm

Not sure what you expected to achieve from the Masters. If you want to do healthcare, then getting the practcial experience is more important than the grades/qualification. I cant think of any healthcare roles where you would go in at Band7 (which is what the masters translates to). Most people i know, did the masters alongside their dept role, as a step into teaching/management, within their chosen field.

You definitely dont go into healthcare for the earning opportunities, you need to have an apptitude/calling for it and accept you do a job you love, for a reasonable amount of money

Thanks for the reply. Some healthcare courses like OT have a Masters option where if you have a first degree you can do a direct entry 2 year Masters, still joining as a newly qualified OT on bottom of band 5.