Wanting to switch careers & do admin, what skills would I need to be good the role? 11 May 2022 at 5:59PM in Employment, jobseeking & training 14 replies 503 views

accidentalglixch

I haven't had too much experience with an admin role but I would like to look for an Admin job as this seems to be more flexible for me - as discussed with a Job Agency as I am desperate to leave my current role.

The experience I do have

• Using multiple systems to track, document, and troubleshoot problems

• Self-managed with little supervision

• Updating all relevant records on a daily and weekly basis

• Strong communication skills when speaking to colleagues and support teams

• Organised and sorted incoming mail

• Responded to calls and emails

Experience I have but may need work on

• I have basic knowledge of Google documents

• Have basic knowledge MS Teams, Microsoft office

• Almost 3 years in call center

• Fluent in English

• Can type pretty fast but maybe I can work on this too or learn touch type?

• Kind, friendly, outgoing

• Love to help people

• Not too clued up on ins & outs of Outlook / Gmail

What other skills do I need or what should I work/improve on?

Jillanddy

We wouldn't employ anyone without a good knowledge of Office and Teams,  even at entry level. Even entry level admin is now often graduates with fairly high level skills. This is public sector. If you're serious then you should improve your handling of Microsoft Office and definitely Outlook, and preferably Teams too. The only other option would be entering as an apprentice, but you'd be competing against 16 and 17 year old who are very computer savvy. 

Marcon

accidentalglixch said:

I haven't had too much experience with an admin role but I would like to look for an Admin job as this seems to be more flexible for me - as discussed with a Job Agency as I am desperate to leave my current role.

The experience I do have

• Using multiple systems to track, document, and troubleshoot problems

• Self-managed with little supervision

• Updating all relevant records on a daily and weekly basis

• Strong communication skills when speaking to colleagues and support teams

• Organised and sorted incoming mail

• Responded to calls and emails

Experience I have but may need work on

• I have basic knowledge of Google documents

• Have basic knowledge MS Teams, Microsoft office

• Almost 3 years in call center

• Fluent in English

• Can type pretty fast but maybe I can work on this too or learn touch type?

• Kind, friendly, outgoing

• Love to help people

• Not too clued up on ins & outs of Outlook / Gmail

What other skills do I need or what should I work/improve on?

An eye for detail would help - you have various words missed out (I'll leave you to spot them!) which makes your post less than perfect in terms of grammar...

Basic IT knowledge isn't nearly enough these days. You need a strong command of the common packages, especially Word, Excel and Powerpoint. Google on 'free online Office courses' and you'll get lots of options.

How fast is 'pretty fast' in terms of keyboard skills? Always good to improve speed and accuracy.

Admin covers a vast range of skills and tasks. If you can narrow down what you think you'd enjoy - or if that's not possible because you've never done much admin, think about what you are pretty certain you don't want to do.

Useful info here: https://www.reed.co.uk/career-advice/five-administrative-skills-employers-really-want/  Reed's website has masses of free courses which might be useful.

Good luck!

Ath_Wat

Attention to detail would be one skill you need to be good the role.

DE_612183

get an microsoft office qualification - you can get some courses free and you get a qualification

Own_Worst_Enermy

Learn to touch type. Definitely. Even in an accounts environment I was like wow, they would have hammered my past role in doing tickets.

Learn how to look busy (just based on my experience of the private sector is an office worker must spend a number of hours of the day with nothing to do).

If older, you will have to be prepared to be a girl Friday and deal with the resentment of people who claim they don’t need you around taking their part-time work which they do in full-time hours as it is.

Yes you are really best learning about gmail and outlook as suspected - after 2 years with businesses using gmail, I learnt a few tricks about outlook that would have been expected but truly new things to me. I’d once shown someone very experienced in their role, who didn’t know how to recall a message in outlook one time and were quite grateful for the share, but my latest experience just brought home how fast things change.

Jillanddy

Own_Worst_Enermy said:

Learn to touch type. Definitely. Even in an accounts environment I was like wow, they would have hammered my past role in doing tickets.

Learn how to look busy (just based on my experience of the private sector is an office worker must spend a number of hours of the day with nothing to do).

If older, you will have to be prepared to be a girl Friday and deal with the resentment of people who claim they don’t need you around taking their part-time work which they do in full-time hours as it is.

Yes you are really best learning about gmail and outlook as suspected - after 2 years with businesses using gmail, I learnt a few tricks about outlook that would have been expected but truly new things to me. I’d once shown someone very experienced in their role, who didn’t know how to recall a message in outlook one time and were quite grateful for the share, but my latest experience just brought home how fast things change.

It is highly unlikely that someone with fibromyalgia will find touch typing that easy.  There are many alternatives in software now to support people,  but that requires an appropriate assessment.

No serious employer would touch Gmail.

Any half way decent manager knows how to spot someone pretending to work.  

OP, you should perhaps consider this posters posting history,  which tends to suggest they have never held down any job for more than a few weeks.  Given what they have just advised you to do,  I am not entirely surprised. Nobody,  absolutely nobody,  I have ever managed has had a number of daily hours with nothing to do.  There have certainly been a couple over the decades who thought they could get away with doing nothing and I wouldn't notice.  They didn't last long in their jobs.  

Diamandis

Without having relevant experience you're pretty unlikely to find a job working from home in administration. There is a lot of competition for jobs like that. 

74jax

As someone who has worked at Executive Level in operations of a huge company, I've hired many administrators.
I would suggest learning the Microsoft Suite pretty well, do online courses (plenty free) to learn the basics, then learn Advanced level status. To go in at entry level, you won't need Expert but will need Advanced.  Learn simple things in Word like mail merge (will save so much time) and shortcuts. In Excel learn look ups for the same reason.
If you are looking to be remote, learn Sharepoint and the difference between sharing editing rights in the cloud and just sharing a non changeable document (will save so much hassle in the long run). 
Personally I wouldn't learn Gmail as suggested further up, but learn Outlook. Learn how to color code emails, automatically cift incoming emails (to save you time and to highlight those emails from the boss).
Administrators are BUSY, don't think you have hours spare (unless you don't mind changing jobs every months). Learn to multitask, time manage and prioritise. Look at online courses, even free, and make sure you list these skills. 

theoretica

You don't mention finances - our administrators do a lot intermediate between the finance department and the rest of the organisation. 

Spreadsheets - lots!

General_Grant

Own_Worst_Enermy said:

Learn to touch type. Definitely. Even in an accounts environment I was like wow, they would have hammered my past role in doing tickets.

Learn how to look busy (just based on my experience of the private sector is an office worker must spend a number of hours of the day with nothing to do).

If older, you will have to be prepared to be a girl Friday and deal with the resentment of people who claim they don’t need you around taking their part-time work which they do in full-time hours as it is.

Yes you are really best learning about gmail and outlook as suspected - after 2 years with businesses using gmail, I learnt a few tricks about outlook that would have been expected but truly new things to me. I’d once shown someone very experienced in their role, who didn’t know how to recall a message in outlook one time and were quite grateful for the share, but my latest experience just brought home how fast things change.

I hope they didn't rely on that actually working to take it out of the recipient's inbox.