The Administrative Profession
The Administrative Profession
The administrative profession is vast, covering areas such as business, public, legal, and office administration. Administration is a basic function in almost any business, that’s why recruiters will always have positions available for qualified candidates in this field. Administrative posts are quite well paid compared to other positions in most organisations, and it’s been predicted that there will be upwards rise of 9% growth in the administrative sector between 2022 and 2032 as new businesses are formed and corporations continue to expand
Administration involves the efficient organisation of people, information, and other resources to achieve an organisations aims and keep it running efficiently. An administrator is responsible for the effective running of their office or department, and in a wider context is responsible for effectuating the efficient running of their business or organisation as a whole. Administration covers duties including filing and filling out paperwork and online forms, compiling briefs and reports, drafting letters, composing emails, data entry, telephony duties, managing dairies, scheduling meeting rooms and appointments, making travel arrangements, managing incoming and outgoing post, and other ad-hoc duties as may be required. While certain jobs in the administrative field can also be likened to secretarial roles, others can be likened more to managerial positions, and duties between the two can sometimes overlap. Office roles, and administrative roles in particular, can be very demanding, although there is typically good job satisfaction and a low turnover rate in this profession. The average salary for a basic administrative position depends on the company as well as the area in which you live, as well as of course on the specific nature of the administrative role in question. Salaries usually start between the £17,00 to the £24,000, and will normally increase over time with time spent in the role
While you should always refer to the requirements of the job description in the first instance, there are a few skills that have been proven to be highly effective in this field. The 5 skills outlined here have been identified through surveys and corporate consultation as being 5 of the most important abilities a person can have in the administrative profession:
Ability to Multi-task – This skill is a highly sought after one as most administrative roles require an intermediate to high level of multi-tasking. As a competency this skill is associated with the majority of office-based roles, and in an administrative capacity it is centered around the completion and delegation of tasks, along with the broader administrative oversight that certain types of administrative roles entail
Time management – The multi-tasking of intraoffice tasks requires effective time management. Knowing how and when to delegate time for each task not only helps you execute your tasks much more effectively, but is generally regarded as helping you accomplish more over the course of a typical workday as well. That’s why effective time management was identified over other office skills as being among one of the top 5 most important qualities an administrator can have
Organisation – Administrative positions revolve around different functions and tasks, many of which are performed much more quickly and effectively when proper organisation is utilised. For the types of roles and challenges that the administrator faces, good organisation is one of the first things identified when it comes to performing tasks efficiently in this profession. It’s generally regarded that with good organisation an administrator will perform their job much more reliably while at the same time reducing the time they spend performing each individual task
Planning – Proper planning is very important in any office-based role, and this is especially true of administrative roles that require delegation of duties or administrative oversight. Good planning not only helps an organisation run more effectively, but it also helps you become more efficient in the execution of your tasks as well. The element of planning can further be broken down into the subcategories of short-range and long-range planning:
Short range planning – involves the less complex everyday tasks associated with administrative functions
Long range planning – is associated with an organisations macro-level policies and core objectives. However most planning that is done in an administrative role falls under the bracket of short-range planning
Communicative Skills – This is a common skill that is listed in many job requirements. It’s a little known fact that only 7% of communication is verbal, the rest is non-verbal, and that includes written communication. Communication is a very basic human skill, and it is something the interviewer will intuitively be observing and evaluating you on while you’re talking with them. Employers and recruiters usually emphasize effective communication as one of the most commonly sought after traits within the workplace. It is a skill particularly looked at in higher level administrative roles that involve decision making and administrative oversight
Under the umbrella of administration there are 4 main branches:
- Office administration
- Business administration
- Legal administration
- Public administration
Each area is an administrative field in its own right, and each differs vastly from the other in terms of the jobs available and qualificational standards required for each. Of the 4, office administration is the most common and widely practiced branch of the administrative family
Office administration
Office administration is typically performed by administrative assistants and office administrators. Most office administrator posts will usually require a 4-year degree in areas such as office administration, although you can get into some office administrative posts with as little as a 1 or 2 year diploma. While the work they do is regarded as quite perfunctionary by many, and while the profession itself is regarded as less glamorous than many other types of professions, like almost any other job it can nevertheless still be quite demanding. An office administrator may have numerous people they report to or have tasks to complete for within their department. Inspite of these things, office administrative roles are usually straightforward and stable. The exact duties you will perform as an office administrator will of course depend on the market or field of the company you work for as well as on the specific department you work in. Basic admin duties can include things like telephony duties, note-taking or relaying messages, sending and organizing mail, filling out forms, e-forms and completing other documentation, as well as using programs like word, spreadsheet, or other in-house systems. And, if in a customer facing role, additional functions may include things like meeting and interacting with members of the public or client base. Although office admin roles may be regarded as less glamourous, the roles themselves can be more secure and the pay is quite good compared to a lot of other positions in an organisation
Business administration
Business administration is a wide field that incorporates many types of administrative management positions. In this field, the term ‘administration’ connotates a broader management function. To get into this field you’ll typically need a 4-year degree in a relevant field such as business administration or similarly related area.
What business administration entails is the effective managing of the operations in a business or non-profit organization in a way that promotes both stability while at the same time allows that business to continue to grow. In a business administration role, you will be expected to lead, control, and organize the macrolevel functions of your company’s operations. Duties may include things like recruiting for new staff or retaining additional products or services that your company requires, closing business deals on behalf of your company, performing public relations services or after sales care duties, and more…That’s why developing a working knowledge of your companies customer base and its competitors and employing this knowledge in a way that helps your employer promote better practices and decision making policies is also an integral part of many business administration roles as well
Administrative law
Administrative law (or Legal administration) is also another one of the main branches of the administrative family. This field revolves heavily around corporate and governmental work that involves legislation, adjudication, and enforcement of laws and regulations. People who typically work in this field include lawyers, legislators, and other personnel working in support roles within this profession, a paralegal is one such example of this
Administrative law is a highly specialised branch within the administrative family.
As such, people who work in this profession are normally all highly qualified, and will hold either graduate or undergraduate degrees in areas such as law, business and law, criminology, law and economics, or legal studies, to name but a few. The function of the legal administrative field can itself be summarized as being one that’s there to ensure a reliable facilitation of services throughout the legal profession, sometimes by helping to identify and develop new business opportunities, sometimes by providing legal services, or sometimes by drafting legislative framework. The role of anyone working in the administrative law profession nowadays will also revolve extensively around software based applications, and as such, on top of your regular duties, not only can you expect to find yourself working with spreadsheets designed for things like accountancy and appointment management, but you can also expect to be dealing with things like personnel management, on top of more conventional administrative duties such as filing documents and filling out forms. Additionally, depending on the type of role you perform within this profession, other duties you might expect to perform include things such as research, investigations into different types of legal codes, and the examination of ethical considerations and legal documents amongst other things…
Public Administration
The last branch of the administration family is public administration.
Public administration is a very expansive job field, and not only are there numerous choices for potential roles to get into, but it’s a field that provides great job security in which there is also plenty of opportunity for advancement. Public administration involves jobs exclusively within the government sector. The different roles available in public administration sector include jobs where you could be doing things like conducting safety inspections, performing audits, budget examining, urban planning, education administration, performing civil service duties, conducting resource and people management, and so much more… Out of all the administrative branches, public administration is the branch that is generally regarded as the most difficult to get into. That’s because in public administration the focus is more on experience rather than education, and it’s also one of the reasons why in this field it’s important to be very specific when interviewing for roles within this sector, giving very specific answers about the reasons you want the job and what you hope to achieve should you get it. And although experience tends to be highly prioritized over education in this sector, having an education is nevertheless still important and a graduate or undergraduate degree in areas such as accountancy, finance, architecture, political science, and public administration, will often be required for most types of roles within the public administrative sector