How to get started in an Office Support /Admin Career in Cork – Pitman Training Career Plan Q & A Series
Office support roles are required at every level in an organisation, from reception and general administration to secretarial, office management and personal assistant.
From a personality point of view it is essential to have strong interpersonal skills for working well within a team and if you are customer facing, along with excellent organisational skills.
In terms of professional skills needed, strong Microsoft Office and typing skills are needed along with good business communication. Additional skills which are often to your advantage would be accounting, bookkeeping or event management skills.
Read on for some commonly asked questions and answers about these careers and hopefully you will be armed with the knowledge you need to make your decision about venturing down this path!
Q What qualifications would you need?
A While you won’t need a university degree, you will need foundation qualifications such as a Diploma to get started. Highly regarded courses in Cork such as the Secretarial Diploma, Administrative Assistant Diploma or Receptionist Diploma with Pitman Training are widely recognised in Industry throughout Ireland.
Q What types of salaries are you look at?
A The average salary in Cork for Office Admin and Support staff is currently €25,721 annually or €10.56 hourly rate. Salary range rises once years of experience rise along with any specialist skills acquired such as in accounts, marketing or legal.
Q What does your average day look like?
A General job descriptions for office support workers are performing routine office support and administrative tasks such as drafting correspondence, scheduling appointments, calendar management, file and document management, taking meeting minutes, phone calls, sending emails, client support and customer service. The roles vary immensely depending on the type of organisation. Secretaries and Receptionists for example are often known as the face of the company as they are the first ones to meet and greet prospective clients.
Q What is the Cork jobs market currently like for office support and admin jobs?
A With employment on the rise across all sectors in 2018, office support and administration is certainly no different. Examples in the past few days alone for jobs in Cork being advertised are these Company Secretary, Office Assistant, Word Processor, Personal Assistant and Legal Secretary roles. Demand for professional and well qualified office staff will most certainly always be high.
Q Is work experience or volunteer work a good idea?
A If you have no prior office work experience or office skills from a previous job, then it is an excellent idea to volunteer in an office setting. Work experience combined with your formal training certification will certainly give you the best chance when searching for a job.
Q What is the opportunity for Career Progression?
A Starting off in this career is an excellent all round foundation for learning about business in general. There are several specialities one can focus on gaining experience in as interest blossoms in a particular subject, such as Human Resources and Payroll, Bookkeeping, Digital Marketing and Social Media, Legal Secretary, Office Management and Executive Assistant. Along with more advanced training such as these to add to your skills, there are many different avenues and lots of career opportunities along the way.
Educational Training centres such as Pitman Training are regularly contacted by businesses looking for secretarial and office administration graduates to place in either a work experience setting or indeed with a view to interviewing for a paid position. If you are looking for career advice about jobs and training in these areas, one of the best steps you can take is to check out your local Pitman Training centre.
We offer over 400 flexible learning, full and part-time Cork courses in a wide range of subjects from IT, Technical training courses, Programming to Web Design, Management courses, Digital Marketing, Accounting, Event Management, Medical Secretarial and Legal Secretary training.
Contact us on 021 484 9989 /FREEPHONE 1800 532 632, email cork@pitman-training.ie or WhatsApp/SMS 086 739 9557.
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