I’d like to move to a role in admin – but don’t know how to get started
I’m in my mid-20s and feel stuck in the customer service industry. I have no interest in progressing into management where I am. I’m quite methodical and would really like to move into admin, but I can’t find any jobs where you don’t need experience.
At the moment I work in a pub, so changing shift patterns make it impossible to take a regular voluntary position for a while to gain experience that way. It’s been suggested than I try temping to get the experience, but I need the security of a regular wage.
Is it worth getting the ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence – a training course that equips students with the skills to use a computer confidently and effectively)? How do I get out of the customer service black hole?
Jeremy says
Let me start with the ECDL. It’s more than a training course – more importantly, it’s a widely recognised certificate of competence in the use of computers. If you already possess such skills, you can apply immediately to take the necessary tests. For anyone looking for an admin job these days, basic computer skills are absolutely essential and the ECDL can provide useful evidence on your CV that you possess them.
You talk about moving into admin as if admin were a discrete discipline, but it’s not, really. All activities require administrative support and the nature of those activities has a significant effect on the kind of support required. To work in admin in a large legal office, for example, though having certain functions in common, will undoubtedly feel different – and deliver different satisfactions – from working in a small graphic design company.
I suggest that your starting point should be shortlisting the kinds of trades, the kinds of companies and the kinds of activities that you feel fairly sure you’d be comfortable working in – not as a frontline practitioner, but as someone giving valued admin support. Where are your interests and enthusiasms? If the world of fashion intrigues you, and you know you’ll never be a fashion designer, to be a competent and valued administrator in a fashion house could be rewarding.
Once you have the basic qualifications, and have identified your most appealing prospects, don’t wait for situations to be advertised as vacant. Construct the most convincing advertisement for yourself, tailor-made for each prospect, explaining exactly why you believe you could be of real value, and approach potential employers directly. Then be prepared to be endlessly patient and persistent. The results won’t be immediate, but it should eventually work.
Readers say
• They made me do the ECDL during my first year at university. Unless it’s changed since then it was extremely basic. Plus, the middle-aged women who make up most of administration are not overly computer literate. Being able to create a zip folder means I’m the go-to “techie guy” in the office. FatherChewyLouie
• Have you thought about asking the landlord of the pub if you can assist with the admin there? There is quite a bit that happens behind the scenes to keep the place running: cash-handling, ordering, rostering, HR issues. elevensix
• My partner worked in a supermarket cafe for six years. She now works as a marketing exec. What she did was a certified course in Microsoft Office products; some voluntary work in business (eg data entry); kept learning and applying skills. millionsofopinions
I love having a fellowship but don’t have job security
I’m fortunate to have my dream job as a research fellow at a prestigious university. The position entails the ideal mix of my own research, running a small research group and some teaching. I love my colleagues and get great day-to-day job satisfaction. The position is funded by a large external grant from a national funding agency, which I had to compete to get, and secures my position for the next five years.
Most universities promise fellows with such funding permanent tenure as long as they fulfil some basic criteria by the end of that period. However, mine requests that I get an additional fellowship to secure tenure, which seems a vanishingly small chance.
My decision is between staying where I am in a job that I love, but potentially without any security, or taking my fellowship elsewhere – which may or may not be as good, but may guarantee job security in a somewhat cut-throat profession. Do you have any advice?
Jeremy says
Your present situation seems altogether too satisfactory for you to abandon it before you need to. To secure tenure, your current university requests that you get an additional fellowship – though you don’t say by when. I’ve no idea how long this might take you, but it’s unlikely to be more than a couple of years. You say that your current position is secure for the next five years, so I would certainly decide against taking any drastic decision for the next three. A lot can happen in that time. Your current university could change its policy, other universities could become more attractive and it’s not impossible that, by then, even your interests and enthusiasms might have taken a slightly different course.
Finally, I suspect you should be a little more confident about your prospects than you seem to be if, indeed, your existing tenure comes to an end in five years’ time. By then, you should presumably have a pretty impressive record, gained at a prestigious university, and be an attractive prospect for many other institutions. It’s possible to be so over-concerned about job security that you limit your freedom to take advantage of change and opportunity.
Unless I’ve missed something important, you should continue to enjoy your work and your colleagues for the foreseeable future – and make critical decisions only when you absolutely need to.
Readers say
• You should be applying for permanent posts elsewhere at the same time as you apply for further fellowship funding. Jobs and funding are both so painfully scarce in academia now that your chances of getting either are probably about equal. Accept the fact that no matter how much you love your current institution, institutions will never love you back. zainabadi
• Rule of thumb: if you love your job don’t leave it unless you really have to. HorseshoeMan
• If you move, it will be a massive hit on your lab on a personal level and in terms of productivity. Presumably if you move and get tenure you’ll still be expected to apply for your own funding, but you’ll waste much of your first year setting up your new lab, recruiting vacant positions etc. It’s better to focus on being as productive as possible in your lab to put you in the best possible position to gain more funding. Don’t underestimate how much the prestige of the university will attract funding – partly through bias, but partly through picking up best practice. Success breeds success. MinorSwing
Do you need advice on a work issue? For Jeremy’s and readers’ help, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@theguardian.com. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or to reply personally.
