Administrative Assistant: Job Profile and Role

An administrative assistant’s main job is to handle all communication in a company or organisation. Answering the phones and replying to emails are all part of the job description. Besides, an admin assistant is tasked with a bunch of administrative jobs, ranging from managing financial, legal, and HR matters. 

These are some of the daily tasks waiting for you if the job of an administrative assistant is an interesting career option for you. In the following blog, you will find out more about this profession, such as the required qualifications, education, and skills. Besides, you will get insights into your working day as well as tips for your continuous professional development and thriving. Naturally, we will also let you know what annual salaries to expect and where to apply for a job.

Short Summary

• As an administrative assistant, you are responsible for handling all incoming and outgoing communication, ranging from answering calls to replying to emails.
• As an administrative assistant, you are tasked with handling all travel arrangements for your employer, including booking flights and accommodation and dealing with and filing the related monetary transactions.
• As an administrative assistant, you may be asked to work alongside HR or the financial department of your company where you are assisting with employee-related matters like job interviews and payrolls.

Job description

As an administrative assistant in the UK, you are tasked with a multitude of responsibilities and jobs. First and foremost, you are in charge of all incoming and outgoing communication, be it phone calls, emails, or video calls. Besides, you are responsible for providing excellent customer service since sometimes, you may be the first person potential clients and employees meet and see first. As an admin assistant, you also support your more senior colleague when it comes to handling financial aspects like billing and invoices as well as making travel and other business arrangements for your employer. Moreover, your responsibilities can include assisting HR when it comes to job interviews and the employees’ payrolls.

Responsibilities

• Research
• Customer Service
• Office Management
• Travel Arrangements
• Meeting Coordination
• Filing/Record Keeping
• Answering Calls/Emails
• Financial Administration
• Data Entry/Management
• Correspondence Handling

Different types of Administrative Assistants

• Administrative Coordinator
• Executive Assistant
• Personal Assistant
• Virtual Assistant
• Legal Secretary

Salary

With full-time employment, you can expect a starting salary for administrative assistants in the UK of around ￡19,000. With work experience, your annual wages can slowly increase to around ￡29,000. Keep in mind that your employment type and work experience are by no means the only factors affecting your annual salary. Typically, your employer/the company size and your location will have a say as well. Besides, bonuses and benefits programs, such as health insurance coverage and pension plans, can further (and positively) affect your annual wages as an administrative assistant in the UK.

Working Hours

Your working hours as an administrative assistant will be between 35 and 40 hours a week. In general, you will work from 8 or 9 a.m. to around 5 or 6 p.m., with the occasion later finish. Depending on your contract and the accumulating tasks and deadlines, you may be asked to work weekends. Also, you should factor in time for training and the occasional travelling in case you are asked to accompany your employer to an important (international) business meeting.

Employers

Your future employment can be found in different sectors and organisations. For example, you may end up working for an educational institution like a school or university. Equally, you can look for a vacancy in the financial, medical, or legal sector. In short: administrative assistant positions tend to be available in any company that has an in-house admin department.

Qualifications

Software skills in administration, time management, and payroll systems will be an important competency to have in admin assistance. Besides, you should have successfully finished your secondary education. Depending on your educational approach, you will need two or more GCASEs at pass grades 9 to 3 (A* to D) or four to five GCSEs at pass grades 9 to 4 )A* to C). This way, you are qualified to start and finish a college course or an apprenticeship. Note that your GCSEs must include English and maths as well as IT.

Skills

Strong customer skills, excellent verbal communication skills, and above-average organisational skills are only three of the most needed competencies when working in admin assistance. Please carefully check each job post for the required skills before applying. This way, you ensure that you have all it takes to be invited to a successful job interview. For now, let’s take a closer look at three more skills that will benefit you in administrative assistance.

Presentation Skills

When working in administrative assistance, you will be asked to prepare and deliver presentations. And if not that, you will be in charge of preparing presentations that will later on be delivered by either employees or your company’s managers or directors. Therefore, strong presentation skills are a valuable asset to have. They enable you to work efficiently with PowerPoint and also give you the knowledge and the eye to create a visually compelling and easy-to-understand presentation.

Written Communication Skills

Besides excellent verbal communication skills, you also need to be a master of written communication. After all, you will deal with written correspondence like emails. And you are also in charge of drafting emails and, this way, corresponding with travel/hospitality/flight agencies when handling travel and business arrangements. Whatever your written correspondence is – it is always important to maintain professional conduct and to hit just the right note for the person at the other end of an email.

Team Working Skills

As an admin assistant, you are anything but a one-man or one-woman show. The “assistant” part of your job description hints at the fact that you work as a vital support in office administration. Therefore, you need to be a conscientious and strong team player. Establishing and maintaining an excellent rapport with your colleagues will open career doors for you. Nevertheless, you should still also be able to work on your own and not be afraid to make decisions and perform vital tasks.

The Power of Saying “No”

“No” is, without a doubt, one of the most powerful words in any dictionary. At the same time, it is one of the most difficult – that also applies to an assistant job. After all, you are there to learn and people sort of expect you to follow their orders. That does not, however, mean that you should not say “no” every once in a while. What may not go down well with your colleagues and superiors is nevertheless very important. It shows that you are not a pushover and that – on the contrary – you know your own mind and can stand up for yourself. This is a very beneficial asset to have if you want to pursue a successful career in admin.

Career Path

Being ambitious and – to a certain extent – career-driven can get you far after you have worked as an assistant in administration. Bolster your drive with further training and the appropriate qualifications and certifications, and there is absolutely no reason why one of the following jobs should not be within your reach: the role of a supervisor, specialising in your chosen admin field, such as legal, medical, or financial, and/or the role of an office manager or even director.

Educational Background

You are not required to have an academic/university background. The most common approaches to the career of an administrative assistant are doing a college course or an apprenticeship. Equally, you can work towards this role or apply directly to the job of an administrative assistant. Keep in mind that some form of education will go a long way towards securing your perfect job. Most employers prefer job candidates who have finished a college course or an apprenticeship. Let’s take a look at some of your options.

College Course

If you want to pursue your future career by completing a college course, you can look into the following:

• Level 2 or 3 Business and Administration
• T Level in Management and Administration
• Level 2 International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL)

Apprenticeship

Should you decide on an apprenticeship, you will have the advantage of gaining practical experience and insights. Some appropriate options are the following:

• Advanced Apprenticeship as a Business Administrator
• Advanced Apprenticeship as a Legal Administrator
• Higher-Level Business Administrator Apprenticeship

Entry Level

Assistant jobs are always entry-level positions that can lead to more senior and/or managerial roles. Generally, there is no set time frame defining the length of an entry-level job. As a rule, you can expect to stay in the assistant role for about 12 months, give or take a few either way. Here, you may not be trusted with the most important tasks, but you will learn the ropes and industry tricks to support your quest for promotion further down the line.

Continuous Learning

If you are lucky, your future employer will encourage you to partake in further training to earn the most necessary qualifications and certifications. If not, you should still be motivated to earn these under your own steam. As an administrative assistant, one of your first ports of call should be City & Guilds. They offer a range of qualifications, among which are the following:

• Business and Professional Administration (Level 4)
• Assistant Practitioners (Level 5)
• Medical Administration (Level 5)

Here, you can also enquire about apprenticeships and T levels, such as the T Level Technical Qualification in Management and Administration.

Similar qualifications can be found with The Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland and LCCI Qualifications.

A Day in the Life of an Administrative Assistant

You already know that checking your inboxes and your office phone’s answering machine are some of the first jobs you perform daily. Besides, there – naturally – are a lot more jobs that require your attention every day. In this section, we take a closer look at three of those tasks that await you in your admin assistant’s day.

Prepare Meeting Materials

Office and business meetings will take place regularly. And it is one of your jobs to prepare them. This can include anything from agendas to handouts to the participants, and presentations – either as a handout or as PowerPoint. Besides, you are in charge of preparing the meeting room. Here, you make sure that everything is in place, including refreshments like water, coffee, and nibbles.

Data Entry Assistance

Whichever tasks need performing or have been performed in the course of a working day: after all is done and dusted, you will assist in updating all related data entries. Be it Excel spreadsheets or other databases – it falls under your responsibility to ensure that all numbers are correct. This also means that you make the appropriate adjustments and updates if and where needed.

Attend Team Meetings

Team meetings are not dissimilar to the business meetings you are preparing. One of the main differences is that here, you will likely be an active participant, whereas business meetings “only” require you to take the minutes. However, team meetings require the taking of notes as well – of course, always with your input. After the team meeting is over, you need to polish your minutes, meaning that you spend some time drafting the according document and maybe even email it to the other participants.

Tips for Thriving as an Administrative Assistant

Investing time, effort, and also money into your CPD (continuing professional development) is one surefire way to thrive as an admin assistant and to advance your career. In this section, we explore some more CPD options as well as other tips for thriving in this profession:

• Improve your soft skills
• Be and stay professional
• Master the art of anticipation

Improve your Soft Skills

Although we have only looked at some of the most typical soft skills needed for working in admin assistance, there is – of course – a whole list of further beneficial competencies. Be it IT skills, time management, problem solving, or adaptability: all these and the above-mentioned skills require your constant TLC. Meaning, that in order to thrive in admin assistance, you must improve these skills continuously. Here, you can look into webinars or helpful guides that detail the latest methods and techniques where your personal strengths are concerned.

Be and Stay Professional

As an administrative assistant, you are regularly tasked with handling sensitive information. Let’s take travel arrangements, for example. Here, you have bank details and other personal information about your employer and colleagues. Naturally, these data must not be used inconsiderately or leak. The same applies to everything you hear through the office grapevine. As enticing as rumours may be – try to stay out of them, especially where your bosses are concerned. Nobody likes a tattle tale – least of all the people employing you. By staying discreet and professional, on the other hand, you ensure your job safety and have every chance of advancing your career.

Master the Art of Anticipation

When you work closely with a person, you get to know that person inside out – meaning that you know what he or she likes, does not like, and expects at any given moment. If you are already good at anticipating: great! This enables you to “foresee” your employer’s next move or what you should be doing next. Even if you are already a master in this particular art, it never hurts to further improve it. How about spending some time researching body language and how to read non-verbal signs? By becoming an expert in non-verbal communication, you will be even better at anticipating – and will thrive as an administrative assistant.

Frequently Asked Questions