Administrator job description

Administrators provide a range of business support duties for their colleagues, and coordination of regular office activities.

They are responsible for ensuring the organisation of an office’s day-to-day functions, and play a crucial role in the efficient running of company operations.

This detailed guide includes a full administrator job description and everything else you need to know about administrators, including salaries, skills, qualifications, typical employers and more.

 

Guide contents

  • Administrator job description
  • How much do administrators earn?
  • What does an administrator do?
  • Requirements, skills and qualifications
  • Who employs administrators?
  • Which junior jobs progress to administrator roles?

 

 

Administrator job description

Administrator | Impact Recruitment

 

About Impact Recruitment

Established in 2000, we are an award-winning specialist recruitment agency who focus on placing the best engineering, health and safety and construction professionals into a range of temporary, permanent and fixed term contract roles across the country.

 

About the role

A rare opportunity has arisen to support our recruitment in the office as an administrator, supporting the day-to-day function of our office and carrying out a range of administrative and business support tasks.

 

Responsibilities

  • Dealing with daily enquiries via post, phone and email and directing queries to the relevant member of staff or department.
  • Sorting and distributing incoming post on a daily basis.
  • Providing general administrative support, such as paperwork, data entry, scanning, photocopying, printing and faxing.
  • Managing and organising our filing and record system.
  • Monitoring office supplies and ordering and distributing new supplies as needed.
  • Taking accurate minutes at meetings, typing up and distributing to staff
  • Completing all administrative processes and procedures in adherence to company standards and policy.
  • Supporting members of staff with workload and tasks as requested.

 

Location & commitments

  • Permanent, full-time role based at our busy Manchester office.
  • 9-5 hours with half an hour lunch, totalling 37.5 hours per week.
  • Occasional overtime needed during busy periods.

 

Candidate requirements

Essential:

  • Proficiency with computers, especially Google Drive and Microsoft Word.
  • Excellent time management and organisation skills.
  • Good written and verbal communication.
  • Friendly and personable attitude and able to work as part of a team.

Desirable:

  • 12 months+ previous experience in an administration role.
  • Experience using formulas and functions on Microsoft Excel.
  • Grades C or above in Maths, English and ICT at GCSE level.

 

Contact us to apply

Send your CV and a short cover letter, explaining why you’d make a good addition to our team, to Mark Johnson at m.johnson@impactrecruitment.com.

 

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How much do administrators earn?

Administrators tend to start on a relatively low wage, with an average salary of £21,000. However, with experience, there are plenty of opportunities for progression and promotion.

 

Administrator salaries in the UK

  • Low: £17,000
  • Average: £21,000
  • High: £30,000

Source: Glassdoor

 

Administrator salaries will vary depending on:

  • Industry of the employer – Administrators working in the legal and medical fields, for example, tend to command higher rates
  • Size of the employer – Large, multinational firms are likely to pay higher wages than small independent businesses
  • Experience – Employers may be willing to pay a higher salary to administrators with significant experience and knowledge of their sector
  • Location – As with most roles, administrators working in London and other major cities may gain higher wages than those working in small towns

It’s important to consider that these are average figures taken from job advert samples and they do not include extra benefits such as bonuses, overtime and non-financial benefits such as a pension scheme or healthcare.

 

What does an administrator do?

Breaking down the job description, the typical day-to-day duties and responsibilities of an administrator include:

  • Managing communications – Dealing with general enquiries by responding to emails, answering the telephone and mail and directing contact to the appropriate department
  • Arranging meetings – Scheduling and organising meetings, creating agendas, booking rooms and planning catering and/or refreshments
  • Taking minutes – Taking accurate minutes during meetings using touch typing or shorthand
  • Managing diaries – Maintaining the diaries of assigned staff, including travel itineraries and time schedules
  • Clerical tasks – Creating and maintaining an accurate and organized filing system, as well as typing, scanning, editing and binding documents
  • Data entry – Inputting and organising data, such as sales figures and office spending
  • Office management – Ensuring staff have all the tools and equipment they need and ordering new supplies when necessary
  • Basic finance tasks – Assisting with various finance tasks, such as invoicing, budget tracking and bookkeeping
  • Organising company events – Such as lunches, parties, teambuilding weekends and conferences

 

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What does an administrator need?

candidate requirements

The qualifications and experience needed for administrator roles vary depending on the employer and the sector.

While most will be more concerned with candidates holding the relevant skills and experience, employers may occasionally seek specific qualifications. However, it’s possible to gain an administrator role with no prior experience or training.

Generally speaking, here’s what is needed:

 

Experience

General administrator jobs sometimes require 1-2 years of experience as an administrator or secretary. However, it’s often possible to enter the profession with no prior experience, as long as candidates hold the necessary soft skills and qualities.

Specialised administrator roles, such as finance, medical or law, normally require a few years of experience within the specific sector, or at least a good base level of knowledge of the sector.

Senior administrator or office manager roles generally require several years of experience as an administrator, with a proven set of administrative, clerical and interpersonal skills.

 

Skills

Aside from the industry specific skills mentioned above (such as shorthand and data entry), the following soft skills are commonly sought after in administrators:

  • Communication: Effectively communicating with customers, clients and colleagues, both verbally and in writing
  • Customer service: Keeping the needs of customers and clients in mind at all times and providing an excellent customer experience
  • Organisation: Confidently managing multiple tasks and deadlines, prioritising tasks and planning the schedules and diaries of other staff members
  • Attention to detail: The ability to accurately take minutes and pinpoint errors in documentation
  • Team work: Happily working alongside and taking and accepting instructions from other staff members
  • IT: Effectively using a range of computer and IT tools, software and equipment such email, word processors and databases

 

Administrator qualifications

Qualifications are not essential to work as an administrator, as the necessary skills can be learnt on-the-job. Additionally, many employers genuinely value experience and skills over qualifications.

However, a good standard of general education is normally expected, such as GCSEs and/or A-Levels. While not essential, there are also a number of vocational qualifications available that could potentially bolster an administrator’s career prospects and progression:

 

Business or office administration qualifications

Whether it’s a diploma, NVQ, HND or degree, gaining some form of qualification in business or office administration can help entry-level admin job seekers gain the practical skills and knowledge needed to thrive within an administrator role.

 

Touch typing and shorthand qualifications

Touch typing and shorthand skills are highly valuable to employers. They allow administrators to type faster and more accurately, hence increasing productivity. A wide range of affordable courses are available online and make a worthwhile addition to any administrator’s skill set.

 

Subject matter qualifications

It can be beneficial for administrators to hold qualifications in the subject of the sector they wish to work in. For example, a legal administrator would benefit from having a HND, degree or other certification in law or secretarial studies. These type of specialist admin roles tend to command higher salaries and training opportunities.

 

What is expected of administrators?

Typically, administrators will be expected to commit the following;

  • Full or part-time hours Admin roles are often available on both full-time and part-time contracts
  • Possibility of occasional evening or weekend work While this will vary from role to role, overtime may sometimes be expected, as deadlines may be imposed suddenly, leading to flexibility and reprioritisation of workload
  • Location – Generally based at the employer’s office

 

Administrator benefits

Administrators who are employed in permanent roles will generally receive a good benefits package, including things like:

  • Paid holiday
  • Pension scheme
  • Employee discounts
  • Career progression

 

 

Who employs administrators?

Employers

Companies in all sectors and industries need administrators, making employment opportunities varied and diverse.

Additionally, employment is available in companies of all sizes, from large multinational corporations, to small, independent firms.

Typical administrator employers include companies within:

  • Legal and financial firms
  • Marketing and communications
  • Healthcare
  • Property
  • IT and digital
  • Retail
  • Hospitality
  • Not-for-profit
  • Schools, colleges and universities
  • Government

 

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Which junior jobs progress to administrator roles?

Administrator roles are generally entry-level jobs, meaning candidates with no prior experience can enter the profession without any formal experience.

However, gaining an admin assistant, or temporary administrator role through a temping agency can be a viable way to gain experience and insight into the job and eventually progress into a permanent administrator job.

 

Which senior jobs do administrators progress to?

Promotions

A role as an administrator can actually act as a fantastic springboard into a wide range of higher paid and rewarding roles.

Depending on the industry, it’s often possible to move up the ranks of a company into other areas, such as sales or marketing. After all, an administrator develops a thorough understanding of the ins and outs of an organisation and therefore makes a fantastic candidate for internal roles.

Additionally, it’s possible to use the organisation and time management skills gained to progress into higher paid roles, such as:

 

Specialist administrator

Some administrators opt to specialise in a specific industry or sector, such as education, legal or medical administration work. Those who speak more than one language can move into bilingual administrator roles. Due to the specialist and technical knowledge, skills and experience required, these niche roles tend to generate higher rates of pay.

Personal assistant

As the roles require similar skills, working as an administrator is a common stepping stone into a job as a personal assistant. Personal assistants (or executive assistants) are responsible for carrying out administrative and secretarial tasks for senior or executive staff members. This career path offers plenty more opportunity for progression and can be very well paid.

Office manager

With the key requirements of this role being experience in an administrative role and good IT, interpersonal and time management skills, it’s easy to see why administrators often become office managers. Office managers oversee the smooth running of an office and its procedures, and may also manage a team of administrative staff. Typically, these roles pay significantly more than administrator jobs.

 

Administrator job description – conclusion

Administrators are needed in almost every industry, meaning employment opportunities are plentiful across the country. With low entry requirements, a job as an administrator can prove a great way for entry-level job seekers to get their foot in the door of a company and work their way up into more senior and higher paying roles.

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