…so keep applying on Fish4jobs
Claire Moody started out as an administrator, now she’s Customer Service Manager at Fish4jobs. Claire talks about the value of an admin job early on in your career....
What sort of admin jobs have you had?
Completely varied roles from filing to jobs in the holidays at university doing data entry. When I left university I took up a temping job which led to my first permanent job. I worked for a recruitment consultancy and then joined Fish4jobs as an administrator.
Would you say admin is a good place to start for any sector?
Absolutely! But it’s also quite competitive because it’s the starting point for a lot of different roles. It’s good to get your foot in the door, even if you’re temping. That’s what I have found with quite a few of the admin jobs I have temped with; they have actually led to permanent positions. If you can prove yourself while you’re temping, quite often there is the option to take on a more permanent role even if it is in a different department.
How long were you temping for in total?
I’ve probably temped for four or five different jobs. I got made redundant and took on temping roles which ended up leading to a permanent position.
Did you have a lot of gaps in between different jobs when you were temping?
Not really. I was fairly lucky that most of the jobs that I went for were slightly longer term. They were in the holidays when I was at university and when I was looking for permanent work they were ongoing, and then led to something permanent. Other than a two month gap before I joined Fish4, it was all fairly continuous.
To get an admin job do you need to have gone to university?
Not necessarily. I’ve got a degree in Psychology, but I took a filing job to get the experience and that’s what led to another temping job in the same company, and then a permanent one. Sometimes you have to take jobs that aren’t exactly what you are looking for just to get your foot in the door.
Are there any specific skills that you think are necessary to get an admin job?
I think it’s that you’re motivated and you show that you are motivated, and that you enjoy it. Try and prove to the people that you’re working with that you’re good at it and do it well. Things like attention to detail, being enthusiastic and being on time are extremely important.
Have you got a question for Claire about working in administration or how to leverage the experience for a permanent role? Feel free to leave your questions and comments below.
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