People working in this sector will provide the admin support required to ensure an organisation runs efficiently. Administration workers can be found in all sectors, from healthcare to manufacturing.

The majority of administration employees will be based in an office and spend much of their time on a computer or using the telephone. A lot of young people begin their career in business by working as an ‘office junior’. Typical duties for this role include; franking mail, sorting incoming post and parcels, photocopying, filing, data entry and general administration tasks. Most people working full-time within this sector will work 37 hours per week, Monday to Friday.

When starting out in a career in administration you will often be paid minimum wage but you can expect that to increase with the skills, knowledge and experience you gain.

What type of person is suited to this role?

As you will be interacting with members of the general public, people working in administration need to:

• Be outgoing, confident and patient
• Have good levels of written and spoken English
• Have good computer skills

What about career progression and salaries?

Your pay and benefits will depend on experience and the kind of employer you work for but as a guide:

• General administrators can expect to earn up to £19,000 per year
• A secretary can earn around £25,000 per year
• Experienced office managers can earn up to £30,000 per year

Which businesses does Focus Training work with?

The NHS.

The Business Administration NVQ is the perfect qualification for anyone that works within any form of Administration environment. This would include Office Managers, Personal Assistants and Administration Support Staff.

The NVQ is made up of two mandatory units and optional units:

Level 2 Mandatory Units:

• Unit 1 – Carry out your responsibilities at work
• Unit 2 – work within you business environment

Along with three units to be chosen from the following themes:

• I.T.
• Customer Service
• Organisational Skills
• Documentation
• Financial Procedures
• Telephone Systems
• Custodial Procedures

To Complete the Level 3 Qualification, the same mandatory units apply as the level 2 qualifications,
but 4 units of the following themes must be completed:

• Custodial Procedures
• Supervise Office Facilities
• Manage Customer Relations
• Documentation
• Manage Financial Procedures
• Specialised Sector Subjects
• Plan and Implement Innovation and Change

By selecting the more relevant units to your job role you can customise the qualification to suit your needs.