So you’re ready to enter into the world of admin, or maybe you’ve been an admin and you’re looking for change, that’s awesome. As you may already know, there are a BUNCH of different types of admin jobs out there waiting for you to explore. It’s a humble reminder that this professional is vast, and is one of my favorite parts of being an admin. Regardless of whether you’re new to the profession or a veteran, jumping into the search can be a daunting and scary process. So, this week, we’ll be discussing 5 tips when looking for an admin job.
Follow your Interests and Passions
I have many passions and interests, and you probably do too. That’s awesome! Much of the admin profession is a combination of hard skills and soft skills, that we use to help the organization achieve its “big picture.”
By selecting a company or organization whose big picture is in line with yours could be a huge helping hand in your experience with the company. By being genuinely interested in your organization’s industry, you’re more likely to see the fruits of your daily labor because you can understand how what you’ve done has contributed to the “big picture” on a daily basis.
When the days get busy or when you’ve had a rough day, sharing the big picture with your organization can make all the difference in how you cope.
If the workload works for you, using your admin skills in industries you care about can also help to give you overall job satisfaction. What you do isn’t “just another task,” it’s an important task that makes a difference.
Pay Attention to the Job Responsibilities
I cannot stress this enough. Read the damn posting all the way through. There are often so many important details you can glean from understanding what the employer is looking for. As someone who struggles with not just skimming the description looking for keywords, I have realized that when I slow down and try to understand, I’ve been able to be more discerning about whether I want to apply for a job.
From a job description, you can oftentimes understand whether they are looking for a simple front desk receptionist and an office manager for example. And, more importantly, you can judge for yourself whether the responsibilities match the title.
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve read a job description where the responsibilities did not match the job title. To me, it’s a clear example (red flag) of neither the hiring manager nor HR understanding what admins do and what they are looking for. That’s dangerous.
“Other Administrative Duties as Necessary” (OADAN)
I wrote a whole post on this one phrase. When looking for an admin job, OADAN is a crucial key phrase to notice, as it can lead to the development of the “gray area.” This phrase can be harmless or be the nail in the coffin that could tarnish your reputation because you don’t agree with what is being asked of you.
To be clear, this phrase doesn’t always mean doom, but clarify what the employer means by this phrase in an interview, and hope they aren’t bullshitters.
If you haven’t read my blog post on OADAN, I’ll give a little more detail. There are tasks that aren’t specifically listed in a job description that are reasonable for you to perform sometimes, but there are tasks that are not. Like, for example, taking the owner to pick up his car from the shop or getting coffee for your manager.
The difficulty in these situations is that you can perform these duties, but it’s not within the standard teamwork assumption of miscellaneous tasks that you should perform. They are literally not your job.
Again, seeing OADAN doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply for a job you like, but make an effort to clarify what the employer means from the beginning.
Room to Grow
Unless you want to do exactly what you did at your last job or only do tasks you completed before, when looking at an admin job, try to keep an open mind about the ways you can grow in your new position.
When you consider applying for jobs that match your skills by 80%, but you would need to learn 20% that’s awesome! FYI: Your percentages can be different, it’s entirely up to you.
If what you don’t know is actually something you want to learn more about, that would be a great talking point in your interview. By asking the hiring manager about a certain aspect of the position, it shows a genuine eagerness, willingness to learn, and active interest in what they are asking of you.
Then if you get the job, you get to learn something new! For my life-long learners, this is a freakin’ awesome bonus!
Also, from a hiring perspective, a potential employer might feel like a 100% match isn’t ideal for them because they:
- Don’t have anything to teach you.
- Have to untrain your brain from your last job
- Will believe you’ll be bored very soon and leave.
So not meeting the expectations of a job description 100% might be a good thing! Give it a whirl! The worst they can say is “no.”
Be Honest
So you’ve gone through all the other tips and you’re looking at that same job description, and you realize – this job actually sounds boring.
Do not apply for the job (unless you need any job)! If you’re financially strained, or just need a job, hell, go for it!
But if you’re not, be honest with yourself and take into consideration your happiness. Would you actually enjoy this job? If the answer is no, then don’t do it.
Trust me, you will be okay. That job and company will be okay too. Move on and find something that when you read it makes you excited.
When you’ve gotten to this part of the process, it should outweigh everything. Why take a job you hate? Why not choose the job that it seems like you’d love?
If the description says 80% of the job is answering the phones at the front desk, and you hate being at the front desk and you hate answering phones all day – DON’T APPLY! Don’t try to trick yourself into working there because “it can’t be that bad,” or “I’ll just do this until I find another job.”
You’re essentially walking into failure and misery and taking yourself off the market for the right or better job.
You deserve more than that.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s post about what to look for when looking for an admin job! If you did, please consider subscribing to my email list!
