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Useful experience for office administrators includes:

• administration or reception work
• customer service experience
• accounting
• information technology (IT) work.

Office administrators may do some or all of the following:

• organise meetings, prepare agendas and take minutes
• create, oversee, distribute and file correspondence and documents
• work on reception
• monitor and maintain equipment and supplies
• prepare and track budgets, pay bills, and do banking and invoicing
• ensure health and safety issues are addressed, including making staff aware of building safety procedures and safe work practices
• project or database management
• update websites
• research, records management and filing.

Multi-skilled office administrators in demand

Your chances of securing a job are best if you can combine general administration skills with skills in other areas such as accounting support, data entry, reception, health and safety or human resources. This is because some organisations have combined two administration jobs into one to save costs.

According to the Census, 36,231 office administrators worked in New Zealand in 2018.

Software skills improve chances of getting a job

Entry-level office administrators can improve their chances of getting a job if they have experience using software such as Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce, or MYOB, as employers report a shortage of people with these skills.

Types of employer are varied

Most organisations employ administration staff, so you can work for a variety of employers including:

• private businesses
• hospitals
• government departments
• local government
• the armed forces
• legal offices
• education institutes
• not-for-profit organisations.

Association of Administrative Professionals NZ

admin@aapnz.org.nz - www.aapnz.org.nz

Skills

0508 754 557 - support@skills.org.nz - www.skills.org.nz

Office administrators may move into other administrative roles, such as personal or executive assistant, or office manager. With further training, administration officers may progress to become event or project managers.

• Event manager job information
• Office manager job information
• Personal assistant job information
• Project manager job information

Office administrators need to be:

• organised, and able to prioritise and multitask
• good communicators and skilled writers
• able to work well in a team environment
• able to solve problems and show initiative
• friendly and approachable
• discreet and diplomatic when dealing with confidential issues.