Business

The 5 Most In-Demand Office Administration Jobs for 2018

While the face of the workplace is ever changing, there are still a lot of industries where the traditional office-based model is going to be the one they use.  This means that office administration jobs remain a top option if you are looking to train or retrain for something new.  But what are the most in-demand office admin jobs of 2018?

Personal assistant

The personal assistant is the key staff member that ensures the management of a business have the help that they need.  By handling the day to day jobs, the PA can free up time for their boss to handle the key parts of their role.  In fact, the PA is often at the heart of the company, handling a variety of tasks that keep everyone organised and things running smoothly.

The exact nature of the role can be varied from those who work closely with one person to those who are a PA for a team of people.  Great organisation and communication skills are essential for this type of role.

Customer service representatives

Customer contact centres or call centres are a crucial part of many company’s frameworks because this is the place where customers contact to find out anything they need.  Even if the business has just a single customer services rep in the office, this is still an important role.  You are the customer face of the business, the person that the customer interacts with the most and therefore a crucial part in building relationships.

These roles may also involve new ways to chat with customers including via email, live chat and social media.  Gone are the days when all queries just came through on the phone so having mastery of these elements is a good point.

Receptionist

The receptionist has been around for a long time as a career choice and is one that isn’t going away anytime soon.  Businesses need that crucial organisational element as well as someone to act as the greeting point for people visiting the business.  The receptionist is the hub of the business, the starting point for many customer interactions and the one who organises many elements of the initial contact with the company.

Like customer service reps, the job also now includes lots of new online ways to interact with people so good admin training course, will also incorporates the use of new technology alongside traditional skills such as organisation and call handling.

Medical financial clerks

Handling all the financial side of the healthcare profession is something that takes a different approach to other types of finance clerks, if you are working for the NHS.  Alternatively, you can work in the private sector where you can help with billing and other queries relating to the services that people pay for through private medical insurance.  It can also involve working with other businesses who insure their staff through such schemes and therefore need billing and other information for tax returns and other legal paperwork.

Virtual assistants

While the employment of traditional secretaries and administrative assistants is growing slowly, the use of virtual assistants or VAs is increasing rapidly.  There are a number of advantages for businesses to using this type of professional – pay as you need them, based in their own location and you can hire them for a specific skill.  VAs come in general and specialist varieties allowing people to follow their interests to some degree.  

Working remotely, they can work with clients around the world, providing the services they need on a freelance basis.  

There are still the same skills needed as a traditional office-based assistant and the use of technology and cloud-based tools are also important to communicate and complete work online.

Jess Young

Jess is a writer at the UK's largest independent press agency SWNS. She runs women's real-life magazine Real-Fix.com, as well as contributing articles and features to all of the major titles and digital publications.

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