Career advice: where to go from admin work?
September 26, 2014 4:45 PM Subscribe
I've recently had some temporary administrative assistant positions and I'm looking to figure out how to move into some other field.
I have a bachelor's in the liberal arts, and have also taken some intro accounting courses, but I don't feel that accounting is a field where I would do well.
Fields I have considered:
1) Programming: trying to teach myself how to code. However, everyone seems to be doing this, and I am not sure whether I have the aptitude for it.
2) Marketing research: This sounds interesting, but I don't have the relevant educational background in social sciences or math. I am not sure whether it is possible to enter this field without that.
3) Educational technology: I did have a job where I helped recruit for an online training course, but I was also advised that I would need a master's to go forward in the field.
4) Web design: Would also need to be trained in this. I have basic html skills, and have made personal websites, but don't know javascript or advanced CSS.
Are there any other fields which I should look into? I would prefer to work in an office setting.
I am willing to volunteer and work for free as well, as long as I can learn relevant skills.
I have a bachelor's in the liberal arts, and have also taken some intro accounting courses, but I don't feel that accounting is a field where I would do well.
Fields I have considered:
1) Programming: trying to teach myself how to code. However, everyone seems to be doing this, and I am not sure whether I have the aptitude for it.
2) Marketing research: This sounds interesting, but I don't have the relevant educational background in social sciences or math. I am not sure whether it is possible to enter this field without that.
3) Educational technology: I did have a job where I helped recruit for an online training course, but I was also advised that I would need a master's to go forward in the field.
4) Web design: Would also need to be trained in this. I have basic html skills, and have made personal websites, but don't know javascript or advanced CSS.
Are there any other fields which I should look into? I would prefer to work in an office setting.
I am willing to volunteer and work for free as well, as long as I can learn relevant skills.
When I was an admin assistant, I did do web design and print design as part of my job. I also found good work in editing Word documents, as many graphic designers didn't know Word as well as I did.
After doing graphic design, I did fall into an accounting position (corporate accounts receivable), and it was actually less stressful than admin or design work. I found it very soothing, even tho' I was handling an account with a huge book of over $1,000,000 in 90-day past due. All computer error, and I fixed them and was put on a Six Sigma team to correct them. Did lots of forms in Excel, zeroed out invoices manually, corrections on price differences, requesting proof of delivery, and a mongo report once a week to point out all of the errors that needed to be fixed (I got a Six Sigma duffel bag for that!).
I think the term "design" is not as great as it seems in one's head, because it involves doing a lot of grunt work and fiddly things under time pressure, for very little return. Also, the design process often goes through several approval stages, so if you are thinking they will love your creativity, well... they often won't, because they all want to put their two cents in. Commence the hair pulling and stress.
Can you pick up any community college courses in things like java (not javascript) and CSS? I think those might interest you if you don't like accounting. When I think of web design, I think of the front end: the graphics, etc. But there are tons of other things behind the scenes, which a creative intelligent mind might latch onto.
In short: you might need to pick up some courses in CSS and Java to continue on. Accounting might be okay, if you look into it deeper (try Robert Half).
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 5:18 PM on September 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
After doing graphic design, I did fall into an accounting position (corporate accounts receivable), and it was actually less stressful than admin or design work. I found it very soothing, even tho' I was handling an account with a huge book of over $1,000,000 in 90-day past due. All computer error, and I fixed them and was put on a Six Sigma team to correct them. Did lots of forms in Excel, zeroed out invoices manually, corrections on price differences, requesting proof of delivery, and a mongo report once a week to point out all of the errors that needed to be fixed (I got a Six Sigma duffel bag for that!).
I think the term "design" is not as great as it seems in one's head, because it involves doing a lot of grunt work and fiddly things under time pressure, for very little return. Also, the design process often goes through several approval stages, so if you are thinking they will love your creativity, well... they often won't, because they all want to put their two cents in. Commence the hair pulling and stress.
Can you pick up any community college courses in things like java (not javascript) and CSS? I think those might interest you if you don't like accounting. When I think of web design, I think of the front end: the graphics, etc. But there are tons of other things behind the scenes, which a creative intelligent mind might latch onto.
In short: you might need to pick up some courses in CSS and Java to continue on. Accounting might be okay, if you look into it deeper (try Robert Half).
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 5:18 PM on September 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
Admin is great because if you're sharp and have initiative, you can see places where you can learn new things, fix things that are broken, and learn new skills.
I took an admin job to learn Salesforce.com. I've parlayed that into something pretty sweet.
A lot of what you're describing are things that are VERY math intensive and that require a lot of very specific experience. Which is fine if you have a trust fund and can spring for more education and internships.
You could learn to code, and you can do it on your own in the evenings, but most coders just love that shit and they've been doing it since they were kids.
You have a lot of cursory interests, but until you dive in and sink your teeth in, you're just faffing around without purpose.
Find something you'd love to do for free, and that you can do on your own, without guidance, and learn it!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:25 PM on September 26, 2014
I took an admin job to learn Salesforce.com. I've parlayed that into something pretty sweet.
A lot of what you're describing are things that are VERY math intensive and that require a lot of very specific experience. Which is fine if you have a trust fund and can spring for more education and internships.
You could learn to code, and you can do it on your own in the evenings, but most coders just love that shit and they've been doing it since they were kids.
You have a lot of cursory interests, but until you dive in and sink your teeth in, you're just faffing around without purpose.
Find something you'd love to do for free, and that you can do on your own, without guidance, and learn it!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:25 PM on September 26, 2014
I work in commercial property management. At lot of the skills I use are ones I developed working as an admin previously. This job is a pretty good description of what I do on a daily basis. (part of what I like about my job is my excellent working environment and coworkers.)
posted by vespabelle at 6:26 PM on September 26, 2014
posted by vespabelle at 6:26 PM on September 26, 2014
If you want to move into marketing, smaller firms will not be as picky about specific experience, especially at an entry level; most of the time, they just want to be reassured that you know the relevant software (InDesign or what have you) and that you can show them examples of your work. If you can finagle a way to do at least some design type work at your current job, or get a temp job that includes some kind of design after taking a few classes, then you might have a shot at something in marketing. Once there, you can build your skills and portfolio.
I do proposals, which requires some creativity along with an aptitude for getting forms filled out and herding technical people to get you the data you need. You also need editing and graphics skills. It's not a field that insists on big degrees at this point, and what you do can vary a lot depending on what industry you are in. From my personal experience, proposals I did for healthcare were very different from those I do for architecture, but the basic idea is the same, which means you could conceivably work in any industry. No matter where you go, they have to train you in their style, so skills are more important than specific training.
There are other niche fields like this that you can access; the downside is, there's not a lot of upward mobility unless you are driven and good at management and climbing the ladder, which means you stop doing much in the way of creative work. But that's true of a lot of creative fields.
posted by emjaybee at 6:59 PM on September 26, 2014
I do proposals, which requires some creativity along with an aptitude for getting forms filled out and herding technical people to get you the data you need. You also need editing and graphics skills. It's not a field that insists on big degrees at this point, and what you do can vary a lot depending on what industry you are in. From my personal experience, proposals I did for healthcare were very different from those I do for architecture, but the basic idea is the same, which means you could conceivably work in any industry. No matter where you go, they have to train you in their style, so skills are more important than specific training.
There are other niche fields like this that you can access; the downside is, there's not a lot of upward mobility unless you are driven and good at management and climbing the ladder, which means you stop doing much in the way of creative work. But that's true of a lot of creative fields.
posted by emjaybee at 6:59 PM on September 26, 2014
Can you keep temping? Unless you have some "dream job" in mind, it can be really hard to pick a random career to pursue without experiencing it firsthand. Getting your foot in the door in an admin role will expose you to the rest of the work going on, which should help you figure out what elements you like about certain industries, roles, and companies. There are a lot of jobs out there that pay well and will keep you entertained, but don't have sexy or well-known titles.
Also, regardless of the types of jobs you pursue, if you have an aptitude for it, become an expert in the software used to do the job. Data/BI is HUGE right now. If you become a Salesforce.com wizard, or you master SugarCRM (or legal case management software or electronic medical records software or...), you can parlay that into many other job opportunities. There's a lot more to software than support and development.
You mentioned that you were interested in educational technology. A lot of school districts are jumping on the 1:1 device bandwagon and deploying tablets and all kinds of learning management systems for their students. These are huge projects worth many gazillions of dollars and spanning years. They need people to manage the projects, train teachers and students, configure the infrastructure to support the whole damned thing, etc.
posted by nobejen at 8:56 PM on September 26, 2014
Also, regardless of the types of jobs you pursue, if you have an aptitude for it, become an expert in the software used to do the job. Data/BI is HUGE right now. If you become a Salesforce.com wizard, or you master SugarCRM (or legal case management software or electronic medical records software or...), you can parlay that into many other job opportunities. There's a lot more to software than support and development.
You mentioned that you were interested in educational technology. A lot of school districts are jumping on the 1:1 device bandwagon and deploying tablets and all kinds of learning management systems for their students. These are huge projects worth many gazillions of dollars and spanning years. They need people to manage the projects, train teachers and students, configure the infrastructure to support the whole damned thing, etc.
posted by nobejen at 8:56 PM on September 26, 2014
If you have any interest in programming and/or web design, I would really encourage you to keep practicing and learning those skills.
I am not sure what "aptitude" for programming means. I really think anyone can learn to program as long as you start off the right way -- make sure you understand concepts and not just syntax, start slow and build upon things you've already learned. I take it back -- people with a background in math and/or logic (and I was not one of those people) will have an edge in learning programming over people who don't, but you will learn computer logic the more you practice. You may just have to put in more hours than those people with that certain background. Does your local community college offer any classes in programming? I think it can be kind of discouraging to be progressing slowly in your programming studies on your own and you can feel that everyone who ever tried to learn programming surely must be more talented than you. That's why I suggest taking an into class on programming -- you will have hard evidence that yourself and ~30 other people are floundering, progressing, and learning at more or less the same rate. You may progress even faster than you realized!
Sometimes there are organizations that offer things like two-week webdesign classes and weekend workshops and such as well. Just google "[mycity] programming course". Is there any opportunity to use Excel in your job? Could you possibly automate certain tasks or spreadsheets that you do on a regular basis? You could use Excel macros for that and get some programming experience that way too. Also look into craigslist's computer gigs maybe. Every so often there is someone looking to have something basic done but doesn't know how to do it. And you could probably negotiate price with someone on a project that might be a little more advanced than your skill level. Like "hey I could do this project, but it might take me a while because I'm still learning, so how bout $10/hr instead of $16?"
It is definitely important to do some projects in whatever programming language you are learning and then make an online portfolio. You don't need to have years of experience for an entry-level programming job, just something to show them as evidence that you can do the job. I once had a interview for a newer company for a programming position without any experience except for my self-studying, passed their test, but didn't get the job and I think it had a lot to do with the fact I had no portfolio to show.
As a footnote, here are some resources I have used for learning javscript and SQL and for learning Python which is a great language to start off with, btw, and the guide I linked to is really clearly explains concepts and gives lots of practice exercises.
posted by sevenofspades at 7:59 AM on September 27, 2014
I am not sure what "aptitude" for programming means. I really think anyone can learn to program as long as you start off the right way -- make sure you understand concepts and not just syntax, start slow and build upon things you've already learned. I take it back -- people with a background in math and/or logic (and I was not one of those people) will have an edge in learning programming over people who don't, but you will learn computer logic the more you practice. You may just have to put in more hours than those people with that certain background. Does your local community college offer any classes in programming? I think it can be kind of discouraging to be progressing slowly in your programming studies on your own and you can feel that everyone who ever tried to learn programming surely must be more talented than you. That's why I suggest taking an into class on programming -- you will have hard evidence that yourself and ~30 other people are floundering, progressing, and learning at more or less the same rate. You may progress even faster than you realized!
Sometimes there are organizations that offer things like two-week webdesign classes and weekend workshops and such as well. Just google "[mycity] programming course". Is there any opportunity to use Excel in your job? Could you possibly automate certain tasks or spreadsheets that you do on a regular basis? You could use Excel macros for that and get some programming experience that way too. Also look into craigslist's computer gigs maybe. Every so often there is someone looking to have something basic done but doesn't know how to do it. And you could probably negotiate price with someone on a project that might be a little more advanced than your skill level. Like "hey I could do this project, but it might take me a while because I'm still learning, so how bout $10/hr instead of $16?"
It is definitely important to do some projects in whatever programming language you are learning and then make an online portfolio. You don't need to have years of experience for an entry-level programming job, just something to show them as evidence that you can do the job. I once had a interview for a newer company for a programming position without any experience except for my self-studying, passed their test, but didn't get the job and I think it had a lot to do with the fact I had no portfolio to show.
As a footnote, here are some resources I have used for learning javscript and SQL and for learning Python which is a great language to start off with, btw, and the guide I linked to is really clearly explains concepts and gives lots of practice exercises.
posted by sevenofspades at 7:59 AM on September 27, 2014
I temped as an admin until I went to law school. Not that I'd recommend law school for everyone, but if you're interested in specific fields, get formal education. It's going to be easier to get a job than saying "I taught myself to code / market while working admin." Employers look for and expect a base line of what people learn in formal programs.
Get a loan and go back to school. It's an investment.
posted by mibo at 6:40 PM on September 27, 2014
Get a loan and go back to school. It's an investment.
posted by mibo at 6:40 PM on September 27, 2014
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posted by oceanjesse at 5:08 PM on September 26, 2014 [4 favorites]