Administrative support workers, sometimes called administrative support specialists, take care of clerical tasks in an office that helps their employer serve the public. Most administrative support workers work for government offices, although they can also work for private companies. They handle tasks that help organize the office such as storing files and inputting data into the payroll system. Administrative support workers need to be strong communicators because they handle internal communications, for example by scheduling meetings, and communicate with the public via phone and email. Administrative support workers are often highly knowledgeable about procedures in the office they work for so they can help customers and coworkers with their questions.
There are a few different ways to become an administrative support worker. About half have a bachelor's degree in business or administration. However, many do this job with only a high school diploma.
Administrative support workers usually need a few years of administrative experience, for example as assistants. Only then can they apply for an administrative support position, which usually pays around $33,023 a year.
How to Become an Administrative Support
What is an Administrative Support
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an Administrative Support. For example, did you know that they make an average of $17.21 an hour? That's $35,792 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -7% and produce -276,700 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does an Administrative Support Do
There are certain skills that many Administrative Supports have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed Interpersonal skills, Writing skills and Organizational skills.
How To Become an Administrative Support
If you're interested in becoming an Administrative Support, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 49.2% of Administrative Supports have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 6.2% of Administrative Supports have master's degrees. Even though most Administrative Supports have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become an Administrative Support. When we researched the most common majors for an Administrative Support, we found that they most commonly earn Bachelor's Degree degrees or Associate Degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on Administrative Support resumes include High School Diploma degrees or Master's Degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become an Administrative Support. In fact, many Administrative Support jobs require experience in a role such as Administrative Assistant. Meanwhile, many Administrative Supports also have previous career experience in roles such as Customer Service Representative or Cashier.
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Administrative Support Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, an Administrative Support can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as Executive Assistant, progress to a title such as Office Manager and then eventually end up with the title Senior Account Manager.
Administrative Support Jobs You Might Like
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Average Salary for an Administrative Support
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12 Administrative Support Resume Examples
Build a professional administrative support resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 12+ resume templates to create your administrative support resume.
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Sarah Harris Administrative Support |
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Mary Hamilton Administrative Support Experience Administrative Support2019 - Present JPMorgan Chase•New York, NY
Accounting And Administrative Assistant2018 - 2019 Robert Half International•New York, NY
Sales Administrator2017 - 2018 Lowe's•New York, NY
Skills PowerpointAdministrative FunctionsSales SupportTelephone CallsOEMCRMPersonnel FilesAdministrative TasksOrder EntryOrder Processing Education Bachelor's Degree English2009 - 2012 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey•New Brunswick, NJ |
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Learn How To Write an Administrative Support Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Administrative Support resumes and compiled some information about how to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Administrative Support Resume Examples And TemplatesAnd if you’re looking for a job, here are the five top employers hiring now:
Choose From 10+ Customizable Administrative Support Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Administrative Support templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Administrative Support resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Find the best Administrative Support job for you
Administrative Support Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Administrative Support Jobs - $50K and Up
- Work From Home Administrative Support Jobs
- Entry Level Administrative Support Jobs
- Part Time Administrative Support Jobs
- Actively Hiring
- No Degree Administrative Support Jobs
Top Colleges for Administrative Supports
1. Western Carolina University
Cullowhee, NC • Private
2. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
3. Ball State University
Muncie, IN • Private
4. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
5. Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, OH • Private
6. Cedar Crest College
Allentown, PA • Private
7. Morgan State University
Baltimore, MD • Private
8. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
9. Siena Heights University
Adrian, MI • Private
10. University of Akron
Akron, OH • Private
Find the best Administrative Support job for you
Administrative Support Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Administrative Support Jobs - $50K and Up
- Work From Home Administrative Support Jobs
- Entry Level Administrative Support Jobs
- Part Time Administrative Support Jobs
- Actively Hiring
- No Degree Administrative Support Jobs
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Top Skills For an Administrative Support
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 15.3% of Administrative Supports listed Customer Service on their resume, but soft skills such as Interpersonal skills and Writing skills are important as well.
Best States For an Administrative Support
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an Administrative Support. The best states for people in this position are California, Nevada, Hawaii, and Arizona. Administrative Supports make the most in California with an average salary of $54,476. Whereas in Nevada and Hawaii, they would average $50,536 and $50,046, respectively. While Administrative Supports would only make an average of $49,692 in Arizona, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Nevada
$50,536
Avg. Salary
2. California
$54,476
Avg. Salary
3. Washington
$49,152
Avg. Salary
How Do Administrative Support Rate Their Jobs?
Top Administrative Support Employers
We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ Administrative Supports and discovered their number of Administrative Support opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Macy's was the best, especially with an average salary of $38,121. Kelly Services follows up with an average salary of $36,611, and then comes ManpowerGroup with an average of $39,910. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as an Administrative Support. The employers include Humana, Publix, and Cincinnati Financial
Becoming an Administrative Support FAQs
How do I start a career in administration?
You start a career in administration with a two or four-year college degree. While there are several ways to enter into business administration, a college degree or certification is required.
Entering the field of administration with an associate's degree in business will make available several entry-level positions. Candidates seeking administrative functions with a two-year degree will handle responsibilities such as filing, researching information, and answering the phone. Once the experience has been gained, the candidate may be considered for more administrative duties.
Candidates entering the field with a bachelor's degree are eligible for more extensive administrative responsibilities. These responsibilities range from submitting expense reports to addressing the questions of managers and employees.
It can be challenging to enter the field of administration without experience. Candidates are encouraged to seek out internships while still in school. Workplace experience coupled with a college degree improves the likelihood of employment.
What are administrative support skills?
Administrative support skills are technological savvy, written and verbal communication, organization, time management, strategic planning, resourcefulness, and detail-oriented.
Someone in an administrative support role should have the technical skills to perform common duties such as data entry, which requires a keen eye for detail to catch any mistakes.
Another important aspect of the job involves managing calendars and creating reports with specific templates. This is where having some experience in programs such as Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, CRM system, customer service platform, or virtual help desk will come in handy.
The company needs to know they can trust you to be the face and voice of other employees and even the company. This includes handling incoming correspondence from customers, suppliers, or partners in a timely and professional manner.
The organization also plays a huge role in accomplishing tasks such as organizing team schedules, events, and files with a system that makes sense for everyone. Administrative support also needs great time management skills to ensure everything remains on time and according to schedule.
Similar to time management, admin support needs the skill of planning strategically. This means prioritizing your tasks in order of importance or planning out processes for the entire office to follow.
Keep in mind that in the environment where administrative support works, things can change rapidly. This means administrative support needs to adapt quickly to get the job done and assist your teammates.
What is the highest-paying administrative job?
The highest-paying administrative job is a hospital administrator. Administrative responsibilities will vary with the specific type of company or work being done.
The annual average salary for a hospital administrator is approximately $111,000. This salary reflects the administrator's responsibility to operate all areas of a hospital efficiently. Similarly, the average salary of a city administrator is approximately $94,000 annually. Both positions represent large operations with many departments that must work effectively.
Government administrators also earn an annual salary of approximately $111,000. This is another field that requires the integration of multiple departments, managers, and employees. Over 68% of government administrators earn more than the national average salary.
What is the role of admin support?
The role of admin support is to assist with clerical and administrative processes. Admin support can work in various industries and levels within a company.
Admin support positions assist management and visitors to the company by handling office tasks, providing polite and professional assistance via phone, mail, and e-mail, making reservations or travel arrangements, and generally being a helpful and positive presence in the workplace.
The most common duties of an admin support role include:
Provides administrative support to ensure efficient operation of the office.
Answers phone calls, schedules meetings, and supports visitors.
Carries out administrative duties such as filing, typing, copying, binding, scanning, etc.
Completes operational requirements by scheduling and assigning administrative projects and expediting work results.
Makes travel arrangements for senior staff such as booking flights, cars, and hotel or restaurant reservations.
Exhibits polite and professional communication via phone, e-mail, and mail.
Supports team by performing tasks related to organization and strong communication.
Develops administrative staff by providing information, educational opportunities, and experiential growth opportunities.
Ensures equipment operation by completing preventive maintenance requirements, calling for repairs, maintaining equipment inventories, and evaluating new equipment and techniques.
Provides information by answering questions and requests.
Maintains supplies inventory by checking stock to determine inventory level, anticipating needed supplies, placing and expediting orders for supplies.
Contributes to team effort by accomplishing related results as needed.