How To Become An Administrative Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is an administrative technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Anne McConnell Ph.D.

The work of an administrative technician is to perform various administrative, technical, and clerical duties. This includes reception, good front-line customer service, and distributing mails, letters, memos, and faxes. You are responsible for answering and directing phone calls to the appropriate channel. You are also directly in charge of planning meetings, taking minutes, and preparing schedule reports on every activity of the organization.

For every organization, some policies must be duly obeyed; therefore, it is your responsibility to maintain and update office policies and procedures when necessary. Whenever there is a need for office supplies, you are expected to order and research new supplies and deals. Your duty involves booking an appointment for traveling and also submitting a comprehensive expenses report. Just for reminder, you are to act as a point of contact for both internal and external clients, which will enable you to keep and maintain clients' contact lists.

Profound knowledge of office management systems, office equipment, and MS Office is an added advantage for your job description. An administrative technician must have excellent communication skills, attention to detail, and strong organizational skills. They earn an average of $41,000 annually. The minimum education requirement for this position is a high school diploma certificate.

What general advice would you give to an administrative technician?

Anne McConnell Ph.D.

Professor, West Virginia State University

I would say it's important to be very attentive to the way you communicate with your employers, managers, and co-workers. Even sending an e-mail can be an opportunity to demonstrate your professionalism and communication skills. Some people think that no one knows how to write anymore, or how to communicate in a professional way. I don't think that's true. But we don't always think about how our writing can be a tool to communicate our competence and seriousness. If you know how to write and communicate professionally-which college grads do-then make sure to demonstrate that in the workplace.

ScoreAdministrative TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.2

Avg. Salary $41,290

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.0

Growth rate -8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.73%

Asian 3.85%

Black or African American 9.40%

Hispanic or Latino 16.45%

Unknown 3.88%

White 65.69%

Gender

female 66.00%

male 34.00%

Age - 52

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 52

Stress level

6.0

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.4

Complexity level is basic

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an administrative technician

Explore administrative technician education requirements

Most common administrative technician degrees

Bachelor's

49.1 %

Associate

25.3 %

High School Diploma

10.9 %

Start to develop specific administrative technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	13.54%
Data Entry	10.91%
Patients	7.54%
Database Management	5.28%
Payroll	5.05%

Complete relevant administrative technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New administrative technicians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an administrative technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real administrative technician resumes.

Gain additional administrative technician certifications

Administrative technician certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific administrative technician certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for administrative technicians include Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) and Word 2010 Certification.

More About Certifications

Research administrative technician duties and responsibilities

Design and manage an innovative human capital and knowledge management information technology systems (e.g., PeopleSoft).
Manage after-hour phone consultations and create referral records for 2.2k patients while ensuring care continuity from civilian medical facilities.
Perform classroom instruction on Linux OS and database operations.
Utilize SharePoint to copy soft tokens into the appropriate agency's folder.

Prepare your administrative technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your administrative technician resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an administrative technician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable administrative technician resume templates

Build a professional administrative technician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your administrative technician resume.