Qualifications for school admin post?

[AxlRose]

I'm currently a part time nursery nurse. I would like to work more hours but not in a pre-school and would ideally like to find a full time admin post in a school. I have worked in admin before but don't have any qualifications.

What courses would be beneficial to me? Should I get an IT qualification? Or word processing

[AxlRose]

Just to add...my local college offers ITQ Level 2 (ECDL) but it;s £400 so need to be sure it will help me get a full time job in admin. Any ideas?

Thank you

[MelodyMeringue]

Not 100% sure (am a PA in private sector) but I would imagine you need quite a wide range of skills:-

Outlook
Email
Calendar management
Word
Excel
Keeping records
Good telephone technique
Presentable
Friendly
Good communication skills
Doing 20 things at once (like most admin jobs!)

Why don't you approach a couple of schools and ask for advice? I am sure they will be very helpful. You may find quite a bit of competition from Mums who have admin experience and want to work school hours. Might be worth seeing if you can pick up temp admin work. IME the easiest way to learn is gradually and on the job. I've had no formal admin/secretarial training and I'm PA to the Chief Executive of a blue chip company!

Best of luck!

x

[AxlRose]

Thank you Melody.
I have worked in admin so I have the skills required (although maybe a little rusty as it was over 2 years ago) but wanted a qualification to help me stand out from all the other mums who want term time hours . All my skills were learnt 'on the job'. One advert I saw recently said 'must have proven ability of using microsoft, blah blah' so I thought a qualification might count as proven ability.

It's a great idea asking the schools for advice - I'm going to do just that
I thought I might volunteer in my DC's school office too....covering lunchtimes or something.

[heretobefriendly]

Hi AxlRose,
I took the ECDL (Level 2) to get me back into admin after taking time out as SAHM as I also thought my skills would be rusty. I found it did make a difference and I managed to successfully find a part time role fairly quickly. My employer was impressed that I'd been proactive and obtained an up to date IT qualification.

Hope this helps.

[AxlRose]

Thank you - yes that does help.
I'm a bit cautious about spending out on training unless there is a good chance it will help me find work. It's good to hear you had a positive experience

[greentomato]

I did the ECDL course last year - I got it free through a local Learn Direct Centre. I had to do some numeracy and literacy modules with them in order to qualify for the free ECDL course (despite having both English and Maths A Level ). But it was all pretty straight forward.

[AxlRose]

Oooo.....I'll look into that, thank you