To ask what office skills i need to work after being SAHM for too long

[MeetMeAtTheMuseum]

Been a SAHM for 18 years.

Please let's not debate the rights and wrongs of being a SAHM - it wasn't entirely my decision. Life happens and it's led to many years of depression and loss of confidence.

Anyway, I'm late 50s now and need to return to work- for money and my sanity.

Please could you advise what basic office/IT skills are needed for an admin job. The NHS is quite a big employer round here but am happy to take anything.

TIA

Mainly Microsoft I imagine.
I wish you luck but I think things are pretty tough on the jobs market at the moment

That wasn't my question. I was asking about office skills. Please don't post negativity.

You’ll need to know Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook as a minimum.

@Hoppinggreen has answered your question. The main skills you will need to have for office work are going to be Microsoft Office suite: Word, excel, PowerPoint, Outlook.

Good ability to use the internet for research is also useful.
Ability to self-learn using internet guidance/tutorials.
Ability to prioritise and manage own workload

I'm not sure exactly what you need but could you diwnload
a current job vacancy and see what specifications they have asked for to use as a guide?

NHS where I live recruit via wgencues & want you to be 50wpm typing for audio typing Sec roles: which is what most NHS secretarial involves. ( Corporates don't have a need for hours of audio typed letters). If it's reception only though that won't be an issue , but Reception is a lot less £. And yes, Microsoft Office, so Word, Powerpoint & basic Excel.

You could sign on the NHS locum bank through NHS Professionals. We’ve recruited several temps to permanent roles through this rate. Might be some boring filing jobs to start with but will get your foot in the door.

And MS Teams is vital for NHS roles.

MS office for sure:

• Word is used less and less I find in my company
• PowerPoint is essential - definitely do advanced so that you can easily create decent decks
• Excel is also essential - vlookups are always good to know

Then I’d also look into a refresher on outlook and get to know Teams too, possibly OneNote too. Maybe PowerBI?

Some nice to haves would be MS Forms and Sway.

All of the MS Office programmes can interact with each other now, so it would be useful to understandable to maximize this

We also rely heavily on screenshots or snips - really easy to use, so probably a bit obvious but thought I’d mention it.

Also maybe newer functionality in Adobe for editing or signing PDFs

Then it will depend on what area you wish to go into - ie website content management, HRIS or finance tools, project management, more creative programmes for art or design...

Route not rate.

You sound lovely, I’m sure you will leapfrog ahead of all the younger better qualified candidates

Thank you.

Thanks for replies - much appreciated.

There’s loads of digital proficiency courses online. I would definitely recommend enrolling in one instead of trying to teach yourself how to use the software.

It’s a good point about younger candidates being more digital proficient. When I was at school (left in 2013) we were taught the basics for Microsoft’s software, and it was further specialised when I went to uni. So there’s definitely a new baseline of tech proficiency amongst candidates, a course would really help you.

Other office skills would be being able to efficiently use the phone, email, printer etc. In the NHS you may need to transcribe appointment notes etc.

Also just general team working skills. Being able to get on with things yourself, but also knowing when best to involve someone more senior. Helping colleagues where necessary etc. Working to a deadline

I've had office jobs for the last 20 years and still do now. The things that seem to be desirable are:

Microsoft suite, particularly word excel and outlook. With excel the ability to manipulate data to run reports would be a plus. Also Gmail, Google drive and general competency with the Internet, including the ability to research efficiently. Experience with crm systems, like sales force, or hubspot, would also be very helpful. As a pp mentioned, being able to conduct meetings virtually, using zoom, Google meets, Skype, and so on. Plus more and more companies seem to be using messaging systems like Slack. If you're looking at customer service then a service desk, or support ticketing system might be useful.

Pretty much all of those can be learned online.

Do they still do that European Computer Driving License thing?

ECDL - that might help prove you have the IT skills

And the phone. And brush up on GDPR.

@MeetMeAtTheMuseum

That wasn't my question. I was asking about office skills. Please don't post negativity.

Wow, that was really rude. There was no negativity - just a plain statement of fact. There are an awful lot of people looking for work right now. There are people who are out of work with very recent work experience. There are people who are in work but, for one reason or another, find their current work / sector precarious and want something potentially more stable. There are some who have never worked yet (school leavers and graduates) but who have lots of up to date skills. So there is an awful lot of competition for admin jobs and very few people - especially in the public sector - have a huge demand for staff with basic office skills.

In much of the public sector these days, even very senior staff do a lot of their own administration. If you haven't worked in a long time, "admin work" has changed massively in the last decade or so. And many of the most basic admin is now done - where it is needed at all - by apprentices who are often on their first or second job. Many of our admin people are actually graduates - it's the best way to get experience and a foot in the door.

Apprenticeships these days are not the exclusive territory of the young. You could certainly apply for one, which would enable you to gain necessary skills whilst in work. But you'll need a personality change, because if you speak to people in work like you did here, you won't last two minutes.

Aside from all the technical things, people skills are very, very important. I'm an EA / Office Manager in a team of 22. I am the only one that absolutely must be able to work with all 21 other team members. So, being able to read the room and adjust my personality to fit each situation is what has allowed me to stay in the same job for over 13 years.

Hopping wasn't wrong either about the job market being tough at the moment. Not only do you have additional numbers of unemployed people right now, you also have people who have realised during the pandemic that they want a different job (for example, nearly all of the shop workers I know no longer want to be shop workers) and you have many employers downsizing or shifting to different business models, in particular WFH or remote working. As well as office skills I would also look at CV/application skills and interview skills, you're already starting on the backfoot due to age so you're going to need to identify what sets you apart from younger, more experienced candidates and practice really selling that to a potential employer. Interviews now are mostly competency based so it's worthwhile having a few stories up your sleeve of when you worked as a team/managed a difficult situation/adapted your communication style, etc. It might also be useful to do some relevant adult learning courses if you're able to, not only will they help polish your skills, they will also increase your attractiveness to employers.

Also, transferable skills - communication, with patients, colleagues, consultants etc. (slightly different skills for each), team working to meet deadlines, managing own workload, customer skills if a job worked on a reception desk.

Look at voluntary work, even in a charity shop, to get recent experience of some of these skills if you don't have recent voluntary experience.

Maybe see if local college has a return to work type programme. Maths and English at C level or equivalent - colleges do free adult courses if you haven’t already got those.