To not think an analyst=admin?

[itswednesdayy]

I am starting new job. I studied a stats degree at university and will be working as an an analyst in a finance function so very happy to be working in my degree field.

My manager made her manager aware today and their comment was “sounds like a nice admin role”. Aibu to think analyst work is not quite admin work? I would be investigating issues and presenting solutions to senior leaders. In comparison, I feel like my current job is more full of pointless admin work😂

Yes, it’s NHS band 6. At that stage some people manage, others don’t. It’s a strange in between band for managing (in case you’re not familiar with the NHS) When I arrived in my current role, there were quite a few things that I thought I’d be doing that I’m still not doing after 7 months. It’s weird and frustrating. I’ve made a good friend on the team and she says it’s the same for her and she’s been there three years! Not much hope for me then.

Reading the thread I think half the posters don't seem to understand what administrative work actually is.

But if you’re not managing but still on the salary that you would was managing - then better than vice versa!

Ah and you come to the rescue to educate us do you? 😂

No. Google is freely available for all to use, or you could have a chat with the admin teams in your offices, whichever works best for you.

😂

Admin can mean anything. All IT and tech roles in the NHS are classed as admin DS is a band 8 in a tech job but it's labelled admin.

Sounds like you have a bit of a chip in your shoulder about "admin" roles tbh.

Oh definitely, I know I’ve got it the right way round 😉 😆

Investment banks in the city are paying 1st year analysts £70-80k and its definitely not "admin" www.cfainstitute.org/en/programs/cfa/charterholder-careers/roles/financial-analyst#:~:text=What%20is%20Financial%20Analyst%3F,strong%20mathematical%20and%20analytical%20skills.

"Administrative work can encompass a wide variety of duties. Administrative workers are those who provide support to a company. This support might include general office management , answering phones , speaking with clients, assisting an employer, clerical work (including maintaining records and entering data), or a variety of other tasks."

from Google

Which is why I was confused when you finish up your posts saying employers want the best candidate for the lowest salary

because not so in your case. They’ve got someone you met the requirement for a management role but is paid for a role with less responsibility?

No I would consider an analyst an admin role but I might be guilty of thinking that someone in an analyst role worked in admin where I work because likely they would be housed (officed) in an admin department whereas I am housed in another department.

Differences of admin vs analyst

Business administration include topics such as finance, marketing, economics, accounting, and management..

Business analytics / analyst focus on applying data and computer-based skills to the field of business, including programming languages, analytics framework, statistical analysis, data visualization, and modeling.

I feel a need to channel Al Murray here

I suppose it depends on the company/industry, but analysts are certainly not synonymous with admin in my field. Some of the senior data privacy analysts at my last company were paid £60-70k and mid-manager level.

It's easy enough to step up from an admin/business support role into an analyst role as a career path.

I’m an analyst in a finance role, I do a fair bit of analytical research along with admin however years ago I think it would have been classed as an administrative role. I think analyst is just some swanky job title introduced to make the job sound better. They can call me what they like as long as I’m paid(very well). Like a PP has said there’s an administrative effort in majority of jobs now as it’s all computer based.

I've been an analyst and there wasn't admin in it nor was it an admin job. It was either in tech department or business.

I thought admin was more like managing calendars, entering invoices, organsing travel, answering phones, managing mail, etc.

Admin and analyst are both terms that cover a huge number of roles. Plus most graduate jobs will include some admin ime.

Admin isn't an insult. Analyst isn't a compliment.

This is the sort of thing I meant. I used to work with a pensions admin department who were very knowledgeable in their own rights, many of whom had professional qualifications to match. They weren't there to assist anyone, they had their own important function. I could see many companies giving them analyst titles or similar these days to differentiate from general admin roles like reception, office manager etc.

Admin may well be a legacy term for the job you're doing.

I’m my office we have admin staff that are paid more than some analysts. They are hugely valued and well paid to reflect that. It’s certainly not a menial role, we’d be lost without them.

I've taught organisation theory for years. Your manager sounds like somebody who doesn't understand the difference between staff and line functions in management and therefore thinks of everything pertaining to the former as "admin". Which it isn't- a lot of staff functions are analytical, just think of prime ministers' offices. What you could legitimately call them is support functions to the decision-makers, but that's something different from admin.

Do I understand correctly that you are leaving your current company and the new job is in a different organisation?

Have you told your current boss how much more you are being paid? That should remove any suggestions that it is a step down form what you are doing right now.

But, why do you care what they think?

Similar experience as me. I'm a Business Analyst (an underpaid one by comparison) and my job sounded so complex and important that I was certain I was well underqualified for it when the recruiter put me forward anyway.

Turns out you don't need half of the shite they asked for including qalifications (which they promised they would put you on a course for - that was a lie) and you end up doing a ton of stuff they didn't have in the job description and that are definitely not Business Analyst tasks.

None of them are Admin type tasks though. Any admin is all personal management stuff that comes with any role you do.