Introduction
Administrative assistants employed by local councils
provide clerical support for senior staff and managers. Many
council departments are open to the public and receive lots of
enquiries, so the job can involve a lot of contact with a
range of people. Many senior staff spend quite a bit
of time out of the office, visiting clients or making site
visits, so administrative assistants are expected to work on
their own initiative for large parts of the day and deal with
enquiries in managers' absence. Administrative
assistants work for all types of councils and across a variety
of departments.
Work Environment
Administrative assistants usually work in council
offices. Hours of work are normally 37 per week, sometimes
with opportunities for paid overtime. Opportunities to work
on a part-time or job share basis are very common.
Daily Activities
Local government administrative assistants' roles
vary depending on the departments, in which they work.
They might provide clerical support for a particular department,
for example, adult and children's services, planning, housing,
finance, HR and so on. Alternatively, they might be employed
in a central business support unit carrying out administrative
duties fora range of council departments. Administrative Assistants
undertake general administrative clerical support duties as
appropriate which includes providing clerical work forthe
department.
There is a variety of administrative tasks that might
form part of an administrative assistant's job:
- opening, sorting and distributing post;
- checking and responding to emails and telephone messages;
- answering the telephone and redirecting calls to the
appropriate people;
- filing and photocopying;
- entering information into computer systems;
- typing and sending out routine letters;
- dealing with petty cash;
- ordering office supplies;
- producing statistics;
- arranging meetings and taking minutes;
- organising conferences;
- keeping track of managers' diaries and putting in
appointments.
Skills & Interests
Local government administrative assistants need:
- a good telephone manner and ability to communicate well
with different people;
- to be methodical and wellorganised;
- good attention to detail;
- to have good ICT skills;
- to be good team workers;
- to be able to prioritise work and meet deadlines.
Entry Requirements
These vary according to the job. Local councils
often ask for a minimum of three GCSEs/S grades at C or above,
including English and maths. Equivalent qualifications such
as S/NVQs or Intermediate GNVQ/GSVQ Level ll in Business, or
relevant experience, are usually acceptable alternatives.
Keyboard skills plus OCR (RSA) or similar qualifications in word
processing may also be required.
A BTEC/SQA national certificate or diploma in business and
finance or in public administration may be an advantage when
applying for some posts. Support to complete an
Apprenticeship in Business Administration might be available once
working for the council.
Future Prospects & Opportunities
All councils employ administrative assistants. There are
prospects of promotion to jobs such as administration or business
manager and opportunities to transfer to work in other
departments.
Further Information & Services
Association of Secretaries www.uksecretaries.co.uk
Council for Administration www.cfa.uk.com
European Computer Driving Licence www.ecdl.com
Instituteof Administrative Management www.instam.org
PA Assist www.pa-assist.com
You may find further information about this area of work through
Careers Wales (www.careerswales.com/)or in your
local library, careers officeor school careers library.