Administration’s new earning potential
The latest SEEK Top 20 Australia’s highest-paying jobs shine a spotlight on the bright future ahead for administration with a 13.64% increase in average salary over the last five years. The highest paying jobs are Personal Assistant/Executive Assistant roles with an average of $72,061 per year. Contracts Administration earns $66,595 per year and Office Management a steady $66,122 per year.
Specialist employment agency Robert Half reports that executive assistants find the best salaries in Sydney at $85,000, followed by Melbourne at $75,000.
Also, job vacancies for administration are at a record high leaving scope for a committed candidate to take the pick of the best jobs on offer.
The best salaries for executive assistant roles are Sydney at $85,000, followed by Melbourne at $75,000. Click To Tweet
How to advance your career
Most careers in administration begin with office assistant roles and advance to office manager, personal assistant, administrative assistant or officer. Depending on your skill and interest base you can move from here to roles with added responsibility and larger salaries, including:
- Executive Assistant
- Office Manager
- Administrative Officer
- Practice Manager
- Finance Manager
Hays Job Report predicts demand for hybrid workers, like personal assistants who can work across departments, such as both marketing and executive. Receptionists that can also do multiple duties like PA and other secretarial tasks are highly valued.
At the higher end of the earning capacity, Executive Assistants who are willing to develop board meeting secretarial capacity will find many promotion opportunities.
Increasing use of administration technology
Any administration role involves the proficient use of computers and more commonly, also an array of people and resource management software. Areas of business being innovated by software administration include diary, records, event, and project management tools. Some popular applications used are:
- Slack
- Dropbox
- Evernote
- ScheduleOnce
- MailTracker
- MailChimp
Career administrators are expected to be across these trends, be able to make recommendations and roll out use among users. You can find yourself training others in how to use a wider range of technology than ever before.
Website and social media management is another area that offices are asking administration to handle. For this reason, it’s a great idea to understand how to produce and implement a social media and technology use agreement for an office. When you find the line between administration and marketing beginning to blur and you are being asked to write the monthly company newsletter, and manage Mailchimp, then it might be an optimal time to ask for a pay rise.
Gaining career confidence
A Diploma of Business Administration (BSB50415) will give you the practical knowledge to be able to handle all administration tasks that your employer and senior managers may expect you to be across from the beginning. A qualification will also give you the confidence to take on more responsibility than you might have been willing to tackle without one. Showing what you are capable of, as often as possible is a proven way to advance your career into promotion opportunities.
Another common administration career pathway is into human resources by gaining a Diploma of Human Resources Management (BSB50618) . Human resources duties include administrating payroll, hiring new staff, resolving staff complaints and organising staff events.
Keys to an administration career
Administration is a role that can give a lifetime of value and job satisfaction. Thankfully now it is also a role that can bring economic certainty and higher earning potential. Experience and formal qualifications are the keys to long-term career success in your chosen administration pathway.
The entire BSB training package has undergone a review and overhaul from PWC and AISC. In October 2020, the new Diploma of Business (Operations) (BSB50120) course was announced, superseding and expanding on the older Diploma of Business Administration (BSB50415). The Diploma of Business (Operations) (BSB50120) focuses on the operations of a business, particularly key transferable skills in business administration, finance and communication, to create a more holistic and future-focused business qualification. Learn more about the Diploma of Business (Operations) (BSB50120) here.