If you are a good organiser, enjoy taking responsibility and communicating with people, then a job in administration or management could be a good career for you. It is a wide ranging career area, covering many varied and interesting jobs.
Administration and management jobs exist in all industries, in both the public and private sector, so graduates of this career area are always in demand.
Across the UK, over 3.27 million people work in secretarial and administration roles (10.2% of the UK workforce) while there are nearly 3.4 million working as managers, directors and senior officials (around 10.5% of the UK workforce).
The jobs and courses for this career area are in four sectors: general administration and management; economics; human resource management; and public services administration.
There are a wide range of specialisms in this career area, from medical secretarial work to academic administration in colleges and universities. You could become a personal assistant to a business director or a project manager in IT or finance.
To see the routes to getting into each of these sectors, take a look at our Career Pathway.
You could be working in just about any type of company or organisation, for example a construction firm, car dealership, hotel, local council or hospital.
There is a large administration and management workforce in the public sector, where you could be working for:
The number of administrative and secretarial employees in Scotland has been showing a continued upward trend since 2018. In December 2021 there were 256,100 employed in this area, compared to 252,000 from the same period in 2019.
Again, however, the number of managers, directors and senior officials employed in Scotland fell: 226,800 in December 2021 (compared to 233,700 from the same period in 2020).
Employment numbers in the public sector have seen an ongoing increase: in December 2021, 589,600 people were working in the Scottish public sector, compared to 565,600 from the same period in 2020.
Public sector employment now accounts for 22.3% of total employment in Scotland (an increase of 2.8% from the previous year).
If you are looking for a career in the public sector, the Civil Service offers a number of routes into a career. The Fast Stream programme is open to graduates, other department graduate programmes and also apprenticeships. Visit the Civil Service website for more information.
Instructus Skills (formerly known as Skills CFA) provides information about skills and qualifications in the workplace including apprenticeships and training programmes across the UK for a whole range of business skills.
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