5 Office Jobs You Can Do Without Experience

Who doesn’t love the idea of an office job? You clock in, spend your day in a nice warm room, working at a computer station. Sometimes you stop for a cup of coffee, and sometimes you even have a little friendly banter with your co-workers.

But how can you find these types of jobs? And can you work an office job with no experience?

Administrator

When most people think of office jobs, an administrator is usually one of the first roles that comes to mind. That said, becoming an administrator may be harder than you think.

Unlike the other jobs on this list, admin jobs aren’t always easy to get with no experience. Employers see it as a serious responsibility that facilitates better internal communications and smoother running of the company across the board.

All the same, getting into admin with no experience can certainly be possible under the right circumstances. First of all, you have to have the right skillset. If you’re just not the kind of person who’s good with details, then admin may not be for you. When writing your CV, you’ll want to stress examples of times when you were organised, prepared, and worked well with others.

Secondly, you’ll need to be willing to apply for jobs that aren’t a perfect fit for your CV. Never let the requirements get in the way of your application. Hiring managers tend to write their job listings optimistically and are often willing to give a chance to imperfect candidates—those without the required experience or qualifications—if they can’t find a better fit.

Lastly, internships can be a great route into admin. If you’re passionate about what the company does as a whole, then an internship role will often involve doing lots of junior level admin work. If you can show you’re good at that work, then the company just might consider keeping you on.

Receptionist

Getting receptionist jobs with no experience is a lot easier than getting admin roles. Receptionist jobs are simple, public facing roles, that mostly call for someone who can communicate clearly and listen/take instructions. That’s a perfect entry-level role.

A receptionist job can also be a great bridge to bigger and better things. Many receptionists—particularly in the hospitality industry—end up as all-rounders, filling in for other everyday jobs when work at the front desk is slow. This is a perfect chance to show independence and demonstrate that you’ve the mindset to be a manager.

After all, most companies would rather promote someone they know and trust than hire someone new.

IT

Working in IT is one of the more skilled entry-level roles you can go for however, contrary to what many people think, it doesn’t require a degree. Having a degree certainly helps but if you’ve got the knowledge and understanding and you can show that in an interview, then many places will be willing to take you on in an entry-level capacity.

In fact, having one or two less experienced people is often useful for an IT department. One of the hardest challenges of IT is less about the technical side of things and more about communicating technical information to non-technical employees. Having an entry-level person around allows for a bridge role to facilitate better communications between both sides of the business.

Customer Service

While it might not be the most popular role in the world, there’s a lot to be said for working in customer service. As beginner office jobs go, it’s fairly easy to get into without experience. At the same time, it’ll serve to give you the experience you need. Once you’ve worked in customer service, you’ll have developed many useful skills that other employers will value.

Of course, let’s not sugar coat things. There is a major downside to working in customer service and that’s that it requires a lot of patience. When people contact customer service, they’re often angry, confused, and frustrated with your company. As a representative of that company, you’ll face the brunt of their anger. You probably haven’t personally caused their problem but you’re likely to get shouted at for it all the same.

To put it bluntly, customer service is a gauntlet. If you stay in customer service for more than a year or two, then future employers will see that you’ve got a tough skin and that you can handle anything the public throws at you. It’s not for the faint of heart but it will legitimately help you build job skills that will be useful for future employment.