Explore & Discover

Role Description

1. Entry requirements

There are no set requirements to become a personal assistant (PA), but you’ll need proven experience of administrative work.

Employers will usually look for a good standard of general education, including GCSEs in English and maths. A recognised qualification in office skills or administration, or a business-related foundation degree, HND or degree could all help you find a job.

Foreign language qualifications may also be useful if you plan to work in an organisation that deals with overseas visitors and clients. Having extra skills like shorthand and audio typing can also help you get in. 

Temporary work (temping) can be a good way of getting administration experience and can lead to a permanent job.

You could get into this job through an apprenticeship.

2. Skills required

You’ll need:

• excellent organisational and time management skills 
• good written and spoken communication skills 
• accuracy and attention to detail 
• a calm and professional manner 
• excellent computer and administration skills 
• a flexible and adaptable approach to work 
• the ability to use your own initiative 
• tact and discretion, for dealing with confidential information

3. What you'll do

Your day-to-day tasks may include:

• screening telephone calls and handling enquiries 
• organising your manager’s diary and making appointments
• dealing with letters and emails 
• arranging meetings 
• organising and maintaining office systems 
• taking notes at meetings 
• making travel arrangements 
• looking after visitors

Many managers rely heavily on their PA and give them a high level of responsibility, so in some jobs you may have extra tasks like:

1. standing in for the manager in their absence 
2. acting as office manager and supervising other administrative staff 
3. dealing with accounts and budgets 
4. taking on project work, like research or producing reports and presentations

4. Salary

Starter: £18,000 to £25,000

Experienced: £25,000 to £40,000

Highly Experienced: £40,000 to £50,000

These figures are a guide.

5. Working hours, patterns and environment

You’ll usually work 37 to 40 hours a week Monday to Friday, possibly with extra hours to meet deadlines. 

You’ll be based in an office, but may travel to go to meetings and other events.

6. Career path and progression

With experience, you could take on more responsibility by moving to a larger company or working for a more senior manager. 

Promotion to management may also be possible.

Role Description

You'll need:

• the ability to inspire and motivate
• the ability to manage classes and deal with challenging behaviour
• creativity to design activities and materials
• IT, organisational and planning skills​​
  

What you'll do

Most teaching jobs are in state schools and academies, but you could also work in independent schools, pupil referral units and hospitals. You could also register with an agency to provide ‘supply’ cover for other teachers. 

You'll teach at key stage 3 (ages 11 to 14) and key stage 4 (ages 15 to 16). You may also teach in a sixth form (ages 16 to 19).

Your day-to-day tasks may include:

• planning and preparing lessons
• teaching your specialist subject
• creating a safe learning environment
• setting and marking essays and exams
• checking students’ progress
• developing new courses and teaching materials
• classroom administration and record keeping
• attending meetings and training courses

Role Description

1. Entry requirements

There are no entry set requirements, but a good general secondary education would be useful. 

Experience of working in a kitchen, in hospitality or a catering service may also be helpful.

You could complete a college qualification in catering, but this isn't essential.

You could get into this job through an apprenticeship.

2. Skills required

You'll need:

the ability to carry out tasks quickly and competently

the ability to pick up detailed instructions quickly and follow them closely

good spoken communication skills

3. What you'll do

Your day-to-day duties could include:

supporting chefs in a specific work section

washing, peeling and preparing food items

using a variety of kitchen equipment such as mixers, special knives and cutters.

unloading deliveries

organising the storeroom

washing kitchen appliances, work surfaces, floors and walls

4. Salary

Starter: £11,500 to £12,500

Experienced: up to £16,500

These figures are a guide.

5. Working hours, patterns and environment

You'll usually work shifts, evenings, weekends and public holidays. If you're based at a factory or catering business, your hours are likely to be more regular than in a restaurant. Part-time, casual or seasonal work may be available.

Your working environment will often be hot, busy and noisy. You may find this work unsuitable if you suffer from certain skin conditions.

You'll usually be provided with a uniform.

6. Career path and progression

With experience and further training, you could become a trainee or junior chef. You could also progress into management or move into bar work or food service.

Role Description

You'll make metal products from flat sheets like ducting, pipes, panels and storage tanks. You could be working with anything from aluminium sheets for street signs to steel panels for car bodies.

Your day-to-day tasks may include:

• marking out sections following engineering drawings and instructions
• shaping and cutting out sections using hand tools and Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machines, like laser cutters, presses and rollers
• finishing items with grinders and polishers
• assembling sections using riveting, welding and bolting methods

In heavy industry, where you might be known as a plater, you could build structures like ship hulls or drilling platforms using thicker metal plate.

Role Description

Skills required

You’ll need:

• creativity
• the ability to work with garden design drawings
• organisational skills
• practical skills to work with a variety of tools, and possibly small plant machinery
• business skills, if you decide to become self-employed

What you'll do

Your day-to-day duties may include:

• discussing clients’ needs 
• working from plans made by garden designers or landscape architects
• ordering supplies
• preparing the ground or interior space
• turfing and seeding lawns
• planting and pruning trees and shrubs
• putting in new plants
• installing features like paving, paths, water features and rock gardens
• advising the client on how to look after the space
• providing on-going maintenance

Role Description

Entry requirements

There are no set requirements but some employers may expect you to have a degree. Relevant subjects include:

advertising
media and communications
digital marketing
journalism
public relations
business management
You could get into this job without a degree if you have the skills and experience in areas like marketing, advertising or PR. 

You can do college courses in social media and business. 

You could also start as an assistant manager and work your way up. 

You’ll usually need some knowledge and experience of social media. To get experience you could:

manage your own social media profiles
volunteer to manage social media for a charitable organisation
ask to get involved in social media sites of the company you already work for
You’ll need excellent IT skills as you’ll be using social media software and tools. You’ll also need knowledge of search engine optimisation (SEO) methods and ‘key’ or ‘searched for’ words to drive more users to your social media site.

Experience of graphic design and digital editing software can help. You can use these skills to make your social media posts better by adding videos, photos and infographics.

You could get into this job through a creative and digital media apprenticeship.

iCould has a video interview with a social media assistant.

Skills required

You’ll need:

an eye for detail and the ability to work accurately
the ability to deal with more than one task at a time
creativity
presentation skills
an analytical approach to data
writing skills

What you'll do

You’ll monitor and upload content to sites like:

Facebook and Twitter
Instagram and Pinterest
YouTube and Vine
Your day-to-day duties may include:

updating social media sites
writing blogs, articles and posts
responding to social media posts and developing discussions
checking online for company mentions and customer feedback
searching for interesting posts, news and articles to attract site visitors
overseeing competitions and campaigns promoting your company
taking part in conferences and group chat relevant to your industry or company
educating other staff on social media use
promoting social media use within your company
developing strategies to increase your audience
using social media tools like Hootsuite, TweetDeck or Buffer to manage multiple sites
using web tracking tools like Google Analytics, Social Report or Bitly

Salary

Starter: £23,000

Experienced: £25,000 to £35,000

Highly Experienced: £75,000 (head social media manager)

These figures are a guide.

Working hours, patterns and environment

You’ll usually work normal office hours, 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. You may need to work evenings and weekends when working on a campaign or with deadlines.

If you’re freelance, you may work longer hours depending on the needs of your clients and the amount of work you take on.

You’ll be based in an office and spend a lot of time working on a computer. You may also attend meetings and make presentations about your work to clients or colleagues.

Career path and progression

With experience, you could move into managing social media for larger companies or progress to a senior or head social media manager job.

Role Description

Your day-to-day tasks may include:

• unloading scaffolding from a lorry
• creating a stable base on the ground
• putting up scaffolding poles and attaching horizontal tubes to them
• fixing scaffolding to a building
• laying planks across scaffolding for workers to walk on
• fixing guard rails and safety nets
• taking down scaffolding after a job

Role Description

You'll be helping people in their own homes or in day centres, residential or nursing homes.

Your day-to-day duties may include:

• getting to know clients and their interests and needs
• helping with personal care like washing, using the toilet and dressing
• food preparation, feeding and giving out medication
• carrying out general tasks like housework, laundry and shopping
• helping clients manage their budget, pay bills and write letters
• supporting families to get used to new caring responsibilities
• giving emotional and practical support to children and young people
• working with other health and social care professionals to provide individual care and development plans
• helping to organise leisure activities
• going with clients to and from a residential home