Administrative Assistant Review

My role is administrative assistant in Personnel Services at the University of Oxford. I work, primarily, with the Adverts team and the Reward Team as well as the HR Policy Team. Because of the nature of my role I am often in contact with Lots of departments across the university, from Chemistry to Clinical Neurosciences... Each department is frequently looking to hire new people to fill new roles and so it is my job to make sure these roles are advertised on our website and with over 13,600 staff working for the university currently, you can appreciate that there's always plenty to do! My daily responsibilities include emailing new job adverts to external job sites for them to advertise, managing the adverts team inbox, answering a wide variety of queries from HR staff across the university, grading new jobs or completing regradings on behalf of the reward team, Adding job adverts to our site using a web content management system and completing research on market pay to collate data on median pay for various job roles across the UK as well as a few other bits and bobs such as comparing financial information from other universities with Oxford University. I also order stationary for the office and manage the petty cash tin.

Yes! Oxford University really looks after their apprentices and I was given specific jobs from day one which really made me feel like a valued member of the team. I have received training in HERA (Higher Education Role Analysis) meaning I've learnt how to grade jobs in order to determine how much someone should be paid in relation to the gravity of the responsibilities on their job description. I have also received various training in online security and data protection which will be transferable to most jobs. I have also received training within the university on various IT courses, all free of charge and directly related to my job. My managers have been really good at explaining new processes and making sure I feel confident in the role I am doing.

I have really enjoyed my programme, I was actually studying at university myself when I decided it wasn't for me and I wanted to do something else instead. In my opinion the experience and knowledge I have gained from my apprenticeship is far more valuable and better looking on a CV than what I was doing previously, not to mention I'm now getting paid. My job occasionally gets a bit tedious but this is the reality of working, it can't always be fun, however I would say that I do look forward to coming to work and I feel as though I'm valued by my colleagues and managers - something I definitely didn't experience when I working in the service industry.

Considering I'm the first apprentice in my particular department, I would say it's been really organised although I'm only 4 months into my programme. So far it's felt very organised both in regards to my employer and the college who are running the qualification side of things.

I receive really good support from my employer. Both my managers are very kind, charismatic people who I feel confident in asking for advice or guidance. They always make sure I haven't got too much on my plate before asking me to do something else and there is actually nobody in the whole office who is difficult to get along with. My managers are very good at explaining things and always willing to help.

I receive really positive and useful feedback from my external assessor and training coordinator, they are both really friendly and have been good at explaining the college side of things although I have yet to attend the actual course as it doesn't start until May, I would say they have been relatively organised so far.

It is quite difficult to answer this as I only started my programme 4 months ago and have yet to attend the college course. However my employer has provided outstanding training so far which has assisted me within my role. I would however say that the areas of evidence required within my portfolio are very relevant to my job and I have not struggled to find good examples to fill these.

Yeah there's lots of staff benefits and staff are openly able to join university sports clubs and societies. We also had a really nice Christmas party in which the university paid for drinks and cuisine. I have attended networking events and cross-department HR events in which I have been able to meet the staff that I work with, I have also been in contact with other apprentices who are based within different teams and departments to myself. As a university staff member you also get access to the Oxford university club, which houses a gym and bar etc and you can also purchase food here for a good price.

Yes

Honestly it's such a good place to work, I cannot stress this enough! I was someone who left a different university as a postgraduate student because I wanted to do something else more engaging in which I could earn money too and Oxford University has been the perfect place to do that. There are so many departments and thus a really wide range of apprenticeships on offer, from Junior Electrical Engineer to HR administrator. You will be given an actual role within your team - you won't just be an added on extra who photocopies! Working at Oxford University will look really good on your CV purely because it is such a worldwide renowned institution for education and research. The training and experience you receive will definitely but you in good standing for a full time position too! Another thing worth mentioning is Oxford University pays their apprentices exceptionally well, as of the time I am writing this (February 2019) you will start on £17,079 per year and this will increase to £19,202 as you progress through your programme. Most places barely pay more than the government's minimum - which is horrendously low! Oxford University is definitely in my opinion your number 1 option in the whole county for apprenticeships! Thank you for taking the time to read my review.

First of all, you don't need to be exceptionally academically gifted. I scraped through my GCSEs with a few C's and I've never really understood maths! but that doesn't matter, As long as you have a good, comprehensive CV and make yourself sound like a driven and interesting individual who is serious about giving it 100% on your application then that's all that matters. also you may have to complete a test during your interview but this is nothing to be afraid of, just take your time and work methodically and try to be articulate and charismatic in your interview. good luck!