Changing careers
I want to change my career from food service to clerical work. However, I have no work experience in the field I want to go into. My resume on here indicates I’ve always done food service jobs. What should I do?
Don't students and employees at academia have access to free software license but for a limited time regardless of their profession? It depends on the type of program. To maximize your experience and productivity when using the software, perhaps consult an expert.
Take a course in accounting or bookkeeping
Take a microsoft office class to gain the skills you need. At the end you will get a certificate. Employers look favorably upon this certificate of training for office programs.
Take computer classes & then try to get a job in the field
Make sure you're up to date with your computer skills first!
Think back over your work in food service. You have already used several clerical skills Review these skills and emphasize the ones you are opmfortable with in your resume' and interviews. Top Clerical Skills
Attention to Detail Clerical work involves paying attention to the day-to-day details of an office, things other people might overlook, such as answering and keeping track of emails, tracking appointments, and more. A clerk or secretary needs to be able to focus on these details, and not let anything slip through the cracks.
Analytical
Making travel arrangements
Prioritization
Problem solving
Reasoning
Record keeping
Scheduling appointments
Typing
Communication Clerical workers need to have strong written and oral communication skills. They will typically answer phones, write memos, send emails, and greet clients and customers.
They, therefore, must be able to speak and write clearly and effectively. They need to convey information in a way that is easy to understand.
Answering phones
Communication
Correspondence
Customer service
Email
Faxing
Front desk
Language skills
Listening
Oral communication
Proofreading
Writing
Computer Skills In this day and age, computer skills are critical for any clerical job. Clerks and secretaries have to be quick and accurate typists. They are also typically required to do some data entry, so they should be familiar with Excel and other data entry software. They should also be familiar with other Microsoft Office software, such as Word and PowerPoint. Any additional computer skills, such as the ability to design or edit web pages, would be considered a big plus.
Data entry
Data management
Database fluency
Desktop publishing
Microsoft Office
Office machines
Word processing
Numeracy Much clerical work involves numeracy. Some clerks are in charge, to a degree, of bookkeeping and/or accounting for a company. It requires numeracy skills. The ability to calculate sums quickly is a positive quality in a clerk or secretary.
Accounting
Accuracy
Billing
Bookkeeping
Budgeting
Expense
Spreadsheets
Technology
Organization Clerks and secretaries must be organized. They are in charge of making sure the office runs smoothly. It involves keeping track of the employer’s schedule, answering emails and phone calls, and maintaining files. All of this takes a lot of organizational skill.
Decision making
Delivering mail
Efficient
Filing
Management
Multitasking
Oversight
Photocopying and collating
Planning
Sorting
Time management
Soft Skills
In addition to these top five clerical skills, the best office workers also possess soft skills that are often innate personality traits rather than learned competencies. These include strong interpersonal skills, teamwork, flexibility, dependability, creativity, adaptability, and creativity. They are essential characteristics for office managers, receptionists, personal assistants, office assistants, and executive assistants.
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First, you want to make sure that you are knowledgeable in the typical software used in clerical jobs. This includes Microsoft Office Suite... Word, Outlook, Excel, Powerpoint, Sharepoint. Be sure you are at the very least proficient in them. After that, you STILL may have difficulty. It's a pretty competitive field. So your best bet would be to look for entry-level positions. These often require very little or no experience at all. Entry-level doesn't pay well at first but it gets your foot in the door and helps you get some experience under your belt. Good luck!
There are online courses that offer certification and some are free. This might help you get into the field. You could also intern and obtain experience but still work in the food industry while you learn and complete internships that could potentially help you obtain a job. Best of luck .
What should I do? I have no work experience in the field I want to go into.
One would think if one does not have experience in a certain field than one would get training in that field. ...YOU THINK?
Well changing careers is a very hard thing to do !!! And if you are 35 to 40 with little education ! Really hard. Would have to go back to school. Once you work in a certain carrer it is very hard to change ! Unless you already have another trade like. Mechanics. Carpenter. And such. Keep doing what you are doing and become better than anyone else !!!