Industry Sectors

Role Description

1. Entry requirements

There are no set requirements. You could start this career with a background in journalism, marketing or IT, or with business experience.

You’ll usually need experience of writing content, although not necessarily online. You could gain this by:

• blogging or writing on social media 
• writing marketing materials or newsletters 
• volunteering for a student newspaper, charity or community group

Knowledge of web design, desktop publishing and photo editing will be useful. A portfolio of work to show employers would also be helpful.

You could also take a course that would teach you some of the skills needed for producing web content, like journalism, publishing, media and communications, or PR and marketing.

2. Skills required

You’ll need:

• organisational skills and the ability to meet deadlines 
• financial management and negotiating skills 
• confident presentation skills 
• the ability to build relationships with clients and partners 
• an excellent grasp of English grammar, punctuation and spelling 
• the ability to write for a target audience 
• creative skills to find interesting ways to present information and to generate new ideas 
• attention to detail, for example when proofreading

3. What you'll do

You’ll work on websites or company intranets.

Your day-to-day duties might include:

• taking a lead role in maintaining and developing a site 
• attending meetings to plan and develop site content, style and appearance 
• using web content management systems (CMS) 
• analysing website usage statistics 
• writing reports for senior managers, clients and partnership organisations 
• carrying out quality assurance checks on content 
• reporting technical problems to IT support staff 
• The type of content you might work on could include:
• e-commerce, like online shopping or banking 
• product advertising and retail catalogues 
• local, national and international news reports 
• social media output 
• college and university websites 
• online public information and government services
• In larger companies, you might manage an editorial team. You’ll have a more 'hands on' role in smaller organisations.
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4. Salary

Starter: £25,000 to £28,000

Experienced: £32,000 to £40,000

Highly Experienced: £55,000 or more

These figures are a guide.

5. Working hours, patterns and environment

You’ll usually work 35 to 40 hours a week, Monday to Friday. You may sometimes need to work overtime to meet deadlines.

Most of your work will be office-based at a computer. There may be some out-of-office duties, like attending meetings with clients or partners.

6. Career path and progression

You could progress into information management, search engine optimisation (SEO), technical web development or wider information planning and policy roles.

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:

• excellent analytical skills
• the ability to work with people at all levels
• the ability to lead and motivate a team
• the ability to prioritise tasks and meet deadlines
• the ability to anticipate issues and respond to unforeseen changes

You’ll work with senior managers and other professionals to support changes to the way an organisation works, like:

• improving decision-making processes
• supporting the introduction of a new IT system
• developing a marketing and sales strategy
• Your day-to-day duties might include:
• speaking to managers to find out what they want to achieve
• carrying out fact finding tasks into business processes to see what they do and how they do it
• analysing findings and using data modelling methods to help recommend changes and improvements
• explaining the benefits of your recommendations and looking at the potential impact and risks
• agreeing the best way to put recommended changes into place with management
• overseeing testing and quality checks of recommendations
• supporting staff making changes and reporting any issues
• In some cases, you may be responsible for managing a project through to completion.

Role Training

Entry requirements

There are no set requirements, but previous project management experience and a working knowledge of project development methods like Waterfall or Agile will be helpful. A technical background, like in software development or programming, can also help.

It may be useful to have a first or higher degree in subjects like:

• business information systems
• business management
• computing and systems development
• computer science
• Employers may look for recognised certification of your skills from a professional body, like The International Institute of Business Analysis UK (IIBA) or The Chartered Institute for IT (BCS).

You could get into this career through a degree apprenticeship.

Role Description

1. Entry requirements

There are no set requirements but competition is strong so you’ll usually need a foundation degree or a degree.

If you want to go into quantitative work (analysis based on numbers), these degrees may be useful:

• maths
• statistics
• business/management
• economics
• For qualitative work (analysis based on language), useful degrees include:
• psychology
• sociology
• geography
• social sciences
• anthropology

English or marketing degrees are also useful, as well as sciences or engineering for some specialist industrial jobs. 

You’ll also find it useful to have previous experience in marketing, sales or advertising, or as a market research interviewer. 

You could get a paid internship or join a graduate training scheme. You could also start as a research assistant in an agency and then take further qualifications.

The Market Research Society (MRS) has more information about careers in market research.

2. Skills required

You’ll need:

excellent number and IT skills

the ability to analyse and interpret statistics

written communication skills for report writing and designing questionnaires

creative problem-solving skills

accuracy and attention to detail

organisational and time-management skills

initiative and teamwork skills

3. What you'll do

As a market research executive, you’ll specialise in one type of research – consumer or industrial, social or political. You’ll carry out research using one of 2 main methods:

quantitative – analysis based on numbers, from surveys of large samples of people

qualitative – analysis based on language, from focus groups and in-depth questionnaires

Depending on the type of research, in your work you’ll usually:

meet clients to discuss research projects

come up with a plan or proposal and present it to the client

manage a budget

design questionnaires and organise surveys

brief interviewers and researchers

monitor progress of surveys

analyse data and present results to the client

advise the client how they can best use the research

Most jobs involve a lot of computer work, for background research and to analyse information and produce reports.

4. Salary

Starter: £20,000 to £25,000

Experienced: £25,000 to £35,000

Highly Experienced: £60,000 (senior market research executive)

These figures are a guide.

5. Working hours, patterns and environment

If you work as a quantitative researcher in-house for a company, you’ll usually work in an office with standard hours, Monday to Friday, with occasional overtime to meet project deadlines.

If you work as a qualitative researcher, you’ll often work evenings and weekends to travel to visit clients and focus groups. You may need a driving licence and a car.

6. Career path and progression

With experience, you could progress into management, or become a self-employed market research consultant. 

You could also move into the promotional side of advertising or marketing.

Role Description

1. Entry requirements

You may find it useful to have GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) or equivalent, in subjects like English and maths.

A qualification in administration or secretarial skills may help. Employers also value experience, which you could get by temping or volunteering.

You could get into this job through an apprenticeship.

2. Skills required

You'll need:

• an excellent telephone manner
• skills in IT and administration
• the ability to use your initiative and solve problems
• organisational and time management skills
• 3. What you'll do
• You could work in the public or private sectors or for a charity.
• Your day-to-day tasks could include:
• being the first point of contact for visitors, phone calls and emails
• arranging meetings and taking minutes
• diary management and making travel arrangements 
• producing letters, reports, spreadsheets and invoices
• updating records on IT systems
• photocopying, printing and filing
• handling confidential information

4. Salary

Starter: £14,000 to £16,000

Experienced: £17,000 to £20,000

Highly Experienced: £25,000

These figures are a guide.

5. Working hours, patterns and environment

You'll usually work in an office, 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

You could also work part-time or get temporary work.

6. Career path and progression

With experience, you could become a personal assistant or office manager.

You could also move into human resources work, or train as a legal or medical secretary.

Role Description

You may work for a local education authority, social services, or a voluntary organisation. You'll accompany passengers on journeys, usually in a mini-bus.

• Your day-to-day tasks may include:
• checking timetables for pick-ups
• talking to carers and families
• helping people to and from the vehicle
• securing passengers, wheelchairs and baggage
• dealing with emergencies
• supervising passengers at all times
• keeping the mini-bus tidy
• filling in paperwork
• You'll need patience and an understanding of disability needs.

Role Training

There are no set entry requirements. Experience in social care or customer service may help you get a job. You could start by volunteering for a charity like a hospice.

With experience, you could move into administration or management.

You could also become a driver, which would open up more full-time opportunities.

Role Description

Skills required

You'll need:

1. a high level of accuracy and attention to detail
2. excellent communication skills

What you'll do

Your role and tasks will vary by industry.

In the pharmaceutical, food or brewing industries, your work will include:

• developing new products
• monitoring production
• quality control
• checking the safety of existing products

In a hospital, public health laboratory or research institute, your work will include:

• carrying out tests on blood
• researching the causes of disease
• exploring new methods of treatment

In agriculture and the environment, your work will include:

• genetically engineering plants to create pest-resistant crops
• improving the quantity of crops
• developing and extending the shelf life of produce
• monitoring the effects of pollution on the environment

As a biochemist in education, you could work in universities, colleges and schools, or medical, veterinary or dental schools.

Role Training

You'll usually need a science degree. For jobs in industry or research, you may also need a postgraduate qualification (MSc or PhD).

Relevant first or higher degree subjects include:

• biochemistry
• biotechnology
• biopharmaceuticals
• cell and molecular biology
• chemical and molecular biology
• microbiology genetics
• molecular biology

In the NHS, you can train by following the NHS Scientist Training Programme (STP).

Role Description

1. Entry requirements

There are no set requirements, but you'll need a good level of general education. GCSEs in English, maths and ICT may be useful.

Experience or a qualification in customer service or contact centre operations could also help.

You could get into this job through an apprenticeship.

2. Skills required

You'll need:

excellent customer service skills

the ability to handle and resolve difficult situations

IT and administration skills

accuracy and attention to detail

3. What you'll do

You could work in a variety of organisations like retail, finance, travel or manufacturing, or for a local authority or the government.

Your day-to-day activities may include:

answering customers' questions by phone, email, webchat or face-to-face

giving quotations and checking product availability

selling and taking payment

handling complaints or passing them to a manager

entering customer information onto a computer database

tracking orders and giving refunds

4. Salary

Starter: £12,500

Experienced: up to £18,000

Highly Experienced: £20,000 to £30,000 (team leaders)

You may get a bonus or commission.

These figures are a guide.

5. Working hours, patterns and environment

You'll usually work 37 to 40 hours a week, which may include evening and weekend shifts.

You could work in an office or on a customer service desk. You'll spend a lot of your time on the phone and using a computer.

You may need to wear a uniform.

6. Career path and progression

With experience, you could progress to team leader or customer services manager.

You could also move into sales or account handling.