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Most In-Demand Administrative and Support Occupations

By Ashley Rowe on March 15, 2013 in Office/Admin Support.

According to the most recent BLS jobs report, the professional and business services industry was responsible for adding 73,000 jobs in February, the most of any US sector. Specifically, the largest gain was in administrative and support services. Considering that this industry contributed to the lowest unemployment rate seen in the past 4 years, we thought we'd look at overall hiring demand in this specific area. In February, there were over 411,000 job ads posted online in the administrative support industry, an 8% increase over the same time last year. Below are the most in-demand occupations.

Most Commonly Advertised Occupations in the Administrative and Support Industry

  1. Security Guards
  2. Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products
  3. Registered Nurses
  4. Software Developers, Applications
  5. Sales Representatives, Services, All Other
  6. Sales Agent, Financial Services
  7. Computer Systems Analysts
  8. Web Developers
  9. Customer Service Representatives
  10. Marketing Managers

Employers in this industry posted ads for a variety of occupations, from Security Guards to Marketing Managers. Sales and IT positions appeared in multiple places. Registered Nurses also made the list. It may be surprising to see this job among the other occupations, however, in some cases these job ads are advertised by office administrative services which falls under the broader industry of administrative and support and waste management and remediation services.

Out of the occupations listed above, Security Guard is likely to be the least difficult position to recruit on average, scoring a 13 on our Hiring Scale (out of a possible 99, with 99 denoting difficult-to-fill.) Web Developer is likely to be the hardest-to-fill position, scoring an average of 92. Recruiters may encounter less challenging conditions for Web Developers in Huntsville (AL). Despite having the lowest score, the hiring environment in this city is still likely to be difficult with a score of 69.

Hiring Scale for Web Developers in
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services

Hiring Scale for Web Developers in Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services

SOURCE: WANTED Analytics

Read Best Cities in the US to Recruit Web Developers for more information on sourcing this talent.

Do you have a job req that is hard-to-fill? Find out which cities have the best recruiting conditions with a free trial of WANTED Analytics.

Already and Analytics user? Log in here. We've already added the administrative and support and waste management and remediation services industry.

Are Skills Gaps the Real Issue?

By Ashley Rowe on July 28, 2012 in Office/Admin Support, Sales.

There have been many articles talking about skills gaps and their causes. New Yorker’s recent article, Mind the Gap* highlights a different perspective suggesting that skilled workers are out there, companies just aren’t hiring them.  While it’s difficult to recruit for some industries like engineering because skilled workers are hard to find, this article says businesses consider less technical positions hard-to-fill such as Sales Reps and Office Support due to unqualified talent. Let’s see what the actual candidate supply looks like for these occupations.

Online Job Ad & Candidate Summary for Sales and Related Occupations in the US

Sales Chart

WANTED Analytics™ shows there are approximately 11,971,000 potential candidates currently in the Sales workforce. Also, there are 409,795 current job openings. It seems that there are enough candidates in the workforce with about 29 potential candidates for every job ad. Nationally, it’s slightly on the easier side to recruit for Sales occupations. The Hiring Scale™ highlights Dalton, GA as having the best conditions for recruiting job candidates and it should take an average time-to-fill of 36 days (just over 5 weeks), which is less than the national average time to fill any position.

Hiring Scale for Sales Occupations

Online Job Ad & Candidate Summary for Office and Administrative Support Occupations in the US

Office Support Chart

Analytics estimate there are 19,570,000 potential candidates in the workforce for Office and Administrative Support Occupations nationwide and 218,635 current job openings. Nationally, it is easy to fill this position and it should take about 34 days (just under 5 weeks) to fill, which is also less than the average time to fill any position. The Hiring Scale indicates that Dalton, GA also has the best conditions for sourcing Office and Administrative Support talent.


Hiring Scale for Office Support

Both Office Support and Sales and Related Occupation shouldn't be difficult to fill positions. The New Yorker article suggests that difficulties in hiring for these positions are actually due to company processes and procedures. Businesses may experience difficulties either because of an overwhelming candidate supply, less flexible hiring processes, and/or having a large talent pool enables employers to be more scrupulous about selecting a candidate with the most relevant skills and experience.

What do you think? Why are sales related occupations and office support positions hard to fill? Is it because of candidate supply?

With a free trial of WANTED Analytics™ you can enter your search criteria to identify where to look for job candidates with specific requirements making your recruiting faster and easier.

*Please note that you have to be a New Yorker subscriber to view this article. If you would like to see a copy email Ashley.Rowe@wantedanalytics.com.

Hiring for Administrative Professionals on the Rise

By Abby Lombardi on April 24, 2012 in Office/Admin Support.

Tomorrow is Administrative Professionals Day and wanted to celebrate by looking at hiring demand for this occupation, the most commonly required skills for these professionals, and how hard-to-fill administrative assistant openings are.

During March, more than 19,400 job ads were posted online for Administrative or Executive Assistants. Hiring demand increased almost 24% last month compared to March of 2011. However, the volume of job ads have not returned to the levels seen before the recession began, when there were more than 30,000 job ads in March of 2008 for administrative professionals.

Hiring Demand for Administrative or Executive Assistants – 4 Year Hiring Trend

Hiring Demand for Administrative Assistants

Source: WANTED Analytics

We also looked at the most commonly required tools, technologies, and skills that are listed in job ads for administrative professionals:

  1. Microsoft Office
  2. Microsoft PowerPoint
  3. Microsoft Word
  4. Word processing
  5. Microsoft Excel
  6. Calendar management
  7. Filing system
  8. Microsoft Outlook
  9. Microsoft SharePoint
  10. IBM Lotus Notes
  11. Microsoft Office Visio
  12. Records management
  13. Presentation software
  14. Customer relationship management (CRM)
  15. Adobe Photoshop

Our Hiring Scale™ shows that, despite increasing demand, these jobs will be moderately easy-to-fill since there is a large supply of talent nationwide. On average, job ads remain online for 32 days –  or about 4.5 weeks – but this will vary by location, depending on local supply and demand. For example, Recruiters in Boston (Massachusetts) will experience more difficulties when sourcing potential candidates. Here, job ads stay online for an average of 39 days – 1 weeks longer than the national average.

Hiring Scale for Administrative Professionals in Boston, MA

Hiring Scale for Administrative Professionals in Boston

Source: WANTED Analytics

Are you looking for a job as an Administrative Assistant? Or, are you currently recruiting for an Executive Assistant job opening? Try our free online Hiring Scale™ to see what the competition for talent is like in your area, average salary range information, and who is hiring for this talent.

Top 10 Occupations by Hiring Demand – February 2011

By Juli Morris on March 15, 2011 in Health Care, Labor Market Dynamics, Office/Admin Support, Sales.

The Top 10 occupations posted by direct employers for February are listed below, along with the percentage change from the same period last year:

Top 10 Occupations by Ad Volume – February 2011:

Hiring Demand for Top 10 Occupations posted by Direct Employers

Source: WANTED Analytics

Demand for truck drivers saw the biggest gain over last year—up 138 percent from February 2010. This was unsurprising, given that truck tonnage was up 3.8 percent in January to its highest level since January 2008.

Office and Administrative Support – Job Search Strategies

By Charles Thibault on October 26, 2009 in Office/Admin Support.

In a difficult labor market workers may have to "start at the bottom of the corporate ladder". Recent college grads that have yet to find work, for example, may have to lower their salary expectations and simply get their foot in the door, waiting for a better position to open up around them.

In this week's discussion of WANTED's Supply/Demand Ratios, we examine the best markets for Office and Administrative Support Workers to search for employment. Office/Admin Support jobs can represent good entry-level opportunities.

Remember that our S/D Ratios homepage also ranks occupations within a market, so that those not willing to move can see which occupations are in highest demand in their market (ex.Chicago, IL).

Read more »

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