Administrative assistant to typist
An administrative assistant already meets 27% of what the typist role asks for. The move turns on 9 required skills not yet in the profile.
67/ 100
1 How much of what a typist is expected to do is already part of an administrative assistant’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the typist role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A typist role treats 4 of its required skills as things an administrative assistant already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- company policies
- draft corporate emails
- transcription methods
- use microsoft office
What stands in the way is 9 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 8 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A typist role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an administrative assistant background worth leading with.
- already held transcription methods arts and humanities
- already held draft corporate emails communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held perform office routine activities management skills
- already held use microsoft office working with computers
- already held manage digital documents working with computers
- already held ensure proper document management information skills
All 8 carried skills, including the 4 the typist role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 25 missing skills fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn align content with form required
- still to learn apply grammar and spelling rules required
- still to learn liaise with typists required
- still to learn pose questions referring to documents required
- still to learn provide written content required
- optional, not held type texts from audio sources optional
- optional, not held use shorthand optional
- optional, not held write meeting reports optional
- still to learn decode handwritten texts required
- still to learn type error-free documents required
- still to learn use dictionaries required
- optional, not held compile content optional
- optional, not held maintain customer records optional
- optional, not held translate keywords into full texts optional
- optional, not held use stenotype machines optional
- still to learn use free typing techniques required
- optional, not held integrate content into output media optional
- optional, not held digitise documents optional
- optional, not held use databases optional
- optional, not held use shorthand computer program optional
- optional, not held use word processing software optional
- optional, not held audio technology optional
- optional, not held content development processes optional
- optional, not held stenography optional
- optional, not held operate audio equipment optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a typist role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 align content with form practise this
- 02 apply grammar and spelling rules practise this
- 03 decode handwritten texts practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 8 skills that carry over
- already held company policies knowledge
- already held draft corporate emails skill
- already held transcription methods knowledge
- already held use microsoft office skill
- already held ensure proper document management skill
- already held manage digital documents skill
- already held perform office routine activities skill
- already held use spreadsheets software skill
16 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held integrate content into output media optional
- optional, not held operate audio equipment optional
- optional, not held audio technology optional
- optional, not held compile content optional
- optional, not held content development processes optional
- optional, not held digitise documents optional
- optional, not held maintain customer records optional
- optional, not held stenography optional
- optional, not held translate keywords into full texts optional
- optional, not held type texts from audio sources optional
- optional, not held use databases optional
- optional, not held use shorthand optional
- optional, not held use shorthand computer program optional
- optional, not held use stenotype machines optional
- optional, not held use word processing software optional
- optional, not held write meeting reports optional
33 held skills the typist role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role accounting techniques knowledge
- not needed by the target role business communication knowledge
- not needed by the target role coordinate events skill
- not needed by the target role create import-export commercial documentation skill
- not needed by the target role deliver correspondence skill
- not needed by the target role disseminate general corporate information skill
- not needed by the target role disseminate internal communications skill
- not needed by the target role disseminate messages to people skill
- not needed by the target role file documents skill
- not needed by the target role fill out forms skill
- not needed by the target role fix meetings skill
- not needed by the target role handle mail skill
- not needed by the target role handle petty cash skill
- not needed by the target role issue sales invoices skill
- not needed by the target role keep task records skill
- not needed by the target role liaise with managers skill
- not needed by the target role maintain internal communication systems skill
- not needed by the target role maintain inventory of office supplies skill
- not needed by the target role maintain statutory books skill
- not needed by the target role manage personnel agenda skill
- not needed by the target role monitor staff absences skill
- not needed by the target role organise business documents skill
- not needed by the target role organise facilities for office personnel skill
- not needed by the target role organise travel arrangements for staff skill
- not needed by the target role perform business research skill
- not needed by the target role plan schedule skill
- not needed by the target role prepare presentation material skill
- not needed by the target role process commissioned instructions skill
- not needed by the target role provide customer follow-up services skill
- not needed by the target role respect data protection principles skill
- not needed by the target role speak different languages skill
- not needed by the target role use office systems skill
- not needed by the target role use personal organization software skill
3 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- optional, not held audio technology optional
- optional, not held content development processes optional
- optional, not held stenography optional
Other moves recorded from administrative assistant
- secretary 71% covered · moderate
- office clerk 53% covered · moderate
- management assistant 50% covered · moderate
- executive assistant 49% covered · substantial
- foreign language correspondence clerk 44% covered · moderate
- file clerk 40% covered · substantial
- receptionist 33% covered · substantial
- supply chain assistant 32% covered · substantial
Common questions about this move
Can an administrative assistant become a typist?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. An administrative assistant already covers 27% of what a typist is expected to do: 8 skills carry over, 4 of which the typist role treats as required.
What skills does an administrative assistant need to become a typist?
9 required skills are missing, plus 16 optional ones. They fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is align content with form.
How hard is the move from administrative assistant to typist?
Its learning distance is 67 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.