Operations and Admin (read time: 12 min)

Written By Second Day

So you want to work in Operations or Administration?

Administration sometimes can be stereotyped negatively, but its core meaning is to manage or run an organization. Administration and operations are critical to keeping an organization humming along and are one of the best ways to understand the full scope of what is going on at an organization. It is also one of the most accessible jobs at many organizations, making it a tremendous way to get your foot in the door with organizations or issues that you care about. Whether you want to build a career in admin/operations or use it as a launchpad to pivot into another role, it is a great way to learn on the job what it takes to run an effective organization.

If this career path sounds exciting to you, this guide will take you through everything you need to know about working in admin/operations. To inform our work, Second Day has spoken to experts in the field and gathered the best information out there for upcoming graduates and recent graduates. First, the guide will take you through the different entry-level positions to look out for in this field. Then, we’ll provide tips on actually getting those jobs in Admin/operations. We’ll finish with our next three steps: actionable items you can take to make progress towards finding your first job in admin/operations. Let’s get started!

This guide was written by Phil Dearing in partnership with the Second Day team.

Many thanks to experts in the field who supported this work:

  • Sammi Aibinder, Special Assistant to the ED, the Groundwork Collaborative

  • Yari Greaney, Program Associate, Climate Action Lab

  • Rachel Sacks, Executive Assistant and Development Associate, The Bridgespan Group

What types of roles exist in operations/admin?

Day-to-day roles and responsibilities

Admin and operations are combined into one guide because the responsibilities of a given title vary widely. Common roles that we’ll discuss in this section include executive assistant, administrative assistant, special assistant, staff assistant, operations coordinator, office manager, or some permutation of these titles. In the next section, we’ll talk about what each of those titles most often refers to, but since there is so much overlap, let’s start by talking through the most common types of responsibilities that could be included in these roles.


Scheduling and preparing for meetings

Your role is quite often finding a time for two people or a group of people to meet. If you are supporting an individual, you will generally be in charge of their meetings primarily. If you are supporting a team, you will mostly focus on large gatherings and meetings with more complicated logistics involved. In terms of preparation, sometimes you are in charge of pulling together notes from previous conversations, context on who the person is meeting with, or sometimes physically preparing the meeting room with food or technology set up. Some assistants are also charged with pulling together agendas and making sure that everyone is there. For some meetings, you may take notes or help facilitate the agenda. The amount that you are involved in the meetings themselves varies quite widely depending on your interest/skills, what the team needs, and the nature of the meetings.


Individual support

If you are working with an individual leader, you may sometimes be in charge of booking their travel/accommodations or keeping track of their monthly expenses to submit to the finance team. This is less common when you are supporting a full team, but you may get looped into other logistics as needed.


Office operations

Oftentimes, there is a ton of stuff that needs to get done for an office. This could include things like ordering food/drink for the office, coordinating with vendors, or greeting people as they come into the office. This also can include planning special events for the team like a holiday party or company-wide meeting. Office operations can also include a lot of coordinating in-office communications with the rest of the staff.


Data Management

Data is a critical but often neglected aspect of many social change organizations. Tracking donor details or event attendees can take time, but yields important insights and allows organizations to keep track of them. Working on the administrative side, you may get the chance to pitch in on data-driven projects. The tasks are more often focused on data entry than analysis, but if you are excited about data, there is often room to grow in this aspect of your work.


Anything and everything else

Particularly if you are in a smaller organization, it is often all hands on deck to get things done. That could mean your role might include posting on social media, helping with graphic design, supporting fundraising campaigns, or any other tasks of that sort. For smaller organizations, it can also mean more strategic projects like updating annual review processes, building websites, or organizing external events.

Admin/operations specific role distinctions

Generalist/specialist

Like other roles, your degree of specialization will vary depending on the size of the organization you work at. Larger organizations (100+ people) tend to have more rigid and defined roles. Generally, your responsibilities are more limited to your specific job description, which can be good for work/life balance but challenging for mobility within the organization into other roles. Smaller organizations have much more flexibility in the roles since there is typically far more work to be done than people clearly assigned to that work. This can lead to being asked to take on more/different tasks, which can help with learning about other teams but can also harm work-life balance at times.


Executive assistant/staff assistant/administrative assistant

These titles typically imply that the role will be heavier on scheduling and logistics support. An executive assistant is usually working with 1-2 senior leaders, while a staff assistant or administrative assistant is usually working with a larger group of team members.


Special assistant

A special assistant is similar to an executive assistant but often includes more project management and operations work in addition to the scheduling and logistics support. This title can include a wide range of responsibilities/trust - some special assistants are deep in the weeds of organizational strategy and problem-solving in collaboration with the senior leader they work with. Other special assistants are included less often in decision making and are more focused on logistics-oriented work. This can also shift over time as trust is built with a leader that you are supporting.


Office manager

This title usually means that you are in charge of everything going in with the office. Making sure it is clean, well-stocked, and a place for community-building. While this can be a role on its own, it often also includes other administrative and operational tasks, depending on what the organization needs.


Operations coordinator

This role varies considerably depending on what the organization does一is it a charter school, a healthcare facility, or a traditional office? Operations can sometimes refer to work on physical space, but also often refers to project management and other back office operations.

What about program roles?

Second Day doesn’t have a separate guide on program roles because the roles are incredibly varied depending on what the organization does. Your job will look quite different whether the organization does music education in public schools, animal therapy, human services, or any other type of work.

At its core though, program roles are often quite similar to administrative or operations roles with a focus on a particular program. This means that you’ll be in charge of managing projects, data entry, logistics, and whatever else needs to be done. The typical title for these roles is program assistant, program associate, or program coordinator. After a few cycles of supporting the program, it is common for program staff to take on increasing levels of responsibility. Unfortunately, similar to admin/operations roles, there aren’t a ton of mid-level manager positions. Instead, your responsibilities will often grow significantly, but you might need to shift across organizations in order to shift into a full program leadership role.

Admin/operations by the numbers (pay and hours)

Admin/operations jobs in social impact are generally easy to build a work-life balance for. You may sometimes be called on to help with events at off-hours or take on time-consuming tasks, but generally, you can count on 9-5 days. There are some temporary Admin/operations assistant roles that pay on an hourly basis, but most other Admin/operations roles are salaried and include full benefits. The range of entry-level Admin/operations roles will likely fall between 35K and 50K annually, depending on the size of your organization. There is some room for growth here, particularly if you build trust working as an executive assistant for senior leaders.

How to get a job in admin/operations

Applying and skills to demonstrate

Getting a job in Admin/operations is relatively straightforward and is one of the best ways to get your foot in the door with an organization or cause that you care about. The most important element is demonstrating clearly with your resume and cover letter that you have the skills and commitment required to do the job. For a given role, an organization will often screen for candidates with the required admin/operations background, but then the ultimate decision to hire someone is based on other factors. This is where networking can prove quite valuable. When given the choice between hiring someone that they have met and liked that is qualified vs someone else, most organizations go with the person that they are comfortable with. For more information on networking and informational interviews, check out our resource hub. Below, we’ve detailed some key qualities and skills to highlight as you update your cover letter and resume for these types of positions.


Past relevant experience

As mentioned above, the most critical thing a potential employer wants to know is whether you can do the job. If you can point to working at past internships, managing club admin/operations, or doing relevant projects at school, it can help instill confidence that you’ll be able to do the job. For these jobs, it is often helpful to read exactly what skills are called for in the job description and then weave that into your resume or cover letter. For example, if they want someone with ‘attention to detail,’ you can include that character trait in your cover letter or even share a story about how that skill helped you in the past. You should never lie or be inauthentic, but it is helpful to assume that the person reading your resume might actually be looking at each line of the job description and looking for whether you have done that thing (AI does it for some larger companies).


Mission alignment

Working for a social impact organization brings together many people who care about a social issue and want to make the world a better place. If you can persuasively speak to why you care about the mission of the organization you are applying to in a cover letter or interview, this will help you stand out. Even if it isn’t directly tied to your work day-to-day, an alignment with the organizational mission will help you go the extra mile and stick it out through good times and bad.


Reliability

In an admin/operations role, the organization is counting on you to get stuff done with limited insight into your progress over time. That means that you need to be good at managing deadlines and holding yourself accountable to make sure things get done when they need to be done. Highlighting your past experience and skills of reliability, project management, and organization will help you stand out.


Highlight other adjacent skills

Even if it isn’t listed directly in the job description, having other skills can give you a leg up in the hiring process. Consider highlighting things like languages you speak, experience with CRM platforms or other software, graphic design or writing skills, event planning experience, customer service experience, or anything else that could be relevant to the responsibilities of the job.

Exit opportunities

Getting a job in admin/operations is one of the best ways to get your foot in the door for a mission that you care about. In terms of career development, one key question is whether you want to stay in an admin/operations role or transition to another role. The great news is that launching a social impact career in admin/operations is one of the best ways to understand how an organization works and get involved with a wide range of different teams. Over time, it should be more clear to you which work you most enjoy.

If you want to stay in the world of admin/operations, there is more room for taking on responsibilities than there typically is for significant title or salary growth. For folks building a career in admin/operations, you can learn what areas of the work you love and what areas you hate一shifting your role over time to match up most closely with the work you enjoy. Some folks shift into managerial roles for others on the admin/operations side without going to grad school. However, if you are really set on becoming a Director of Operations or Chief Operating Officer, going to grad school is often helpful since overseeing all operations will require fluency in finance, HR, communications, etc. Far too often, admin/operations staff are the true heroes of a company, getting everything done behind the scenes without the recognition commensurate with their efforts.

If you are considering pivoting into other teams, it will require more proactive effort. In some areas of work, administrative roles are THE most common way to get your start in that field (check out the research/policy guide or working on Capitol Hill guide). For other teams, it is often possible to shift into their work with some focused attention. If you are eager to get more involved in development or communications work, try to build relevant skills and help out wherever you can with that team. If doing that within your company is hard, you might need to take another admin/operations role at a different organization where there is more opportunity to shift your work to areas of interest. In general, smaller and newer organizations are more flexible with their roles and so there is often more opportunity to shift within the organization.

One element of good news is that the skills built working in admin/operations across government, nonprofits, and private companies are quite similar. While there are some differences, it is relatively straightforward to shift between sectors. That means that it is quite common for someone working at a big corporation to shift into a role at a nonprofit where they can feel great about the mission that they support. That means it is also common for folks that start their career working in the public or social sector to take a job with a big company because of its better location or wages. No matter which route you choose, this is a great starting role to consider!

Next three steps

  1. Develop an Admin/operations specific cover letter and resume to highlight your skills. See Second Day’s guide to resumes and cover letters.

  2. Understand what is important to you and what you want out of your role and your boss. Check out Second Day’s discernment exercises to help think about which aspects of the role are most exciting to you.

  3. Make sure that the role you apply for and accept fits with what you are looking for. Check out Second Day’s Interviewing your Interviewer guide for more ideas for questions to ask.

Last updated: July 2021

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