First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers

Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of clerical and administrative support workers.

What you'd actually do

• Supervise the work of office, administrative, or customer service employees to ensure adherence to quality standards, deadlines, and proper procedures, correcting errors or problems.
• Resolve customer complaints or answer customers' questions regarding policies and procedures.
• Provide employees with guidance in handling difficult or complex problems or in resolving escalated complaints or disputes.
• Review records or reports pertaining to activities such as production, payroll, or shipping to verify details, monitor work activities, or evaluate performance.
• Discuss job performance problems with employees to identify causes and issues and to work on resolving problems.
• Prepare and issue work schedules, deadlines, and duty assignments for office or administrative staff.

How you get there

Typical entry-level education: High school diploma. Overall preparation: medium preparation (Job Zone 3 of 5).

The feel of the work

The work is mostly indoors; you're around people constantly. (Compared against the other 818 careers in the guide.)

Working for yourself

About 0.7% of first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers are self-employed.

Who it tends to fit

This work tends to fit people who are take-charge, organized and detail-focused and people-focused.

Related careers

• Brokerage Clerks
• Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants
• Postal Service Clerks
• Postal Service Mail Carriers
• Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks
• Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators

Quick questions

How much does a first-line supervisors of office and administrative support worker make?

The median pay is $33.41 per hour — roughly $69,500 a year, with the real range running from about $21.93/hr (10th percentile) to $50.34/hr (90th percentile). Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Do you need a degree to be a first-line supervisors of office and administrative support worker?

The typical entry-level education is: High school diploma. Overall preparation level: medium preparation (Job Zone 3 of 5).

What does a first-line supervisors of office and administrative support worker actually do all day?

Supervise the work of office, administrative, or customer service employees to ensure adherence to quality standards, deadlines, and proper procedures, correcting errors or problems. Resolve customer complaints or answer customers' questions regarding policies and procedures. Provide employees with guidance in handling difficult or complex problems or in resolving escalated complaints or disputes.