What software do I need to know to work for you? I am getting out of retail, can't do the art I was trained for, and need a job. Please help as I am going broke rapidly.
I just know there a good deal of people on here who make a decent living. I currently make less than $700 a month. That kind of broke. Going to have to sell everything I own in a couple of months if this doesn't change kind of broke. Not going to the doctor for serious problems kind of broke. Seriously, can anyone give me an idea of what sorts of office related software I need to know?
the microsoft office suite will help you a lot excel, powerpoint, word if you want to get into marketing, you could learn office as well as something like indesign or quarkxpress for page design.
If you can learn the basics of the MS Office suite, especially Word and Outlook, and if you can keep schedules, have a reasonably pleasant demeanor on the phone and in person, and can communicate with reasonable civility and articulation, you can probably get started in the corporate world as an Admin. This is a position where basic competence and a likable personality are more important than advanced skills, and can be a stepping stone to "higher" positions. It couldn't hurt to do some time with temp jobs through a decent agency like Volt to get some experience (and maybe a temp-to-perm assignment) under your belt. You will earn more than 700 a month. Good luck!
Quick tip: LIE. I've been working for law firms for years not knowing crap and just said I knew how to use things, they won't test you at an interview. Than wing it when you get the job. I picked up most programs saying 'Yeah I know how to use that' than figuring it out. 'What's taking so long?' Either 1- 'I'm new' or 2- 'There were all sorts of things wrong with that stuff, I fixed it though.' If you can improvise and charm and get along with weirdos you can get an office job and keep it. Also remember, there's always someone screwing up more than you, so keep the focus on them. These are my Sith powers I use to get by in my office. I hate it. I'm trying to get OUT, but good luck.
Most of the time to get a job it's not what you know but who you know....ask your friends if anything is opening up where they work....as long as you have some basic computer skills and can converse in audible grunts that may get you in the door - you will start at the bottom but if you pay your dues you will be climbing up that ladder to become an On-Call Monkey before you know it
Like most have said, Outlook/Word/Excel are key. Depends what you want to go into, too. The most demand is for data interpretation. Any kind of financial istitution is looking for people that can take raw data and put it into a form that the other office monkeys can use. Learning to program macros in Excel, hell, even VBA/Visual Basic knowledge can go a long way...
Thanks for the suggestions, I am taking it all to heart. I am working on learning the Excel and will move on to the others after. It's really the last resort. As far as knowing people I only know Pogue and he's fully staffed.
