The pathway
How you actually get there, here
How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.
- 1
Administrative Assistant / Office Manager
2-3 yearsSkills to master
- Organisation, meticulous record-keeping, managing multiple priorities, basic report generation, professional communication.
You're ready to move on when
- You're the 'go-to' person for knowing where everything is filed.
- You consistently meet deadlines and rarely miss a detail.
- You've shown a keen interest in the operational side of the business and how things work.
- 2
Operations Support / Production Coordinator
2-4 yearsSkills to master
- Understanding operational processes, incident reporting, basic safety awareness, coordinating tasks between teams, data input and tracking.
You're ready to move on when
- You've been involved in logging incidents or near-misses in a previous role.
- You understand the pressures of a production environment and how compliance fits in.
- You're known for being thorough and making sure things are done 'by the book'.
- 3
Junior Quality Assurance Assistant
1-2 yearsSkills to master
- Quality control processes, non-conformance tracking, document control, basic auditing support, data analysis for quality metrics.
You're ready to move on when
- You're familiar with ISO 9001 principles and how they apply in practice.
- You've been responsible for maintaining quality records or tracking quality issues.
- You have a strong eye for detail and a commitment to high standards.