11 Best Free Online Office Administration Courses

This post provides a wealth of information on free online office administration courses. You can take the courses if you are already working in the administrative department and want to learn the latest skills to enhance your productivity and efficiency in the office. You can also take the course if you are looking to work in the administrative department.

There are many benefits to taking free online office administration courses. Some of the most obvious benefits are that you can study at your own pace and in your comfort. Another interesting thing about online learning is its flexibility, that is, you can keep studying while involved in other responsibilities such as working or managing your home.

The free online office administration courses curated in this blog are taught by industry experts with decades of experience. Enrolling in the courses will equip learners with cutting-edge skills, knowledge, and expertise that will see them through when they take up tasks as office administrators.

These free online office administration courses aren’t just for individuals seeking to work in an administrative department, even those who are already working as secretaries, office assistants, etc. can also join the courses. The course will retrain them, equip them with the latest office administrator skills, and increase their efficiency and productivity in the workplace. This way, they can start looking at getting promoted and go up the professional ladder.

Before going on, let’s see what office administration means and the task they carry out in a workplace.

What is Office Administration?

Office Administration is a set of daily operations, tasks, or activities that are related to the maintenance of an office building, financial planning, record keeping, billing, personal development, physical distribution, and logistics, within an organization.

An individual who oversees or carries out these tasks, operations, or activities listed above is an office administrator. Aside from the above tasks, office administrators also welcome and direct visitors, coordinate meetings and appointments, and perform clerical tasks like answering phone calls and responding to emails. Doing these enables the office to run smoothly.

Individuals who work or aspire to work in the administrative department are required to have a hospitable character since they meet a lot of people daily including visitors. You need to learn how to manage the people you meet daily, you can learn how to do this efficiently or improve on handling others if you take some hospitality management courses online.

Office administration is applied in every workplace, that is, every field and industry require office administration. Therefore, as an office administrator, you can work anywhere as long as you have the skills and the qualification to prove it.

The position of office administration is a competitive field, therefore, to stay above the competition you must take up courses, seminars, lectures, etc. that will equip you with cutting-edge skills and put you above the workforce competition. This way, you can easily appeal to employers and see your potential through your certification.

You can also take up online courses in administrative assistant to keep advancing your skills or enroll in an online secretarial course also to gain more skillset. As a secretary, administrative assistant, or office administrator, you need to be computer literate. And if you don’t possess this skill, then you should consider taking some online computer science courses to kick start a career in the administrative department.

Office administrators are usually promoted to HR with a bigger office, more responsibilities, and higher pay. However, this promotion doesn’t just come out of the blue, you need to show that you are qualified to take the position of HR. Consider taking some online courses on human resources and you can get yourself promoted to the position of HR.

Benefits of Free Online Office Administration Courses

The benefits associated with taking an online course in office administration are:

  1. Since the courses are free, you will learn and gain industry skills without breaking the bank
  2. The free online office administration courses can be taken by anyone whether you have prior knowledge or not.
  3. Classes are convenient and can be completed at your own pace
  4. Learners will enjoy the flexibility that comes with online learning. That is, taking the free online office administration courses can fit well with your busy schedule.
  5. You can get an accredited certificate when you complete one of the free online office administration courses. You can attach the certification to your resume or CV and get employed or promoted faster.
  6. Some of the online learning platforms offer lifetime access to course materials

Requirements to Take Free Online Office Administration Courses

What is needed to take the free online office administration courses is a laptop, smartphone, iPad, or tablet that can access the internet and your zeal to learn. Having prior knowledge is a plus but it isn’t necessary.

Free Online Office Administration Courses

This is an opportunity for you to gain the skill set of a professional office administrator. The courses are online and free, they can fit your busy schedule without disrupting any of your responsibilities, and you can learn from any point of convenience, even while curled up on your sofa.

Without any further ado, the free online office administration courses are:

1.     Introduction to Administering Office 365 for Small Business

This is one of the free online office administration courses for beginners and those without prior knowledge of working as office administrators. Enrolling in this free online course will teach you about administering Office 365 in a small business environment.

Students will learn how to manage and add users to Office 365 and use DirSync to make their responsibilities easier and safer and carry them out more effectively. You will also learn how to use Office suite and many other skillsets.

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2.     Introduction to Office and Administrative Management

This is one of the free online office administration courses offered by One Education on Alison – an online learning platform. This course is best for individuals who have never taken up a clerical job but are interested in kick-starting a career in the field. Enrolling would give such individuals a run-through of what the job position is like, the duties they’ll perform, and how to perform these duties efficiently thereby achieving the goals of the organization.

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3.     Business Administration – Working with Customers and Teams

One of the duties of an office administrator is dealing with various kinds of people in various settings which includes working with customers or clients and team members to achieve the best result. In this course, students will learn the fundamentals of dealing with customers and teams within a business setting and how to make the most of professional relationships.

This is one of the free online office administration courses offered on Alison by NuYew for beginners and other expert-level office administrators to take and increase their productivity in an organization.

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4.     Diploma in Administrative Procedures and Support in the Office

Diploma courses are more in-depth compared to certificate courses and the qualification is also higher. With a diploma in any field, your skills will be quicker to recognize compared to certification. In this course, you will gain more in-depth knowledge of administrative procedures and skills for the office.

The course covers organization, time management, calendar management, goal setting, and verbal and non-verbal communication. This is an ideal course for individuals already working in a clerical role like a clerk, secretary, or office administrator. The online course is one of the free online office administration courses offered by the Workforce Academy Partnership and you should consider taking it.

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5.     Legal Office Administration

Legal Office Administration, also offered by the Workforce Academy Partnership is also one of the free online office administration courses on Alison. I mentioned earlier that every field requires the position of an administrator and the legal field is not left out. If you’ve always wanted to work in the administrative department of a legal organization you need to get skilled in how to handle tasks and this course will set you up.

This course teaches interested individuals how to perform various procedures and functions, how to prepare legal documents, litigation, and contracts, and also explore the various types of law. This course is a good start for students looking to enter the legal profession, you get to make some money for the law degree program while learning how it works firsthand.

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6.     Office 365 Administration Basics

Office 365 is a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution typically for clerical purposes by office administrators. This is what I meant by learning continuously and upskilling yourself because you will learn the latest skills that will set you aside from other employees no matter how tight the competition seems and this course proves just that.

Enrolling in this course will equip you with adequate skills and techniques on how to use this software. This will make your duties easier and faster and with your certification easily get employed by organizations.

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7.     MS Office

MS Office is software designed by Microsoft and used in offices for administrative purposes. It is a common workplace software suite used to make work easier and faster and if you are in a clerical position in an organization and still haven’t learned how to use it, you’re making work harder for yourself and your days in that organization just might be numbered.

Seize this opportunity now and advance your skill through this online course.

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8.     Taking Meeting Minutes

Taking meeting minutes is one of the duties of an office administrator and in this course, you will be learning techniques on how to be an efficient minute-taker. The course will take you through the basics, standards, and content of meeting minutes, master different layouts and see how to share and file minutes, and also develop some of your skills.

It is one of the free online office administration courses that you will want to take and kick start a successful career in administration.

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9.     Master the Double-Entry Accounting System

One of the duties of an office administrator is taking records and billing which includes writing invoices and keeping records of the organization’s account. You can get better at managing the account of your workplace when you take courses like this. It is free, online, and will equip you with the skills to take your accounting skills to the next level.

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10.  Understanding Spreadsheets

This is one of the free online office administration courses offered on Alison to office administrators and other clerical staff who can’t use spreadsheets or find them hard to use. Enrolling in this course will teach such individuals how to create and use spreadsheets for various purposes and increase their work efficiency and productivity in an organization.

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11.  A Beginner’s Guide to Microsoft Outlook

On our final list of free online office administration courses in the course, A Beginner’s Guide to Microsoft Outlook is designed to show you the essential functions and capabilities of Microsoft Outlook. The course will further explore the features of the software and how you can use it to make your clerical duties easier and faster.

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This wraps up the free online office administration courses and I hope they have been helpful. All of these courses offer a free certification which you can attach to your CV or resume when applying for jobs. You can also upload it on your LinkedIn profile to attract potential clients in case you want to work as a remote office administrator.

Free Online Office Administration Courses – FAQs

Which course is best for office administration?

The best course for office administration is Office Management & Administration from Cambridge International College

What qualifications do I need to become an office administrator?

The minimum qualification required by many employees is a high school diploma but others may require an associate degree or bachelor’s degree.

What kind of jobs can I get with office administration?

With a qualification in office administration, you can get a job as an office administrator, an executive secretary, legal secretary, administrative assistance, personal assistant, front office executive, administrative support assistant, office clerk, receptionist, or office manager.

What is the office administration salary?

The salary of an office administrator falls within the range of $38,571 and $48,690.

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