Nov 7, 2014 08:29
9 yrs ago
Spanish term

PERSONA ADMINISTRATIVO

Spanish to English Bus/Financial Business/Commerce (general) JOB DESCRIPTIONS
SPAIN. This is a job description for someone doing admin/secretarial type work. Although it fits the description (a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks) I want to avoid using "clerk".
Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (1): philgoddard

When entering new questions, KudoZ askers are given an opportunity* to classify the difficulty of their questions as 'easy' or 'pro'. If you feel a question marked 'easy' should actually be marked 'pro', and if you have earned more than 20 KudoZ points, you can click the "Vote PRO" button to recommend that change.

How to tell the difference between "easy" and "pro" questions:

An easy question is one that any bilingual person would be able to answer correctly. (Or in the case of monolingual questions, an easy question is one that any native speaker of the language would be able to answer correctly.)

A pro question is anything else... in other words, any question that requires knowledge or skills that are specialized (even slightly).

Another way to think of the difficulty levels is this: an easy question is one that deals with everyday conversation. A pro question is anything else.

When deciding between easy and pro, err on the side of pro. Most questions will be pro.

* Note: non-member askers are not given the option of entering 'pro' questions; the only way for their questions to be classified as 'pro' is for a ProZ.com member or members to re-classify it.

Discussion

Jaime Hyland Nov 8, 2014:
Thanks Judith! The veil is lifted! That's gotta be it alright!
Judith Armele Nov 8, 2014:
I think There is a typo and should read 'personal administrativo'.
Jaime Hyland Nov 7, 2014:
It seems odd to me ... ... but that's probably because of some gap in my Spanish knowledge. Your explanation probably comes close to the nub of it (that in a way the word "administrativo" doesn't act as an adjective here), but I'd love to see something in the line of a gloss explaining what function it does serve!
Charles Davis Nov 7, 2014:
It's a bit odd, isn't it? To me the odd part is the inclusion of "persona". "Administrativo" is widely used in Spain as a noun. I suppose the idea is a person acting as an administrativo.
Jaime Hyland Nov 7, 2014:
persona administrativ*o* Excuse my ignorance, but why the masculine adjective?

Proposed translations

1 hr
Selected

member of administrative staff

... or administrative staff in the plural.

Just another possibility.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "I used "Admin staff" as it's really just a heading. Thanks all for helping out.- PS I don't appreciate my query being downgraded to "non-pro". I think the different options and ensuing discussion show that it's not as open and shut as it may seem."
+3
10 mins

Administrative Assistant / Administrative Personnel

This is a term commonly used for jobs dealing from a secretary to a higher education administrative director.
Example sentence:

We have an opening for an Administrative Assitant. Applications are welcome.

Note from asker:
Jo's comment illustrates why I'm seeking a less pre-judgeable term. I've decided to use "Admin Staff" as the heading for now.
Good suggestions, thanks for helping out :)
Peer comment(s):

agree Jo Hance : general dogsbody!? Joking of course!
27 mins
agree María Perales
2 hrs
agree philgoddard
5 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
15 mins

office assistant / administrative assistant

One of these might fit the bill. It sounds as though the first would be more accurate, but the second sounds a bit more important. In fact a clerk or office assistant is a kind of administrative assistant, but the latter can be someone with a more demanding job and a higher level of responsibility.

If you don't want "clerk" you probably don't want "clerical assistant" either, though that is another possibility in principle.

Here's a job description for an office assistant, which sounds about right to me (US, admittedly, but I don't think it makes any difference):
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Office_Assistant/Hou...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_Assistant

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2014-11-07 10:10:38 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I take your point. How about "office administrator"?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2014-11-07 10:53:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

On reflection I would like to propose office administrator as an answer. I think it's quite good.
Note from asker:
Hi CD, I'm not keen on "assistant" either, as I know these guys and some of them have been in the job for years and IMO now merit something that sounds less lowly.
This is correct for the query, however Jaime's was the closest to what I used in the end so I awarded him the kudos. Sorry.
Peer comment(s):

agree James A. Walsh : In view of Neil's comments, I think "office administrator" fits the bill too.
6 hrs
Many thanks, James ;)
Something went wrong...
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search