Currently in the market, we have a shortage of people pursuing payroll as a career. Often, those of us who enjoy working with numbers are told the only option is to become an Accountant. But what about those who want to keep that people interaction element?
Quite often people see a payroll career as flat, with nowhere to progress and a lifetime of simply punching data into a screen. Whilst there is, of course, an element of data entry (especially for the first few years), if you work hard and have a drive to succeed a career in payroll can be limitless.
To be successful in payroll you need to be good with numbers, systems, tight deadlines, ever changing policies and legislations and above all, have excellent customer service skills.
What Does a Payroll Career Look Like?
As with any new career you would start at the bottom, performing the more administrative and data entry related duties of the role whilst you get to grips with the system, process and relevant legislation. After a couple of years (quicker for some!), you can move into a role with more involvement in the actual payroll, looking after everything to do with an employee file.
Eventually, you can have the opportunity to progress into a senior position where you might be running your own portfolio, running complex reports, reconciling the pay run and ensuring everything runs smoothly from start to finish.
From here is where things can get exciting. You can move into more specialist areas such as systems implementations, people leadership, consultation and remediation.
But How do I Get Into Payroll?
There are a number of transferrable skills we look for in candidates looking to build a payroll career. A few key questions to consider include:
Do you thrive off being busy?
Enjoy working with numbers?
Do you love problem solving and providing excellent customer service?
Do you enjoy working with systems?
But above all… do you have an enthusiasm to learn?
If any of this sounds like something you would be interested in exploring further, please do not hesitate to contact me for a confidential discussion on your career – I would love to hear from you!
