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Overview
Reprographic assistants use copiers, scanners and printers to make documents, brochures, leaflets and pictures.
Activities
In your day-to-day duties you may:
- Take customer orders
- Help prepare designs and layouts for print runs
- Work out costs and the number of copies required
- Programme instructions into copying, scanning and printing equipment
- Make sure machines have suitable levels of inks, chemicals and toners
- Mount printing plates, if working on a press, and line them up correctly
- Monitor the progress of the copying run and quality check samples
- Finish copied items by trimming, binding or laminating
- Perform basic equipment maintenance and cleaning
- Record job details and order supplies
Organisations
You could work in an office, school or in a workshop or a print shop where people come in to have their photocopying done. These employers also tend to sell other items such as stationery to make a living. An alternative would be places such as photo-shops such as Max Spielman around the Black Country where you would process customers’ photo orders to size, canvass or frames.
Workplaces
Your working environment may be physically demanding.
You may need to wear protective clothing.
Working hours 39 to 41 a week – 8am until 6pm.
Salary £17,000 – £25,000 per year.
Predicted trends +0.01% Leading to 59 new jobs by 2027.
Qualifications
There are no set exams that you have to do to become a Reprographics Assistant, it will be dependent upon the employer. Most employers will ask for some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent or an intermediate apprenticeship. However, you could begin as an admin assistant in an organisation, for example by doing temporary work, then apply for a permanent job as a receptionist when a vacancy becomes available or apply through a supported internship programme. In a reprographics department of a school for example. You could also apply for an apprenticeship. If you have an EHCP you may be able to apply under the Dfe exemption which allows the apprentice to use Entry level 3 English and Maths qualifications. The apprentice would have to be competent enough to successfully achieve all other aspects of the apprenticeship requirements, become occupationally competent and achieve Entry Level 3 in English and Maths before the end of their apprenticeship.