Working as an administrator in higher education often requires a graduate degree in order to qualify for entry-level positions. Yet, graduate programmes in higher education are often criticised for not adequately training students for their first administrative responsibilities. In this qualitative study, researchers asked a wide range of higher education administrators to identify specific skills and tasks they observed as challenging to new professionals that needed to be addressed as part of their training. Findings suggest that new professionals may need guidance on navigating and understanding institutional culture; performing required tasks and processes; adjusting their own behaviour, expectations and performance based on feedback and experiences; managing and supervising personnel; and making sound decisions without direct guidance. Implications for preparation programmes and administrative practice are shared.