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Office Clerks, General

Also called Clerk, Office Assistant, Office Clerk, or Office Services Specialist

What Office Clerks, General do

Office Clerks, General perform duties too varied and diverse to be classified in any specific office clerical occupation, requiring knowledge of office systems and procedures. Clerical duties may be assigned in accordance with the office procedures of individual establishments and may include a combination of answering telephones, bookkeeping, typing or word processing, office machine operation, and filing.

Who tends to enjoy it

Organizing

People who like keeping things accurate, orderly, and running on schedule.

Leading

People who like persuading, selling, starting things, and taking charge.

Helping

People who like teaching, caring for, and working closely with people.

What you'd actually do

  • Operate office machines, such as photocopiers and scanners, facsimile machines, voice mail systems, and personal computers.
  • Answer telephones, direct calls, and take messages.
  • Communicate with customers, employees, and other individuals to answer questions, disseminate or explain information, take orders, and address complaints.
  • Maintain and update filing, inventory, mailing, and database systems, either manually or using a computer.
  • Compile, copy, sort, and file records of office activities, business transactions, and other activities.
  • Review files, records, and other documents to obtain information to respond to requests.
  • Open, sort, and route incoming mail, answer correspondence, and prepare outgoing mail.
  • Compute, record, and proofread data and other information, such as records or reports.

A typical day involves

Email Indoors, climate controlled Face-to-face with people Part of a team Sitting Working with the public

Skills that matter most

  • Reading Comprehension
  • Active Listening
  • Speaking
  • Writing
  • Critical Thinking
  • Social Perceptiveness

What you'll need to know

  • Administrative
  • English Language
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Administration and Management
  • Computers and Electronics

Where to study for this

College programs that commonly lead to this career, and how many US colleges offer each.

  • General Office Occupations and Clerical Services 187 colleges

Related careers

Office and Administrative Support

First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers

Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of clerical and administrative support workers.

Medium preparation

Office and Administrative Support

Billing and Posting Clerks

Compile, compute, and record billing, accounting, statistical, and other numerical data for billing purposes. Prepare billing invoices for services rendered or for delivery or shipment of goods.

Little to some preparation

Office and Administrative Support

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

Compute, classify, and record numerical data to keep financial records complete. Perform any combination of routine calculating, posting, and verifying duties to obtain primary financial data for use in maintaining accounting records. May also check the accuracy of figures, calculations, and postings pertaining to business transactions recorded by other workers.

Medium preparation

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA), occupation 43-9061.00, used under CC BY 4.0 and modified by Whittle. Program links: NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. How we build these pages.