Definition of Clerical Worker
The term clerical originally related to the clergy who were the only ones of the time who could read. Now the term clerical is generally associated with clerical workers who can range from file clerk to clerical supervisor. Clerical workers are office support personnel.
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Duties
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Clerical worker duties can vary from day to day. Clerical workers fall under administrative office worker and rank among the largest occupational groups in the U.S. Depending upon experience, skills level and the needs of the company, their duties can include answering phones, taking messages, record keeping, filing, sorting and delivering mail, keyboarding, data entry, proofreading documents, creating spreadsheets and handling customer complaints. Their duties can vary on a daily basis.
Education
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Clerical workers have educational backgrounds from vocational school to college. Formal education levels vary for clerical workers, ranging from high school vocational programs to college graduates. Employment of general office clerks was expected to grow 12 percent between 2008 and 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Skills
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The best job prospects will exist for individuals with basic to advance computer software application skills, such as MS Office or Corel WordPerfect and knowledge on operating such office machinery as photocopiers, facsimiles and phones.
Salaries
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According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), annual salaries for clerical workers can range between $16,000 and $40,000, with the median annual salary quoted by the BLS as $25,320 in May 2008.
Advancements
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Clerical workers can advance to become secretaries, executive secretaries and eventually managers.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit young pretty clerk image by Ales Masner from Fotolia.com preparing the file image by Pix by Marti from Fotolia.com school image by dinostock from Fotolia.com
