CLERICAL - How to Describe Clerical Duties in a Resume

How to Describe Clerical Duties in a Resume

By April Fidler, eHow Contributor

When applying for a clerical position, you want to be sure you are marketing yourself in the best light possible. Your future employer needs to know that you have initiative, are hard-working and can tackle most any clerical duty with ease. Learn to describe your duties on your resume in such a way that you catch the eye of your future employer.

Instructions

1. • 1
     Use action verbs to describe your duties, suggests Purdue University's Online Writing Lab. Action verbs help to strengthen your duties and make them more concrete. Verbs that reflect action also allow you to shorten your descriptions, permitting your resume to remain simple yet compact. For example, you would change, "Was responsible for purchasing supplies" to "Purchased supplies."
   • 2
     Remove extraneous uses of "a", "an" and "the" in your descriptions, recommends Quintessential Careers. Articles tend to muddle the resume, making it take longer to peruse. Employers want to scan through your resume quickly, as they may have dozens from which to sort. Instead of saying, "Facilitated the creation of a job-share program," you would say, "Facilitated creation of job-share program."
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     Add seasonal duties in your resume, such as those that only occur once or twice a year. Constructing semi-annual reports, though not a large part of your regular workload, should still be included on your resume. It is easy to forget smaller, non-regular project duties when constructing a resume.
   • 4
     Include additional job responsibilities that you took on outside of your regular job description. For example, if you initiated flier designs for an event that your boss was originally planning to contract out, say so in your resume. Be sure to mention how much you saved the office by designing the fliers yourself. You can say something like, "Designed fliers for event (on initiative), saved office $1,000 dollars."
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     Indicate your success in carrying out responsibilities, instead of simply describing them, suggests Hcareers' website. Instead of merely stating you have filing experience, indicate what you filed and how well you did it. If you were responsible for the filing of thousands of documents, say so. If your boss praised your efforts because you helped upgrade the filling system at your old job, indicate this on your resume by saying, "Streamlined filing system, was praised for added efficiency." Future employers want to know that you will be a hard-working, driven employee.

     
     

     
     

CLERICAL - Clerical Skills Checklist

Clerical Skills Checklist

By Ann Ryan, eHow Contributor

In order to enhance a résumé or better understand an employee's responsibilities in the clerical field, it helps to have a checklist of the required tasks. A clerical skills assessment can pave the way to a better job or help determine the need for additional training.

Basic Clerical Skills

• In the administrative or clerical field, it's helpful to know these basic skills 10 key, faxing, copying, filing, correspondence, general reception, scheduling, data entry and typing. A typing speed of 60 net words per minute (w.p.m.) or more is typically required for most clerical jobs.

  
  

Microsoft Office Systems Certification

• To enhance basic skills and create an extra edge in the job market, it's good to have computer training. Microsoft Office Systems (MOS) certification can be earned by taking tutorials for Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint and Outlook and testing on the Microsoft site.

  
  

Bookkeeping

• Clerical workers need a basic knowledge of bookkeeping and math. Knowing accounting is helpful for clerical jobs that involve invoicing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, banking, human resources and payroll.

CLERICAL - Job Description of Clerical Duties

Job Description of Clerical Duties

By Rose Broyles, eHow Contributor

Clerical duties may be required of many different types of office workers. These can range from administrative assistant, receptionist and file clerk to executive assistant and office manager. Clerical duties may combine answering telephones, filing, office machine operation and word processing, depending on the company's requirements.

Clerical Job Tasks and Responsibilities

• A clerical worker normally is expected to provide administrative assistance to other administrative staff, other departments or to management. Communication duties would entail answering or making phone calls, email messaging, general messaging, work requests and correspondence. Organizational duties would require the worker to maintain a file system, compiling records and coordinating tasks with other workers. Other duties would include: faxing, photocopying, data entry and general word processing.

  
  

Education and Experience

• A general to advanced understanding of the latest computer applications in word processing, spreadsheets and finance may be required by the potential employer. Usually the worker has keyboard skills and proficient in the use of computers, email and the Internet. A high school diploma is usually sufficient education for this line of work.

  
  

Strengths and Abilities

• Strong organizational skills are required for this position. The clerical worker should be able to prioritize duties and pay attention to detail and accuracy. Problem-solving skills are valued as well as good communication. Clerical work involves working with other people, so communication skills are a plus. Being trustworthy is also important, as some positions require the management of petty cash.

  
  

CLERICAL - Clerical Duties & Responsibilities

By Mary Ylisela, eHow Contributor


The clerical staff in an office helps the office run smoothly by taking care of the tasks that others don't have the time to accomplish due to their own job duties. These time-consuming tasks are a vital part of the office environment, even if they are often tedious in nature. Basic computer skills and a willingness to participate in on-the-job training are all that's needed to become a clerical worker. According to Payscale.com, as of May 2010, clerical staff members earned between $9.83 and $13.95 per hour.

Greet Visitors

• Greeting visitors, customers, vendors and job applicants is an important part of the clerk's job. Since he is likely to be the first person in the company a visitor meets, the clerk must provide a good first impression by greeting the visitor in a friendly and professional manner. The clerk will check people in for appointments, provide directions to other departments, accept and sign for deliveries and provide paperwork or information for potential job applicants. The clerk has the opportunity to represent the company for which he works in a manner that will make the guest want to return. This first impression is an important part of building and developing a business.

  
  

Maintain Records

• Record keeping and maintenance is a task that needs to be accomplished on a daily basis and can often take several hours to complete. Filing, data entry, putting documents in the proper place and retrieving necessary documents for other workers are all a part of the record maintenance a clerk handles. Depending on the type of business the company operates, the clerk may update sales records, input customer payments and keep records of visitors and appointments. As the clerk maintains and updates records, she must use organizational skills and attention to detail to ensure accuracy.

  
  

Client Communication

• Many businesses deal with customers or clients either directly or indirectly. When customer satisfaction is involved, the clerk will participate in communicating with customers and clients. This communication may take place in the form of phone calls, face-to-face communication, written correspondence or emails. The clerical staff must be able to maintain a professional and polite demeanor no matter how the client speaks or behaves. This part of the job can often be stressful, because disgruntled customers can be rude and verbally abusive. While the clerk should always seek support or help of management in this situation, he will have to be able to effectively communicate with both satisfied and dissatisfied customers.

CLERICAL - Roles of Clerical Staff

By Jay Mills, eHow Contributor


Clerical staff, also known as administrative or support staff, are critical components to achieving the mission of an organization. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the largest number of job openings every year reside among the clerical profession. With the ever-growing technology boom, clerical staff are assuming more roles that were once held for professional and managerial staff. While faxing, copying and scanning are still a part of clerk's duties, the overall job responsibilities have expanded in recent years.

Working With Computers

• Today's clerical staff is tackling more complicated projects such as spreadsheet creation, company database maintenance, digital graphics creation and advanced PowerPoint presentations. Advanced computer software skills are becoming a must for clerical staff.

  
  

Organizational Efficiency

• Clerical staff also assume the role of providing organizational clarity for the company. This can be seen in many forms and may go unnoticed unless things fall apart along the way. Secretaries and administrative assistants are responsible for planning meetings and coordinating with the included parties schedules. They organize electronic files and important paperwork. Many times they are given the responsibility of managing important company projects as well as corresponding with the necessary parties through email, telephone or mail.

  
  

  Administrative Duties

  • An administrative assistant is also expected to know how to operate office machinery such as the copy machine, fax, scanner, video conferencing equipment and multiline phone system. Her daily work load can be very task-oriented and change significantly from day to day. Whatever pressing need at the moment might dominate her day and time, all the while pushing back other important projects. Some days could even include a full day of data entry at the computer to get the right information into the company database.

    
    

  New Staff Orientation

  • In certain environments, the new staff orientation responsibilities fall to the clerical staff. They dispense the necessary new hire paperwork and explain benefits, taxes, vacation time and insurance. They may also set up the new employee into the payroll system and provide training information. In larger settings, they might even operate a new hire class, which is more like a teacher and student setting.

    
    

  Executive Assistance

  • Assisting any company executives is an important role that some clerical staff do on a daily basis. They are expected to efficiently set up video or teleconferences, make travel arrangements and accommodations, screen phone calls, write reports, prepare agendas and even conduct research.

  
  

CLERICAL SKILLS - What is the function of an office?

If you visit a firm, school or hospital you will find that a number of activities are being performed, such as letters received, dispatched, typing, photocopying, word processing, filing, handling of office machines etc. The place where all such activities are performed is known as office. Thus office is a service department of an organization, which is connected with the handling of records and provision of various services like typing,

duplicating, mailing, filing, handling office machines, keeping records, drafting, using information, handling money and other miscellaneous activities.

Some of the popular definitions of office are as follows:

''Office is a place where clerical operations are carried on''.-Denyer, J.C.

''Office is a unit where relevant records for the purpose of control, planning and efficient management of the organisation are prepared, handled and preserved. It provides facilities for internal and external communication and coordinates activities of different departments of the organisation''.
-Littlefield, Rachel and Caruth.

The above definitions highlight the following characteristics-
• collecting information
• processing information
• storing information
• coordinating information
• distributing information

Therefore, an office may be defined as a place where all the activities concerned with collecting, processing, storing and distributing information for efficient and effective management of an organization are carried out. In every modern organization, be it a business concern or a Government department, there has to be an office. It is essential for the efficient management of the organization.

The main objectives of an office are as follows:

(1) Aid to Management:
The office provides aid to management in performing the following functions:

(a) Direction: Direction and guidance of management to various sections and departments are issued through the office.

(b) Communication: The office serves as a communication channel between different parts of the organization. It handles mail.

(c) Planning: The office helps management in planning for smooth functioning and progress of the organization by providing necessary information and data.

(d) Coordination: The office also facilitates co-ordination by maintaining links among departments.


(2) Preserving Records
The office maintains necessary books and records of the organization.

(3) Providing Information
It provides the right kind of information to management at the right time.

(4) Providing Office Services
It provides clerical and secretarial services to different executives.

(5) Distribution of work
The office distributes the work among various employees and identifies their duties and functions.

(6) Selection and Appointment
It also handles selection and appointment of employees. In short, the office is an important and indispensable part of every organization.