What does a Office Clerk do?

Perform duties too varied and diverse to be classified in any specific office clerical occupation, requiring knowledge of office systems and procedures. Day to day that includes work like operate office machines, such as photocopiers and scanners, facsimile machines, voice mail systems, and personal computers and Answer telephones, direct calls, and take messages.

What skills should a Office Clerk put on a resume?

O*NET rates Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Writing, and Coordination among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Office Clerk list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes 3M Post-it App, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe InDesign, ADP Workforce Now, and Alpha Software Alpha Five. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Office Clerk work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Office Clerks, General, Clerk, Office Assistant, and Office Services Specialist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Office Clerk need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 41% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Office Clerk role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Office Clerk resume example

A resume for a Office Clerk needs to show the work itself: perform duties too varied and diverse to be classified in any specific office clerical occupation, requiring knowledge of office systems and procedures. Day to day that means work like this: operate office machines, such as photocopiers and scanners, facsimile machines, voice mail systems, and personal computers; answer telephones, direct calls, and take messages. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Office Clerks, General
Clerk
Office Assistant
Office Services Specialist
Administrative Clerk
Admin Clerk
Clerical Aide
Clerical Assistant
General Clerk
Office Support Assistant
Admin Tech
Administration Clerk
Administrative Support Specialist
Administrative Technician
Agent-Licensing Clerk
Animal Hospital Clerk
Animal Shelter Clerk
Attendance Clerk

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

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.
Complete work schedules, manage calendars, and arrange appointments.
Type, format, proofread, and edit correspondence and other documents, from notes or dictating machines, using computers or typewriters.
Inventory and order materials, supplies, and services.
Deliver messages and run errands.

20 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Operate office machines, such as photocopiers and scanners, facsimile machines, voice mail systems, and personal computers, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Answer telephones, direct calls, and take messages, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Communicate with customers, employees, and other individuals to answer questions, disseminate or explain information, take orders, and address complaints, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Maintain and update filing, inventory, mailing, and database systems, either manually or using a computer, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

3M Post-it App
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe InDesign
ADP Workforce Now
Alpha Software Alpha Five
Appointment scheduling software
Billing software
Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge
Blackboard software
Bookkeeping software
Data entry software
Database software
Dropbox
Electronic Data Interchange EDI systems

60 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

10-key calculators
Computer laser printers
Computer terminals
Data input scanners
Desktop computers
Dictation equipment
Digital duplicating machines
Electric typewriters
Laptop computers
Laser facsimile machines
Letter folding machines
Multi-line telephone systems

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

QuickBooks

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Active Listening
02Reading Comprehension
03Speaking
04Writing
05Coordination
06Critical Thinking
07Service Orientation
08Social Perceptiveness
09Time Management

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Administrative
English Language
Customer and Personal Service
Administration and Management

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

41%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
36%Associate's Degree
15%Some College Courses

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Some Preparation Needed”. These occupations usually require a high school diploma.

Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.

Common questions

What does a Office Clerk do?: Perform duties too varied and diverse to be classified in any specific office clerical occupation, requiring knowledge of office systems and procedures. Day to day that includes work like operate office machines, such as photocopiers and scanners, facsimile machines, voice mail systems, and personal computers and Answer telephones, direct calls, and take messages.
What skills should a Office Clerk put on a resume?: O*NET rates Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Writing, and Coordination among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Office Clerk list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes 3M Post-it App, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe InDesign, ADP Workforce Now, and Alpha Software Alpha Five. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Office Clerk work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Office Clerks, General, Clerk, Office Assistant, and Office Services Specialist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Office Clerk need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 41% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Office Clerk role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.