How to Get a Job as a General Office Clerk

The duties of a general office clerk are varied, changing with the needs and demands of the office setting in which you work. You will not work at one specialized task, but rather you will take on duties that include filing, entering date into the computer system, as well as taking telephone messages and handling the mail. Photocopying and faxing documents may also be one of the required duties in addition to typing documents and proofreading them to catch any mistakes in typing, spelling and grammar. The duties depend on the nature of the work of the office, whether it is a medical office, an insurance office, a school office or the office of a business.

Processing orders and making payments can be part of the duties you would perform as a general office clerk. The responsibilities you have in this job will also depend on your qualifications and experience. At the entry-level, you will start off with photocopying and filing and as you learn how the office works, you will gradually take on more responsibility for the day-to-day operation.

You usually need to have some post-secondary training in order to obtain a position as a general office clerk. This includes such courses as a bookkeeping course of a one-year course from a technical or vocational college. Part of this training will include a work term in an office setting where you work under the supervision of a person experienced in the job. It is essential that you have computer skills and are able to use the computer software used in this office. Although your training in college will give you the word processing skills you need, you may have to receive on the job training for specific types of software, such as the accounting software the firm uses.



It is important that you have good grammar and spelling skills as a general office clerk in order to perform the proofreading duties. Since you will be dealing with the administration, other office personnel and the various people that come in and out of the office on a daily basis, you need to have excellent interpersonal skills. Cooperation, willingness to work as part of a tem and the ability to multi-task are some other skills that employers look for in applicants for this type of position. You should have an eye for detail, have good organizational skills, be able to prioritize and adapt to changing situations.

As you gain experience as a general office clerk and have good performance evaluations, you can take on positions of more responsibility. You can move into higher office administrative positions within the same firm or be eligible for positions of higher rank and salary in other locations. Due to the changing nature of the economy and the advances in technology it is important for you to upgrade your skills to be able to work in a variety of office situations. With the increasing use of computers in office settings, knowledge of the use of different types of software applications will be beneficial to you.