Office assistants go by a number of titles, such as clerk or clerk combined with a function- for example, clerk/typist. Depending on the kind of company you work for, you may be expected to answer phones, type, file, do data entry (keyboard numbers or other information into a computer), run errands, operate office equipment or handle bookkeeping.
Experts predict a 24 percent increase in these types of jobs over the next decade, in part because office assistants are needed in virtually every industry. A wholesale showroom might need a clerk to greet clients and open boxes. In a real estate office, an office assistant may keep listings updated, field phone calls, direct customers to the right desk and check advertising copy.
In small companies, an assistant often handles all the clerical work. In a larger company, an office assistant could have much more specialized responsibilities, such as maintaining accurate and current data (a records clerk); looking up billing information, preparing invoices and seeing that they are mailed out (a billing clerk); or making sure that the company's documents are properly classified and indexed (a filing clerk). These tasks might be done manually or, increasingly often, on computers.
Being able to follow directions and get along with a variety of people are trademarks of talented office assistants. Many employers are willing to train you on the job if you make it clear that you're willing to learn.
This job is the kind of entry-level position that can take you places if you initiate and get things done quickly and correctly. Knowing where to get answers to problems and showing good judgment are also critical to being promoted to a higher-level clerical position.
Success also depends on your technical skills-knowing how to operate different kinds of office equipment, from facsimile (fax) machines to copiers to phone consoles. Good keyboarding skills and a familiarity with word processing, spreadsheet, and desktop publishing and database management programs will enable you to find a job more quickly-and move up.
If you're a flexible person who doesn't mind pitching in to get a job done, a position as an assistant or clerk might be just what you are looking for.
What You Need to Know
- Used business words, including bookkeeping terms
- Basic office procedures
- Grammar and spelling
- Ability to use phone system, take accurate messages
- Typing speed of 50 words per minute (minimum)
- Knowledge of word processing and other commonly used office software programs
- Office equipment know-how
- Ability to talk to and get along with a variety of employees and customers
- Pleasant-sounding voice and good phone manners
- Ability to stay on top of details
- Willingness to do what's needed, when it's needed
- Should have "can do" attitude
- " A high school diploma or equivalent is usually required.
Licenses Required
- " None
A demand for clerks in almost every industry, coupled with frequent turnover, will continue to create plentiful job openings. Part-time and temporary opportunities are expected to increase, and flexible hours are often available to clerks whose jobs can be done during nontraditional business hours.
Entry-level job: general office assistant, office clerk, clerk/typist
If you do a very specific kind of work, you might be called a billing clerk, a filing clerk or a records clerk.
- Do light typing
- Answer phones
- File papers and records
- Sort and distribute mail (smaller offices)
- Execute specific duties (a billing clerk, for example, writes and sends out invoices)
- Operate office machines (copying, fax, postage meter)
- Fill in for receptionist or others when necessary
- Assume greater responsibility in area of specialization
- Supervise supply levels and order supplies
- Assist in overseeing maintenance and operation of office equipment
- Train and supervise beginners
- Handle more of the clerical work load (typing, data entry, file organization) as needed
- Set up and put systems in place to achieve smoother office operation
After a year of full-time employment, you'll usually be given one to two weeks' vacation. The number of paid sick days, personal days and major holidays you'll get depends on the company.
- Health insurance (some employers)
- Payment for courses related to skill improvement (some employers)
- Accounting firms
- Retailers and wholesalers
- Manufacturing firms
- Hospitals and health service companies
- Financial service companies (banks, insurance companies, brokerage firms)
- Schools and universities (public and private)
- Businesses of all kinds, large and small
- Social service organizations
- Potential for eyestrain problems and headaches if main duties require steady typing at a computer terminal
- Back and shoulder strain (if chair, desk height and monitor position are not adjusted properly)
- Carpal tunnel syndrome (a wrist fatigue injury caused by repetitive keyboard motions)
Office environments vary enormously, depending on surroundings
Like the industry and type of company. Corporate offices tend to be more spacious, well equipped and comfortable for employees. Many office assistants work in open rooms with rows of desks, or separated by shoulder-high partitions. If you have a number of responsibilities, however, you may not be as desk-bound as other office workers.
Starting salary: $12,000 to
More experienced: $17,500 to $25,000
Businesses of all kinds pay more than social service organizations, state and local government agencies, schools and nonprofit organizations. Part-time office assistants can expect to earn between $7 and $ 10 per hour.
If you want to get promoted, you'll have to prove you can do your job and more. Volunteering to do tasks above and beyond what your job description requires, showing that you know how to solve problems and learning as much as you can about the work your organization does will all make you a good candidate for promotion.
In organizations where the office staff is sizable, you could move up by becoming more specialized in a particular function, such as bookkeeping, secretarial work or records management. If you have strong communication skills and demonstrate that you can train and supervise others, you may eventually be promoted into an office manager position-directing the efficient running of the office itself. Office assistants in specific clerking positions can move into higher-level secretarial or bookkeeping positions by improving their technological and communication skills and demonstrating competence.
Positions can be found virtually everywhere, majority of jobs are concentrated in large metropolitan areas where many businesses are located.
Most training is on-the-job because each business has its own way of setting up its office systems. Most employers like you to have some training in office skills (typing, keyboarding, business machine operation) and procedures (clerical business practices, business math). Such courses are available in many high schools, postsecondary business institutes, two-year community colleges or continuing education programs at local high schools.
Most office assistants are women, but as office managers look for talented, all-purpose assistants with organizational skills to help run offices more efficiently, men may be more attracted to this field.
The Bad News
- Low pay
- Repetitive tasks
- Advancement can be slow
- The Good News
- Jobs exist every where
- "Nine-to-five" hours
- Part-time, temporary and flex time opportunities available
- Little training needed
Years in the field: three
How did you break into the office field?
During high school I was in a co-op program at New York Life. It was a schedule that involved alternating working full time one week and going to school full time the next. I also worked here in the summer as an office assistant.
I gained a lot of confidence by working in a large office with all kinds of people. I also had to learn to organize my time and prioritize because my academic work load was the same as for students going to school every day.
What do you do on the job?
I process different types of insurance applications-pension, health, annuity and life insurance policies-up to 100 an hour. I am in the central records department, which manages the records of all policies. Each of us receives cards with the policyholder's name and number and the application for a policy. I double-check the information; make sure the policy name and number are the same. I stamp the papers and manually file them in the proper places.
I don't have to do any typing, but I have to know how to retrieve data and enter it on a computer.
What do you like most about your work?
I enjoy processing the applications. I feel I'm participating in the flow of the company's business. I have learned a lot about the kinds of insurance people can buy and what the reasons are for purchasing them at different stages of life.
What do you like least?
I don't like filing correspondence. It must be done, and it's good exercise, going back and forth from my desk to the files, but I find it extremely tedious.
What are you proudest of?
My employers rely on me more as time goes by. They know that if they give me a certain task, I will get it done well. I feel that they have respect for me and for my skills, and that means I will move ahead. I also feel I'm making a contribution to the running of the organization.
What advice would you give to high school students interested in office work?
Computers are everything. You must introduce yourself to them and get as much instruction and experience on them as you can. You also must be patient in an entry-level job. You have to learn to relate to the people around you, who will be all ages and types, with different personalities. Communicating with your co-workers and bosses is essential to success.
Stefanie Neret, 18, office assistant, Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri
Years in the field: one
What prepared you for your current position?
I was the secretary to the athletic director at my high school as part of a co-op program. I developed my organizational skills in that clerical job because I had to schedule so many things-games, transportation, rain dates-and I utilize these skills a lot in my current job. I am now the only administrative support for the director of the Center for Professional Development at the university. Taking care of all the details for seminar programs is one of my main responsibilities.
What are your other duties?
My boss teaches human resources to the personnel of big companies. She is gone most of the time, and I handle everything that needs to be done. I file correspondence, do word processing, and write letters and memos from start to finish. My boss will tell me what should be said, and I compose and execute it.
I do data management, keeping our computer disks up-to-date. We do large mailings and follow-up letters, which I take care of. I mail out brochures and other requested information. When we are planning a seminar, usually several times a month, I make all the necessary phone calls and arrange the luncheon, from locating the restaurant to setting up the menu. I keep track of all the responses, run interference on whatever needs handling and figure out what to do when people show up unannounced.
What do you like most about your work?
Definitely the interaction with people. In this job I meet so many different, interesting people. It makes the work very exciting. The department hires experts to speak on various topics, and I handle the arrangements. I deal with training directors of companies and sometimes the vice presidents or presidents of the firms.
What kind of preparation did you have?
It has mainly been on-the-job. In high school I took every business course that was offered: four years of typing, information processing, computer applications, computer principles, accounting and office procedures.
As a member of the Future Secretaries Association, an organization for high school students, I coordinated a career conference. That not only gave me some of the skills I'm using now but it also opened my eyes to how many areas of business there are.
What are you most proud of in your career so far?
I am very proud of how I have helped pull seminars together. I'm the first contact with conference attendees. If they don't like me, or if I don't handle information well, they are not going to come. When something goes amiss, I have to make the arrangements to fix the situation.
What advice would you give to someone who is interested in working in an office?
Don't be closed-minded about any opportunities. Be prepared for anything that may come up in an office. It can lead to more responsibility and more recognition. You can't refuse to do things you are asked to do.
Being a team player is critical. If a job doesn't get done, it makes you look bad whether you consider it your job or not. You have to be willing to pitch in and to go that extra mile without feeling resentful and hostile. I work overtime often, but I see it as part of getting the job done.
Lorie Cauldwel, 19, office assistant, Canteen Corporation Fort Wayne, Indiana
Years in the field: seven months
How did you break into the field?
After high school I took a one-year course at ITT Technical Institute on a scholarship and received an office technology diploma. Then I was hired to work for the assistant district manager at a branch office of a national vending machine company. My only prior job experience was as a crew leader and night manager for a fast-food restaurant.
Do you have a variety of duties as an office assistant?
There are only the two of us in the office all day-my boss and me-and I do all of the clerical tasks, from answering the phone to bookkeeping to handling mail and correspondence. I have learned to handle complaints and requests for maintenance and information. The only thing 1 don't do is actually order the food for the machines.
When our salesmen come back from their routes every day, they hand all of their cash to me to tally, and because it's a lot of money, I count it in an isolated, secure room, alone.
What do you do in the course of a day?
I work from 7:30 A.M. to 4 P.M. answering the phone, and it rings all day long. I take messages and handle whatever comes up in the way of providing information on how to arrange for vending machines or servicing them. Every morning I review the route cards from our seven salesmen from the day before. I record the products they sold and add everything up to make sure the money that came in equals the sales. I do it manually, using an electronic calculator, and then I batch the cards and send them to the company's district center in Illinois, where everything is put on a computer.
I keep the cash logs in a ledger book, so I record the cash brought in and then put it on our computer daily. Some of the routes are on commission, so I figure the commissions out so that the weekly payroll will be accurate. Every week I send those figures to the head office in South Carolina, which is where our paychecks are issued.
What else do you do?
I fill out the purchase orders for the candy and food we put in our machines and figure out the unit costs for each bag of snacks. I also have correspondence or proposals to type. I file all the bills, invoices and purchase orders and order the office supplies.
What kind of training did you have?
In high school I took all the basic business courses-typing, computer literacy, accounting, shorthand and word processing. I also had an accounting lab where I learned Lotus and spreadsheet skills. At the technical institute, I built on these skills and also learned dBase, which added to my credentials when I was looking for a job.
What has been the hardest aspect of your first job?
I had to get used to the pace of an office and learn some of the specifics of this office very quickly. I had to learn how to use the counting machine and the procedures involved in a week's time. My head was stuffed full of information, and I had to sort it all out so that 1 could set up a routine that would enable me to accomplish the tasks I was given to do. It took patience and a cool head so that I wouldn't get overwhelmed in the beginning. Now I have everything organized, and things are running smoothly on a day-today basis.
What do you like most about your work?
Dealing with people when they call. Most of the customers who call are pleasant and understanding if they need maintenance, and I explain that they have to be patient. I have only had one really angry complaint call to handle. I like feeling in charge of the office itself by doing everything necessary to assist in its daily operations.
What do you like least?
When I'm really cluttered with work and my boss interrupts me to find something for him. I've been in the job for such a short time, but I know where everything is. He's been here 35 years, and I'm teaching him how it all works!
I do get claustrophobic sometimes when I'm counting the money in the closed room. It's necessary for my own safety, but the isolation of it was something to get used to.
What are you most proud of?
When I first started this job, I had to learn all the computer programs in use here. It felt very good when I mastered WordPerfect 6.0 (a word processing program).
What advice would you offer to people considering this field?
Be very patient with the work. Learning the office procedures is important, and it can seem overwhelming at first. You have to check your work carefully and be accurate. You have to be aware of your grammar and spelling. Sometimes it seems like a lot to keep track of and a lot of pressure to do it right, but it's very vital to your success.
