Clerical Skills: All You Need To Know

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Clerical Skills are very important and needs to be acquired to be more relevant in your work place. Youcan discover more in this article.

You’re looking at a job description and thinking, “This is exactly what I was looking for!” She then realizes that the position is seeking Clerical Skills, which she does not currently mention on her resume. What should you do? How should you display these skills on your resume?

In this guide, we will discuss what administrative skills are, why they are important, and how to include them on your resume. We’ll also give you two examples that you can use as a guide the next time you renew your resume. It’s also a good idea to continually practice them, as you never know when they might show up in an interview question. Additionally, some interviews may even include an evaluation where you will receive a score on your performance in these important office skills.

Also Check: Clerical Officer job The University of Ibadan

Table of Contents

What are Clerical Skills?

Clerical Skills are the skills you use to ensure that an office is efficient and productive. They will relate to administrative tasks that arise in office environments, such as scheduling meetings and classifying files.

Administrative skills are invaluable for anyone who works in an office. Even if you are a senior employee, you will need to be able to file documents and communicate with other staff. These skills are especially valuable if you are going to work in an administrative role.

Administrative assistants, office workers, typists, filing clerks, and other office workers use their office skills daily. If you are applying for one of these positions, including your administrative skills on your resume is a good idea.

Employers value administrative competence because without it it is very difficult for an office or department to function. Imagine how an office would function if the assistant was not able to answer the phones. How would a secretary schedule meetings? Who would handle the communications on behalf of the office manager?

Examples of Clerical Skills

Data entry
Verbal and written communication
Attention to details
IT and technology skills
Presentation
Time management
Critical thinking
Organizational skills
Inventiveness
Bookkeeping and Accounting
Collaboration and teamwork

“Clerical Skills” is a broad term used to describe any skill or knowledge related to maintaining the efficiency of an office.

If you are applying for a job where such competencies are not required, it will suffice to list the administrative skills” on your resume. On the other hand, if your job involves a lot of office work, you should include some specific examples of these skills.

Here are a few that you can include on your resume:

1. Data entry

If you work in an administrative position, you may have to spend a lot of time entering data into computers. For example, you may be given a list of customer records that need to be moved to a computer. Or maybe a set of forms whose entries need to be copied to a database.

In these scenarios, you will need to exercise your data entry skills. This may involve using tools to insert data that only exists in physical form on a computer.

2. Communication

In an office, you will spend a lot of time communicating with others. There are two main types of communication you will use: oral and written.

For example, in your day-to-day work, you may need to speak to clients on the phone or participate in video conferences. In these situations, you should be able to share information effectively and sign up to make sure everyone is on the same page.

On the other hand, you may need to write professional correspondence, such as emails to employees or memos. This will involve using written communication to produce a document that is professional and free of errors and typographical errors.

3. Attention to detail

Paying attention to detail is important in any office job. If you’re an assistant, making a mistake when scheduling a meeting could cause your boss to be late. That is why adherence to prescribed policies and procedures is critical.

On your resume, you may want to mention that you pay attention to detail. This will show that you care about detail and go out of your way to produce high-quality work.

4. IT and technology skills

Do you know how to use a computer well? Can you write quickly? Technical and computer skills are incredibly important to employers, as obvious as they may seem.

Understand how to enter data into a computer, as well as how to navigate different programs. If you work in an office job, you may need experience creating presentations with PowerPoint or a specific email client.

Employers will often ask you to take a technical assessment as part of the interview procedure and will score you based on your skills.

5. Presentation

clerical jobs often involve a high degree of archival work. For example, suppose you are an executive assistant. You may need to reorganize an existing file system or ensure that all executive correspondence is printed and stored in one file.

How To Include Clerical Skills On Your Resume

There are two places you can highlight management experience on your resume: in the skills section or the work experience section.

The skills section of your resume is where you will highlight all the specific skills and experiences that you think qualify you for a particular position. This is where all technical skills come into play. For example, the domain of Microsoft Office usage. You should also list all the social skills you have.

Here’s a sample with managerial experience highlighted in a skills section on a resume:

Administrative Clerk Skills – Microsoft Office suite experience, Salesforce experience, attention to detail, filling ability, data entry skills, problem-solving.

You can also list your administrative skills in the work experience section of your resume. In this section, you should list all of your professional experience, along with the main goals you achieved in those respective positions.

Don’t forget your cover letter

When it comes to listing management experience, your cover letter is a fantastic opportunity. If you weren’t able to include all the relevant Clerical Skills on your resume, be sure to include them in your cover letter. Your cover letter is a great place to highlight soft skills like time management and critical thinking.

Conclusion

If you are working in an office environment, it helps to have some administrative experience. If you are working in an administrative role, these tasks can take up a large percentage of your time.

By following the tips and advice in this article, you will have no trouble highlighting your administrative skills on your resume.