Office Clerks, General
Perform duties too varied and diverse to be classified in any specific office clerical occupation, requiring knowledge of office systems and procedures. Clerical duties may be assigned in accordance with the office procedures of individual establishments and may include a combination of answering telephones, bookkeeping, typing or word processing, office machine operation, and filing.
Most important skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
- Social Perceptiveness
- Coordination
- Service Orientation
Key knowledge
- Administrative
- English Language
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administration and Management
- Computers and Electronics
- Mathematics
- Economics and Accounting
- Public Safety and Security
What the work involves
- Communicate with customers, employees, and other individuals to answer questions, disseminate or explain information, take orders, and address complaints.
- Answer telephones, direct calls, and take messages.
- Compile, copy, sort, and file records of office activities, business transactions, and other activities.
- Operate office machines, such as photocopiers and scanners, facsimile machines, voice mail systems, and personal computers.
- Compute, record, and proofread data and other information, such as records or reports.
- Maintain and update filing, inventory, mailing, and database systems, either manually or using a computer.
- Open, sort, and route incoming mail, answer correspondence, and prepare outgoing mail.
- Review files, records, and other documents to obtain information to respond to requests.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Conventional, Enterprising, Social.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (40.6% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (30%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (31.8%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Office Clerks, General is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | High | Higher on contact with others than 79% of occupations compared | 82% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 83% of occupations compared | 65% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 67% of occupations compared | 64% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 93% of occupations compared | 34% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Lower on time pressure than 57% of occupations compared | 42% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Lower on conflict situations than 57% of occupations compared | 28% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 66% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 76% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 2.32%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 1.98%
- Contact with others most of the time: 13.96%
- Constant contact with others: 81.74%
n = 82, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 6.45%
- Fairly important: 1.82%
- Important: 12.89%
- Very important: 14.24%
- Extremely important: 64.6%
n = 82, Incumbent 08/2018
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 2.07%
- Fairly important: 2.37%
- Important: 7.47%
- Very important: 23.99%
- Extremely important: 64.1%
n = 82, Incumbent 08/2018
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 4.17%
- Very little freedom: 24.64%
- Limited freedom: 23.62%
- Some freedom: 34.06%
- A lot of freedom: 13.5%
n = 82, Incumbent 08/2018
Time pressure
- Never: 2%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 9.37%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 22.21%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 42.13%
- Every day: 24.28%
n = 81, Incumbent 08/2018
Conflict situations
- Never: 27.85%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 20.05%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 18.42%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 17.31%
- Every day: 16.37%
n = 81, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 2%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 43.66%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 17.51%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 16.95%
- Every day: 19.87%
n = 81, Incumbent 08/2018
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 26.06%
- Fairly serious: 37.25%
- Serious: 14.17%
- Very serious: 13.11%
- Extremely serious: 9.41%
n = 79, Incumbent 08/2018
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O*NET-SOC 43-9061.00 · SOC 43-9061 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8