Order Clerks
Receive and process incoming orders for materials, merchandise, classified ads, or services such as repairs, installations, or rental of facilities. Generally receives orders via mail, phone, fax, or other electronic means. Duties include informing customers of receipt, prices, shipping dates, and delays; preparing contracts; and handling complaints.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Reading Comprehension
- Service Orientation
- Writing
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Judgment and Decision Making
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Production and Processing
- Computers and Electronics
- Education and Training
- English Language
- Administrative
- Mathematics
- Sales and Marketing
What the work involves
- Obtain customers' names, addresses, and billing information, product numbers, and specifications of items to be purchased, and enter this information on order forms.
- Inform customers by mail or telephone of order information, such as unit prices, shipping dates, and any anticipated delays.
- Receive and respond to customer complaints.
- Verify customer and order information for correctness, checking it against previously obtained information as necessary.
- Check inventory records to determine availability of requested merchandise.
- Review orders for completeness according to reporting procedures and forward incomplete orders for further processing.
- File copies of orders received, or post orders on records.
- Compute total charges for merchandise or services and shipping charges.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Conventional, Enterprising, Realistic.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (63% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (56.6%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (58.7%)
- 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 Order Clerks 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 | Moderate | Lower on contact with others than 55% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 74% of occupations compared | 60% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Low | Lower on teamwork than 71% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 75% of occupations compared | — |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 73% of occupations compared | 54% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Lower on conflict situations than 52% of occupations compared | 55% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 61% of occupations compared | — |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 98% of occupations compared | 77% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: very 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: 11.24%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Constant contact with others: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2023
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 1.08%
- Fairly important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Important: 15.08%
- Very important: 3.2%
- Extremely important: 60.06%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2023
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Important: 10.85%
- Very important: 15.11%
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2023
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Some freedom: 33.51%
- A lot of freedom: 23.94%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2023
Time pressure
- Never: 11.24%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0.2%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 3.56%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 31.19%
- Every day: 53.81%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2023
Conflict situations
- Never: 7.88%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 21.64%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 55.37%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 11.35%
- Every day: 3.76%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2023
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: 28.25%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 33.78%
- Every day: 0.2%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2023
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 77.48%
- Fairly serious: 3.25%
- Serious: 0.02%
- Very serious: 19.25%
- Extremely serious: 0%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2023
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O*NET-SOC 43-4151.00 · SOC 43-4151 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8