Businesses depend on correct information being transmitted between workers to make sure that everyone is coordinated. Also, communication to customers is essential to continually meet the needs of the customers. For these reasons, document clerks are hired to organize documents and disseminate infomation throughout institutions.

Identification

Document clerks are also known as word processors, typists, data entry keyers, electronic data processors and information processing workers. Document clerks maintain files within a company and make sure that documents get to where they need to go, whether the information must be entered into an electronic database or faxed to a necessary party. These clerks are often given rough drafts or outlines that they must develop into appropriate reports. They must also aid fellow workers in finding documents. Document clerks make sure that documents comply with standards and oversee the documentation process. They must also determine when the documents will be released. The document clerk must also work with IT to facilitate communication between headquarters and manufacturing plants.

Training

Some businesses hire document clerks right out of high school, while other businesses want document clerks that have a bachelor’s degree in a field related to the business, so that the document clerk will know the terminology and format of the field. Document clerks must be able to work with Microsoft Office products and Adobe Acrobat.

Skills

They must have excellent oral and written communication skills, since they must sometimes communicate with those who are delivering the information that will have to be in the documents. They must have great organizational skills and must be detail-oriented, since getting details wrong on a particular document can be costly. There often handle multiple projects, which leads to the document controller needing multi-tasking and prioritization skills.

Outlook

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of information processing workers who held jobs in 2008 was 426,200. The need for information processing workers is expected to decline by 6 percent between 2008 and 2018. The decline in the need for these workers will result from advances in technology that increase the efficiency of these workers and also the increasing number of specialized workers who perform information processing work themselves instead of delegating tasks to document clerks. However, those document clerks who continually develop skills will be able to keep themselves in demand.

Earnings

In 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the median earnings for word processors and typists was $31,390, and the median earnings for data-entry keyers was $26,120.