Clerical occupations are changing. In most cases, they’re outright disappearing. Companies are looking for ways to cut costs in these tough economic times and the biggest target is the clerical worker.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the need for fewer and fewer clerical jobs. More files are increasingly being stored and managed online as smaller, cheaper, faster computers take over many tasks. Cloud computing will replace silos of data and make it instantly retrievable. Gone is the need for step-and-fetch-it clerks to label and bundle folders, memos and reports.
In the last several years, nearly two million administrative and clerical workers lost their jobs. Many managers now handle their own calendars and set up travel arrangements online. Voice recognition will eventually replace the need for clerical workers to take dictation. And many managers now prepare and send out their own emails.
Regrettably, many bosses still insist that their clerical workers (secretaries) make and serve them coffee. It’s the one thing computerization has been unable to take over. So is this the future of clerical work? Making coffee and emptying conference room ashtrays? What can you do to insulate yourself from this trend? What skill sets and knowledge should you acquire to ensure companies will hire you in a clerk’s position? Some basic minimums:
Computer skills. If you expect to make yourself employable as a clerical worker, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with today’s latest computers and their various systems. Ideally, you should know your way around both a PC and Mac. You should be proficient with the entire Microsoft Office suite of programs—including Word, Excel, and Power Point. Managers will rely on you to prepare letters, emails and reports, as well as creating and updating spreadsheets using Excel.
Voice recognition technology. It’s already here in various forms and you can either get in front of it or lag behind. Letters, memos and other written material will be dumped into these systems and you’ll have to know how to run them and do final edits on the finished documents.
The Web. So much research is being done on the web these days, that it’s almost impossible to land a clerical position without knowing how to navigate the Internet. You’ll have to know how to grab information from various sites. And you’ll have to be particularly adept at surfing the web using Microsoft Internet Explorer, Safari and Firefox. You may also need to familiarize yourself with programs like Skype if your boss wants to communicate face to face with staff in off-site offices. If compressed files come your way, you’ll need to know how to open and decompress these files. It’s best to take an online class in these areas or to spend some time with your IT people.
The role of clerical workers is changing. If you want to land a job in this field, you’ll have to step up and keep up with the latest technology. As far as making coffee goes, not to worry. Many managers are increasingly stopping at Starbucks before they get to the office.
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