How to hire a clerk's assistant/administrative assistant

How to hire a clerk's assistant/administrative assistant, step by step

Here's a step-by-step clerk's assistant/administrative assistant hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a clerk's assistant/administrative assistant job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new clerk's assistant/administrative assistant
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a clerk's assistant/administrative assistant do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The clerk's assistant/administrative assistant hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a clerk's assistant/administrative assistant to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a clerk's assistant/administrative assistant that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of clerk's assistant/administrative assistant salaries for various roles:

   Type of Clerk's Assistant/Administrative Assistant	Description	Hourly rate
   Clerk's Assistant/Administrative Assistant	Secretaries and administrative assistants perform clerical and administrative duties. They organize files, prepare documents, schedule appointments, and support other staff.	$12-19
   Administrative Support	Administrative support specialists provide different types of governmental assistance. They carry out varied clerical duties in almost all industries... Show more	$12-25
   Administrative Staff	As the administrative staff, they primarily provide administrative and secretarial support for the department. Typically, they do report-writing, filing and scheduling, and payroll... Show more	$27-48

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Data Entry
   • Customer Service
   • Telephone Calls
   • Purchase Orders
   • Financial Reports
   • Front Desk
   • Scheduling Appointments
   • Office Equipment
   • Provides Administrative Support
   • Travel Arrangements
   • Word Processing
   • PowerPoint
   • HR
   • DMV

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage and update social media outlets including Facebook and LinkedIn.
   • Reconcile claim and ACH payments.
   • Mail out/process ACH payments to vendors.
   • Assist with presentation set up and document distribution on HIPPA guidelines and regulations.
   • Prepare weekly payroll for all employees per week using QuickBooks and excel, payroll reports and customers invoices.
   • Prepare and create customer invoices utilizing QuickBooks.

   More clerk's assistant/administrative assistant duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your clerk's assistant/administrative assistant job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A clerk's assistant/administrative assistant can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, clerks's assistant/administrative assistant' average salary in indiana is 38% less than in hawaii.
   • Seniority. Entry-level clerks's assistant/administrative assistant 34% less than senior-level clerks's assistant/administrative assistant.
   • Certifications. A clerk's assistant/administrative assistant with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a clerk's assistant/administrative assistant's salary.

   Average clerk's assistant/administrative assistant salary

   $16.13hourly

   $33,551 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level clerk's assistant/administrative assistant salary

   $27,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 20, 2025

   Average clerk's assistant/administrative assistant salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$38,020	$18
   2	Oregon	$37,869	$18
   3	New York	$35,185	$17
   4	Colorado	$35,180	$17
   5	Minnesota	$35,087	$17
   6	Texas	$33,924	$16
   7	Wisconsin	$32,831	$16
   8	Pennsylvania	$31,576	$15
   9	Virginia	$28,139	$14
   10	Florida	$27,957	$13
   11	Georgia	$27,342	$13
   12	Ohio	$27,049	$13
   13	Puerto Rico	$20,173	$10

   Average clerk's assistant/administrative assistant salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	ADM	$38,775	$18.64	3
   2	Waste Connections	$37,908	$18.23	4
   3	Minnesota Limited	$35,545	$17.09	9
   4	HDR	$35,537	$17.09	4
   5	JWCH Institute	$35,137	$16.89	2
   6	First Tek	$34,909	$16.78
   7	Liberty Healthcare	$34,741	$16.70
   8	Touro College	$33,708	$16.21	11
   9	Colorado State Express	$33,683	$16.19
   10	Catholic Charities Of The Archdiocese Of St Paul And Minneapolis	$33,683	$16.19
   11	Kelly Services	$33,595	$16.15	33
   12	Byrider	$33,513	$16.11
   13	Builders FirstSource	$33,113	$15.92	1
   14	Diversified Sourcing	$33,029	$15.88
   15	Randstad North America, Inc.	$32,480	$15.62	7
   16	PeopleReady	$32,378	$15.57	4
   17	Caliper Family of Companies	$32,368	$15.56
   18	J.B. Hunt Transport Services	$32,285	$15.52	3
   19	R.M. Schulte & Associates	$31,131	$14.97
   20	Air Incorporated	$30,981	$14.89

4. Writing a clerk's assistant/administrative assistant job description

   A job description for a clerk's assistant/administrative assistant role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a clerk's assistant/administrative assistant job description:

   Clerk's assistant/administrative assistant job description example

   The Admin Assistant/Mail Clerk lead is responsible for assisting the facilities team including the facility manager and engineers. This candidate will organize and distributing mail among departments within a corporation. Their duties include receiving mail from a postal worker, sorting mail by departments and distributing mail items to each department.
   DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: · Provide an exceptional level of customer service to the client · Order of equipment and supplies · Sort and collate incoming and outgoing mail. · Weigh mail to determine the correct postage. · Open mail addressed to the office and discard junk mail. · Record register mail. · Use fax and scanning machines. · Time/date stamp all incoming/outgoing mail. · Help customers complete change of address and mail hold forms. · Perform additional tasks as needed · Assist with special projects DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE: · Able to work both independently with minimum supervision and in a team atmosphere · Organized and able to prioritize multiple tasks and successfully meet deadlines · Able to effectively interact with customers, field staff, co-workers and vendors · Flexible and able to work with constantly adjusting schedule, priorities, and responsibilities · Strong verbal, written, analytical, and interpersonal skills. · Use of Microsoft Office. EFFORTS: · Able to participate in job walk-throughs which include climbing ladders, squatting and other · Work requires walking or standing 85% of the time; 10% of walking is on uneven terrain · Able to see, hear well (either naturally or with correction) and speak clearly · Also includes sitting, standing and bending; repetitive motions of hands and wrists due to Frequent computer use · Must be able to routinely lift up 25 pounds. BENEFITS: · Health Insurance · Paid Holidays · PTO Company DescriptionCCS is a facility services company that specializes in single and multi-tenant buildings, corporate campuses, municipal and public education environments.
   
   We are a quality-oriented company that serves our customers in a professional and efficient manner. We have established a culture based on core values that define who we are as a company. Our culture results in our customers being supported by our employees who are committed to delivering our services based on these values:
   
   Commitment: Promise to work hard in performing our duties to the best of our abilities.
   Professional Integrity: Pride in delivering our services when we promised and how we promised.
   Accountability: Taking ownership of our actions and decisions.
   Continuous Improvement: Encourage innovation to better serve our customers.
   Excellence: Driven to exceed our customers’ expectations at every level.
   
   We are passionate about what we do and looking to add service-oriented and highly motivated team members to share in our growth. Today, CCS has over 5000 team members with a presence in Southern California, Nevada, Arizona, Washington, New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Colorado.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right clerk's assistant/administrative assistant for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with clerks's assistant/administrative assistant they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit clerks's assistant/administrative assistant who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your clerk's assistant/administrative assistant job on Zippia to find and recruit clerk's assistant/administrative assistant candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with clerk's assistant/administrative assistant candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new clerk's assistant/administrative assistant

   Once you've selected the best clerk's assistant/administrative assistant candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new clerk's assistant/administrative assistant first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a clerk's assistant/administrative assistant?