What does an office employee do?
An office employee is someone who performs clerical and any other tasks usually performed by managers. Office employees are employed as clerical workers in offices or organizations. They execute tasks such as typing and word processing, answering phone calls, bookkeeping, and stenography. It is their responsibility to ensure the smooth daily operations of an office. Their diligence, communication skills, customer service, hard work, and attention to detail are necessary for this job.
Office employee responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real office employee resumes:
- Manage operational FedEx relationship through order fulfillment, shipment tracking, and communication with parties involve in shipment transaction.
- Complete payroll by compiling hours and verifying submissions weekly, via QuickBooks.
- File paperwork, organize PowerPoint presentations, assist with typing correspondence and fax documents to appropriate destination.
- Demonstrate ability to maintain composure and work efficiently in a fast-pace environment while following HIPAA guidelines.
Office employee skills and personality traits
We calculated that 72% of Office Employees are proficient in Customer Service, Telephone Calls, and Customer Accounts. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Customer-service skills, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Office Employees that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 72%
Used customer service skills to communicate effectively ticketing information for games and season tickets.
- Telephone Calls, 5%
Performed various follow up activities including telephone calls, appeals, and letters and utilize payer websites to achieve timely resolution.
- Customer Accounts, 4%
Developed and established new customer accounts.
- Medical Billing, 4%
Performed medical billing including verifying compliance with insurance protocols.
- Computer System, 2%
Assisted permanent personnel in updated employee information when the company switched to a new computer system.
- Front Desk, 1%
Arrange daily shifts for the front desk and concierge according to the employee's ability and daily occupancy.
Common skills that an office employee uses to do their job include "customer service," "telephone calls," and "customer accounts." You can find details on the most important office employee responsibilities below.
Detail oriented. One of the key soft skills for an office employee to have is detail oriented. You can see how this relates to what office employees do because "general office clerks perform many clerical tasks that require attention to detail, such as preparing bills." Additionally, an office employee resume shows how office employees use detail oriented: "use excellent customer service skills when answering incoming campus phone calls use attention to detail when separating and distributing mail"
Customer-service skills. Many office employee duties rely on customer-service skills. "general office clerks often provide general information to company staff, customers, or the public," so an office employee will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways office employee responsibilities rely on customer-service skills: "created detailed procedural reference for posting credit card transactions to customer accounts and printing subsequent reports. "
Organizational skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of office employees is organizational skills. This skill is critical to many everyday office employee duties, as "general office clerks file and retrieve records." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "manage office operations to ensure efficiency and productivity -manage payroll and accounts payable/receivable -organizational and planning skills"
The three companies that hire the most office employees are:
- Liberty Tax19 office employees jobs
- North Memorial Health3 office employees jobs
- JPMorgan Chase & Co.2 office employees jobs
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Compare different office employees
Office employee vs. Clerk
Clerks are responsible for many of the general administrative tasks in the office. They are in charge of manning office telephone lines, managing incoming and outgoing mails, filing paperwork and other needed records, scheduling and documenting meetings, typing out documents when needed, disseminating memos and other official announcements, and keeping an inventory of office equipment and supplies. Clerks should have good office skills, communication skills, business writing skills, and time management skills. They should also be able to treat any document or paperwork they handle with confidentiality.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, office employee responsibilities require skills like "customer accounts," "medical billing," "processing payroll," and "hr." Meanwhile a typical clerk has skills in areas such as "basic math," "math," "data entry," and "cleanliness." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Clerks tend to make the most money working in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $31,380. In contrast, office employees make the biggest average salary, $34,736, in the professional industry.On average, clerks reach similar levels of education than office employees. Clerks are 0.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Office employee vs. Transit department clerk
It's the job of a Transit Department Clerk to process and verify all shipment documents that are both inbound and outbound. Your primary job will be to perform a ton of clerical duties in a transportation environment/organization. The Transit Clerk also ensures that all goods are safely processed and well secured for shipment. Furthermore, you'd have to identify and tag goods with the help of the shipment documents. Finally, your job will also be to supervise the delivery of goods to customers to their specific locations.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, office employee responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "customer accounts," "medical billing," "processing payroll," and "office management." Meanwhile, a transit department clerk has duties that require skills in areas such as "customer satisfaction," "customer orders," "patients," and "cleanliness." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, transit department clerks earn a lower salary than office employees. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, transit department clerks earn the most pay in the finance industry with an average salary of $35,204. Whereas office employees have higher pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $34,736.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Transit department clerks tend to reach similar levels of education than office employees. In fact, they're 0.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Office employee vs. Administrative clerk
An administrative clerk provides support to staff and does clerical works. These clerical duties include answering and making phone calls, typing documents, compiling and filing records, and scheduling appointments. The clerks often set up office meetings and invite reliable speakers. Also, they do research and prepare reports or presentations. Candidates for the job must be organized, detail-oriented, and can manage their time well. They must be tech-savvy and have a basic knowledge of bookkeeping. The salary depends on their experience, industry, and location of the job.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from office employee resumes include skills like "customer accounts," "medical billing," "processing payroll," and "office management," whereas an administrative clerk is more likely to list skills in "data entry," "patients," "payroll data," and "database systems. "
Administrative clerks make a very good living in the finance industry with an average annual salary of $33,044. On the other hand, office employees are paid the highest salary in the professional industry, with average annual pay of $34,736.When it comes to education, administrative clerks tend to earn similar degree levels compared to office employees. In fact, they're 0.6% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Office employee vs. Employee service officer
An employee services officer processes salary calculations, position management, payroll, appointment letters, and general human resource inquiries. Employee services officers recruit, train, and develop staff for an organization. They administer pension and benefits and ensure that staff is paid properly. Part of their job is to look after the safety, welfare, and health of employees. They approve job descriptions as well as advertisements. Also, they organize training sessions and related activities for the staff.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between office employees and employee service officers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an office employee might have more use for skills like "telephone calls," "customer accounts," "medical billing," and "processing payroll." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of employee service officers require skills like "minor maintenance," "data entry," "dependability," and "food service. "
Employee service officers enjoy the best pay in the transportation industry, with an average salary of $38,979. For comparison, office employees earn the highest salary in the professional industry.employee service officers reach similar levels of education compared to office employees, in general. The difference is that they're 0.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.8% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of office employee
Updated January 8, 2025
