How To Become A Secretary Office Clerk: What It Is and Career Path

What is a secretary office clerk and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Anne McConnell Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a secretary office clerk. For example, did you know that they make an average of $14.19 an hour? That's $29,507 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -5% and produce -130,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a secretary office clerk?

Anne McConnell Ph.D.

Professor, West Virginia State University

I would say it's important to be very attentive to the way you communicate with your employers, managers, and co-workers. Even sending an e-mail can be an opportunity to demonstrate your professionalism and communication skills. Some people think that no one knows how to write anymore, or how to communicate in a professional way. I don't think that's true. But we don't always think about how our writing can be a tool to communicate our competence and seriousness. If you know how to write and communicate professionally-which college grads do-then make sure to demonstrate that in the workplace.

ScoreSecretary Office ClerkUS Average

Salary

2.3

Avg. Salary $29,507

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.6

Growth rate -5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.95%

Asian 6.85%

Black or African American 11.27%

Hispanic or Latino 22.53%

Unknown 4.40%

White 54.00%

Gender

female 92.81%

male 7.19%

Age - 50

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 50

Stress level

6.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.3

Complexity level is basic

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a secretary office clerk

Explore secretary office clerk education requirements

Most common secretary office clerk degrees

High School Diploma

36.2 %

Associate

27.2 %

Bachelor's

23.3 %

Start to develop specific secretary office clerk skills

Skills	Percentages
Scheduling Appointments	22.01%
Customer Service	14.98%
Data Entry	12.79%
Payroll	8.62%
Office Equipment	4.95%

Complete relevant secretary office clerk training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New secretary office clerks learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a secretary office clerk based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real secretary office clerk resumes.

Research secretary office clerk duties and responsibilities

Lead DoD team that assist Pakistan in gaining military capabilities to conduct counter-terrorism operations against the Taliban.
Reconcile QuickBooks accounts payable and receivable.
Enter all invoice information and accounts payable into QuickBooks.
Reconcile payroll accounts/timekeeping for hourly employees.

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When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your secretary office clerk resume.

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