What does a typist do?
A typist is responsible for typing all of a company's documents and materials, including reports, policies, and correspondence. A typist may also be known as a word processor or copy clerk. They are a professional who may work for companies or individuals. Their job responsibilities may include typing up letters, filling out forms, creating transcriptions of audio recordings, or organizing documents. They may also have to answer phones.
Typist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real typist resumes:
- Process and obtain DoD secret level clearance.
- Complete HTML coding for online versions of books and newsletters.
- Assist in providing telephone help desk support to troubleshoot application questions.
- Update title work from mark up commitment prepare by the escrow closers.
- Type, copy, assemble and distribute policies to escrow officers and clients.
- Type policies, endorsements, amendments and other miscellaneous materials for insure and their agents.
- Perform daily, weekly and monthly reports and submit to the payroll department for all employees.
- Access NYS website to find STACs on students and to see if grant has been award.
- Scan and type the information, convert to HTML, and upload it to the website.
- Update phone lists, verify payroll sheets, design data base in merge format for transfer lists.
- Install moldings, cabinets, shelving, paneling, framing, dry walling, decking and windows.
- Create bankruptcy and foreclosure files including all entry into proprietary database to prepare homes for county auctions.
- Process contract, brokerage policies and endorsements
- Perform initial proofreading of materials using applicable standards.
- Transcribe information for preliminary title reports, proofreading for accuracy
Typist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 19% of Typists are proficient in Data Entry, WPM, and Real Estate. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Detail oriented, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Typists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Data Entry, 19%
Volunteered to other departments on data entry assignments.
- WPM, 13%
Maintain a typing speed of 65 WPM to meet production requirements.
- Real Estate, 8%
Typed and edited real estate title insurance documents
- Telephone Calls, 8%
Prepared commercial credit presentations for loan officers and answered business credit on inquiry telephone calls.
- Computer Database, 6%
Handled confidential files and created a computer database
- Escrow, 5%
Typed, copied, assembled and distributed policies to escrow officers and clients.
Most typists use their skills in "data entry," "wpm," and "real estate" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential typist responsibilities here:
Customer-service skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a typist to have is customer-service skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "general office clerks often provide general information to company staff, customers, or the public." Typists often use customer-service skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "handled customer calls, including billing statements, scheduling appointments and customer complaints due to services provided and in-house sales. "
Detail oriented. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling typist duties is detail oriented. The role rewards competence in this skill because "general office clerks perform many clerical tasks that require attention to detail, such as preparing bills." According to a typist resume, here's how typists can utilize detail oriented in their job responsibilities: "typed, proofread, and finalized financial statements and proposals requiring detail data entry. "
Organizational skills. This is an important skill for typists to perform their duties. For an example of how typist responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "general office clerks file and retrieve records." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a typist: "screened telephone calls and visitors ensuring that appropriate referrals were made to organizational elements. ".
The three companies that hire the most typists are:
- Buffalo Schools6 typists jobs
- Iowa Department of Transportation2 typists jobs
- Donnellyboland2 typists jobs
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Compare different typists
Typist vs. Room clerk
A room clerk is responsible for receiving guests and assigning them to their respective rooms, typically in a hotel setting. Room clerks manage guests' reservations, explain the policies of the premises, and process their payments for staying at the hotel. They also ensure the rooms' cleanliness, reaching out to the maintenance for any repairs and requests for additional room items. A room clerk must have excellent communication and customer service skills, respond to the customer's inquiries and concerns, and resolve service complaints immediately.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a typist are more likely to require skills like "wpm," "real estate," "computer database," and "escrow." On the other hand, a job as a room clerk requires skills like "customer service," "stock room," "inventory control," and "postage meter." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Room clerks earn the highest salaries when working in the government industry, with an average yearly salary of $33,014. On the other hand, typists are paid more in the government industry with an average salary of $34,510.room clerks tend to reach similar levels of education than typists. In fact, room clerks are 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Typist 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.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that typist responsibilities requires skills like "wpm," "real estate," "computer database," and "escrow." But a clerk might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "basic math," "math," "customer service," and "cleanliness."
Clerks earn a lower average salary than typists. But clerks earn the highest pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $31,380. Additionally, typists earn the highest salaries in the government with average pay of $34,510 annually.clerks earn similar levels of education than typists in general. They're 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Typist vs. General clerk
General clerks are responsible for a variety of miscellaneous and administrative tasks within an organization. These include answering and transferring calls, sorting and delivering incoming emails, and scheduling appointments. They are also responsible for providing information to clients and staff members, preparing and processing bills and office documents, and performing data entry tasks. General clerks are often employed in almost all industries. This position typically requires a high school diploma and basic knowledge of computer applications such as spreadsheet software and word processing.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, typists are more likely to have skills like "wpm," "real estate," "computer database," and "escrow." But a general clerk is more likely to have skills like "customer service," "office procedures," "veterans," and "citizenship."
General clerks make a very good living in the government industry with an average annual salary of $32,575. On the other hand, typists are paid the highest salary in the government industry, with average annual pay of $34,510.general clerks typically earn similar educational levels compared to typists. Specifically, they're 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Typist vs. General office clerk
A general office clerk is responsible for performing various clerical duties to support business functions and ensure smooth daily operations. General office clerks respond to clients' inquiries and concerns, welcoming guests, and assisting in disseminating information across the organization. They maintain the adequacy of inventories, organize business and financial transaction reports, and perform basic bookkeeping tasks and banking transactions. A general office clerk must be highly organizational and analytical, especially in encoding account statements on the database and processing business reports required by the management.
Types of typist
Updated January 8, 2025
