Office and Administrative Support · Holland code CES

Office Clerks, General

Perform duties too varied and diverse to be classified in any specific office clerical occupation, requiring knowledge of office systems and procedures. Clerical duties may be assigned in accordance with the office procedures of individual establishments and may include a combination of answering telephones, bookkeeping, typing or word processing, office machine operation, and filing.

Also called: Clerk, Office Assistant, Office Clerk, Office Services Specialist, Administrative Clerk (Admin Clerk), Clerical Aide, Clerical Assistant, General Clerk.

O*NET 43-9061.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $45,010; Middle half earn $36,350 to $54,300. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 41% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: -7% · Decline; 2,646,000 jobs in 2024, projected 2,468,200. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "General office clerks".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Operate office machines, such as photocopiers and scanners, facsimile machines, voice mail systems, and personal computers.
Answer telephones, direct calls, and take messages.
Communicate with customers, employees, and other individuals to answer questions, disseminate or explain information, take orders, and address complaints.
Collect, count, and disburse money, do basic bookkeeping, and complete banking transactions.
Complete and mail bills, contracts, policies, invoices, or checks.
Maintain and update filing, inventory, mailing, and database systems, either manually or using a computer.
Compile, copy, sort, and file records of office activities, business transactions, and other activities.
Review files, records, and other documents to obtain information to respond to requests.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Reading Comprehension3.8 / 5
Active Listening3.8 / 5
Speaking3.6 / 5
Writing3.1 / 5
Critical Thinking3.0 / 5
Monitoring2.9 / 5

Knowledge areas

Administrative4.2 / 5
English Language3.8 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.4 / 5
Administration and Management3.0 / 5
Computers and Electronics2.9 / 5
Mathematics2.7 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic32
Investigative14
Artistic0
Social34
Enterprising37
Conventional97

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

civil service administrative officer · DE Verwaltungsbeamter/Verwaltungsbeamtin · FR agent administratif dans la fonction publique
administrative assistant · DE Verwaltungsassistent/Verwaltungsassistentin · FR assistant administratif/assistante administrative
management assistant · DE Management-Assistent/Management-Assistentin · FR attaché de direction/attachée de direction
passport officer · DE Sachbearbeiter für Passangelegenheiten/Sachbearbeiterin für Passangelegenheiten · FR agent du service de l’état civil/agente du service de l’état civil
office clerk · DE Büroassistent/Büroassistentin · FR employé de bureau/employée de bureau
secretary · DE Sekretär/Sekretärin · FR secrétaire

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

School secretaries (4213)50,600 employed
Personal assistants and other secretaries (4215)133,700 employed
Officers of non-governmental organisations (4113)64,600 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Technicians and associate professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€50,992
Austria	€46,986
Germany	€44,473
Netherlands	€42,448
Ireland	€41,613
Sweden	€41,155
Italy	€34,882
France	€34,816
Spain	€29,757
Portugal	€18,080
Poland	€12,108

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.99. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (43-9061).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test