Administrative and Clerical Industry

About administrative and clerical work

Administrative and clerical work is needed across most industries, from auto repair to medicine. That’s because every organization has to maintain data and perform the same basic tasks to run. Examples of clerical tasks include

1. Processing incoming and outgoing mail.
2. Updating contacts.
3. Filing documents.
4. Copying documents.
5. Maintaining a petty cash fund.
6. Greeting visitors.
7. Answering phone calls.
8. Replying to emails.
9. Arranging travel and meetings.
10. Ordering food and beverages.
11. Maintaining a calendar.
12. Organizing office functions.
13. Setting up presentations.

In today’s society, admin work means being able to manage multiple sources of communication. That means proficiency with a wide array of tech equipment and software: phones, tablets, laptops, audiovisual equipment, email, social media, and more.

Clerical workers are considered support staff who are there to help the moneymakers do their job. That means that clerical and administrative work is critical work. Anyone who works with an assistant, directly or indirectly, counts on that person to back them up and get things done.

Problems hiring the right people for administrative and clerical jobs

In the past, one didn’t need an undergraduate degree to apply for an administrative or clerical job. Today, educational requirements for admin jobs depend on the company and industry, as well as on the job description itself. An executive assistant at a famous company might need a master’s degree, whereas a receptionist at a small business might not need any college.

Regardless of the formal education requirements for administrative and clerical jobs, candidates for these jobs need to have certain skills and qualities in order to succeed. Examples of these skills and qualities include:

• Communication skills.
• Emotional intelligence.
• Organizational skills.
• Problem-solving skills.
• Tech proficiency.

Multitasking is one of the most popular requirements for clerical jobs. Although some studies show that multitasking is inefficient, most admins are expected to juggle a few duties at once, or at least be able to switch tasks very quickly.

Finding people who can multitask without becoming stressed and without letting their work quality and accuracy suffer is one of the biggest problems in hiring the right people for administrative and clerical jobs.

Furthermore, whereas many people in administration work behind the scenes, an assistant to a prominent executive or a receptionist represents the company to many people. So portraying the right image can be an important part of succeeding as an administrative employee.

Why use pre-employment testing for administrative and clerical careers

Because admin and clerical jobs exist in almost every industry, and because the job descriptions can vary greatly, there can be many nuances to fitting candidates to admin jobs. Conventional resumes and interviews give you only a partial picture of a candidate’s suitability for a job.

HireNest goes beyond resumes and interviews with our smart hiring platform. We use AI technology and other modern techniques to find a larger pool of qualified candidates and to screen them quickly and fairly.

During some phases of the talent search, identifying details of your candidates are masked. That helps you assess and rank candidates based on their qualifications alone—not on their age, gender, nationality, race, or any other piece of information that you might have an unconscious bias against.

When it does come time for interviews, you can utilize our video interviewing option to talk to candidates in places you previously wouldn’t have been able to interview. You can even use video questions in your tests to see how candidates respond under pressure and engage with you on camera.

There’s no need to rely on the old-school, hit-or-miss style of hiring. Let HireNest’s smart hiring innovation transform the way you build your teams, and you’ll never look back.