What needs to be done by any organization, regardless of the specifics and lines of activity? Of course - keep records. Document flow is what is in any institution, therefore it is clear where it came from and why such a profession as clerk is important.
Important position
Many say that it makes no sense to hire a clerk if the staff already has a secretary or even several secretaries. This approach is absolutely wrong, because the duties of these two completely different professions include performing different tasks: the secretary should help the manager follow the schedule, answer calls, bring coffee, carry out small tasks, and the clerk's duties include control over all the organization’s documentation.
Complex documentary control
The responsible clerk must not only control the circulation of documents in the organization, he is also the main supervisor of the archive. The duties of the clerk include the following functions:
- management business correspondence management link;
- formation of a structured documentation base;
- monitoring the implementation of the provisions specified in a particular document.
Accounting for correspondence (both incoming and outgoing) also leads to the duties of the clerk.
Difference of responsibilities in small and large companies
As practice shows, the larger the organization, the more staff there will be clerks. In small organizations, where there is simply no way to hire a clerk, but you can’t do without his services, they attract a person who will occupy the post of secretary-clerk. Responsibilities of the Secretary as already clear, this is a mixture of the duties of these two posts. One person manages to cope with everything, because the workflow at small enterprises is not as rich and varied as that of megacompanies.
Specific requirements that may be presented to a potential employee
Responsibilities of the clerk depend on the specifics of the organization. For example, international organizations or companies that have foreign partners may require their clerks to translate correspondence, for example, from English and vice versa.
A person with experience of work is more often taken to such a position, because here you need to have a high level of perseverance and be a really scrupulous person, who has been working for several years. Young people who have just graduated from educational institutions in this field and who have no experience should try to impress the potential future employer with their desire to work, then, perhaps, there is a chance to get such a position even in a large, promising organization.
You need to understand the specifics of the company, with the documentation of which you have to work. Sufficiently deep knowledge of the legal framework that guides the enterprise is also a big plus for a potential employee.
You need to be prepared for the fact that you will have to study not only the structure of the company, but also become a real specialist in the field of labor protection rules and standards, and also do not forget about business etiquette communication.
What organizations can not do without clerks
The position of clerk always exists in schools and kindergartens of large cities.This is due to the fact that without a person who is able to keep track of all the documentation and, if necessary, immediately provide any of the stored documents, you can not do.
The duties of the clerk at school are slightly different from the duties of the clerk, for example, in a trade organization. Here, work will be conducted with the documents of each student. At the end of the reporting period, it will be necessary to provide information on the work done. It is better if a person working in such organizations can easily find a common language with both children and their parents, because problems in document management, the presence of discrepancies that need to be clarified, are a fairly common phenomenon.
Any large kindergarten also has its own clerk. Job responsibilities here are similar to those that have employees of this profile in schools. This is due to the single focus of the activities of such public or private organizations. Such institutions also want a responsible and qualified clerk to work with them. The responsibilities in kindergarten for this specialist remain the same: work with the document base and archives.
Some personal qualities a good clerk should have
- A person who wants to become an upscale clerk must have a very good memory. Emotionality is an enemy that needs to be fought and not allowed so that mood swings can somehow affect the productivity of work.
- Tolerance is a real treasure that a clerk should have. His job responsibilities are supplemented by the function of explaining to many people “on the fingers” the meaning of many documents and the importance of each individual “leaf”, without which it would be unrealistic to realize any wish.
- Self-control is just as important as tolerance. In this area, quite often there are situations that can lead an unprepared person out of himself. You need to control yourself constantly.
- Business communication skills will help you quickly solve flowing problems with people who work in the same organization or are connected by business contacts with the company.
- Organization at the manic level. Indeed, a good clerk never puts things off and documents for later, because he understands that this can lead to errors or complete chaos, which should not be allowed to work with documents in any case.
