41 General and Keyboard Clerks

General office clerks perform a range of clerical and administrative tasks according to established procedures. Tasks performed usually include: recording, preparing, sorting, classifying and filing information; sorting, opening and sending mail; photocopying and faxing documents; preparing reports and correspondence of a routine nature; recording issue of equipment to staff; responding to telephone or electronic inquiries or forwarding to appropriate persons; checking figures, preparing invoices and recording details of financial transactions made; transcribing information onto computers, and proofreading and correcting copy. Occupations in this minor group are classified into the following unit group: 4110 General Office Clerks.

Secretaries (general) use typewriters, personal computers or other word processing equipment to transcribe correspondence and other documents, check and format documents prepared by other staff, deal with incoming and outgoing mail, screen requests for meetings or appointments, and perform a variety of administrative support tasks. Tasks performed usually include: checking, formatting and transcribing correspondence, minutes and reports from dictation, electronic documents or written drafts to conform to office standards, using typewriters, personal computers or other word processing equipment; using various computer software packages, including spreadsheets, to provide administrative support; dealing with incoming or outgoing mail; scanning, recording and distributing mail, correspondence and other documents; screening requests for meetings or appointments and helping to organize meetings; screening and recording staff members’ leave and other entitlements; organizing and supervising filing systems; dealing with routine correspondence on their own initiative. Occupations in this minor group are classified into the following unit group: 4120 Secretaries (general).

Keyboard operators input and process text and data, and prepare, edit and generate documents for storage, processing, publication and transmission. Tasks performed usually include: entering data and codes required to process information; retrieving, confirming and updating data in storage and keeping records of data input; taking records of proceedings in rapid shorthand using computerized equipment and shorthand-writing machines; transcribing information recorded in shorthand and on sound recording equipment, and proofreading and correcting copy; reproducing the spoken word, environmental sounds and song lyrics as captions for cinema and television programming. Occupations in this minor group are classified into the following unit groups: 4131 Typists and Word Processing Operators 4132 Data Entry Clerks.