Office Clerk Resume Sample Writing Guide [20+ Examples]

Office Clerk Resume Sample Writing Guide [20+ Examples] Youre about to see a perfect office clerk resume sample.Better yet, in 5 minutes youll learn how to write one yourself.Why is it so important?Because, statistically speaking, every time you apply for a corporate clerical job, you compete with 250 other candidates.That means a stack of 250 resumes on a recruiters desk. You have to make your office clerk resume catch their attention right off.The good news?Theres a proven way to do it that youll learn in 5 minutes.Read on and Ill show you:An office clerk resume sample better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.How to write an office clerk resume even if you have no experience.Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on a clerical resume.How to describe your experience on a resume for office clerk positions to get any job you want.Heres an example of a resume for office clerk positions made using our resume builder.Want to save time and have your resume ready in 5 minutes? Try our resume builder. Its fast and easy to use. Plus , youll get ready-made content to add with one click. See 20+ resume templates and create your resume here.Sample Office Clerk ResumeSee more templates and create your resume here.One of our users, Nikos, had this to say:[I used] a nice template I found on Zety. My resume is now one page long, not three. With the same stuff.Create your resume nowTargeting a more specific office or administrative support position?Check out more sample office staff resumes and dedicated resume writing guides:Administrative Assistant ResumeExecutive Assistant ResumeOffice Assistant ResumeOffice Manager ResumeReceptionist ResumeBookkeeper ResumeAccountant ResumeSecretary ResumeBusiness Administration ResumeFor a general, office clerk basic resume examples and writing tips, read on. Youll get answers to all your questions about landing that dream clerical job!1Whats the Best Format for an Office Clerk Resume?Consider this:On average, recruiters scan a resume in less than 10 seconds.What does it mean for you?That you have to make your office clerk resume skimmable. Make it easy for recruiters to find all relevant details.How to do it?Choose the elegant reverse chronological resume format. Recruiters are familiar with it so theyll know where to look for information.Plus, it lets you put your best foot forward. It showcases your most recent clerical job.Heres what to include in a reverse-chronological office clerk resume, from top to bottom.Office Clerk Resume TemplateContact informationResume objective or summaryWork experience in reverse-chronological orderEducationSkillsAdditional Sections (Certifications, Awards, Volunteer Experience, or Hobbies and Interests)Pro Tip: Once youre done writing your clerical resume, save it as a PDF file. This way, your formatting wont get messed up. Just remember to double-check with the office clerk job description if the company accepts PDF. If notsend your resume in DOC.Want more information on resume formatting? Heres the only guide youll need: Three Resume Formats: How to Format a Resume for Greatest ImpactNow, have a look at how to craft each section to get an office clerk resume that will make top employers fight one another over who hires you.2Office Clerk Resume Objective or Summary?Remember those 6 seconds of a recruiters attention an average resume gets?Exactly. An average one.The good news? Theres a way to make recruiters read your resume in full.The trick?At the very top of your office clerk resume, put a concise paragraph that explains why youre the ideal candidate for this job.This short paragraph is called either a resume objective or a resume summary. Think about it as a trailer for your job application. If its interesting enough for the hiring manager, shell want to read your whole resume.Use an office clerk resume summary if youve got relevant experience. Give an outline of your career and highlight your best achievements.Writing an entry-level clerical resume with not much relevant experience? Use an office clerk resume objective. Showcase what youve learned so far and how youd fit in.Whichever you choose, remember one thingA well-written professional office clerk resume objective or summary focuses strictly on the employers benefits, not the candidates.Long story short: dont write about what you want out of the job. Focus on what you have to offer instead.Check out these sample office clerk objectives and summaries to see what I mean.Lets begin with objectives.Sample Office Clerk Resume (No Experience)Resume ObjectiveRIghtDynamic college graduate with excellent communication skills seeking office clerk role. Excellent initiative and project management skills developed over the course of my degree. Ready to use organizational skills to help EYs team with implementing the new internal communications system.WrongRecent college graduate with no professional experience but lots of enthusiasm. Able to type, answer phones and would like my first job to be in an office. Im friendly and a fas t learner.See the difference? The candidate from the right example has done her homework. She knows her prospective employers upcoming challenges and makes an offer to help tackle them.The wrong example? The bottom line says basically: Ive got no relevant experience, but I need some job.Now, lets compare two very different examples of office clerk resume summaries.Office Clerk Resume SampleResume SummaryRIGHTProfessional, efficient office clerk with 6+ years experience working for a large corporate organization. Promoted to executive secretary in 2017. Introduced a time management system and increased the efficiency of the office by 15%. Looking to leverage excellent project management and organization skills to help Hogan Partners team reduce office administration costs.Nailed it.Relevant experience, quantifiable achievements, and an irresistible offer to seal the deal. The hiring manager will want to call this candidate ASAP.WRONGI am an office worker with 6 years experience. I a m seeking a job in a corporate environment where I can learn and develop my office management and clerical skills.Not awful, but thats about the only positive. Its super generic and provides no details whatsoever.Pro Tip: In every resume objective or summary for clerical positions, address the company by name and indicate the position youre targeting. Yupthat means you cannot send one general office clerk resume for every application. And thats the point. Personalization works wonders!When making a resume in our builder, drag drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building your resume here.Create my resume nowWhen youre done, Zetys resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.Writing the perfect office clerk resume objective or summary isnt easy, I know. For more expert tips and real-life examples, check out our handy guides: How to Write a Resumes Professional Summary and How to Write a Resume Caree r Objective3How to Describe Your Office Clerk Work Experience?Most office clerk job descriptions on a resume look pretty much the same.Office administration, maintaining the calendar, assisting administrative stuff.You might fear it sounds underwhelming, but we both know its hard. Its complex work that requires amazing time management and multitasking skills.The good news? You can describe your office clerk work experience in a way that will make your resume stand out and get every recruiter hooked.How?In the work experience section of your professional clerical resume, dont just talk about your past duties and responsibilities. Focus on your achievements.Heres how:How to Describe Your Office Clerk Work History on a ResumeStart with your current or most recent job.Follow it with your previous position and the one before that, and so on.Underneath each position, add up to 5 bullet points describing your duties and, more importantly, your achievements.Quantify whenever possible. Dont say you significantly increased sales. Say how much exactly. Numbers pop!At the bottom, add a Key achievement subsection where you show off your best win.Last but not leastpick phrases from the job ad, and refer to them in your work experience section. List relevant office duties, not every single task youve performed. In other words: target your resume.Enough theory. Have a look at how it works in practice:Office Clerk Resume SampleWork ExperienceRIGHTOffice Clerk20122018Dunder Mifflin, Oklahoma City, OKFulfilled office assistant responsibilities for a fast-paced chemical company. Maintained customer relationships, handled shipping and communication logistics.Monitored and responded to client emails. Increased customer retention 22%.Decreased clerical errors by 15%. Lowered scheduling mistakes by 32%.Performed CRM data entry for all sales orders. Completed and sent sales orders to warehouses.Key achievement: Fixed a recurring problem with procurement SOPs which led to cost cuts of $32,000/year.WRONGOffice ClerkKemper Corporation2014-2018Data entryGeneral office assistanceInternal communicationProcessing invoicesPro Tip: Pack your work experience section full of action verbs. Fulfilled, or monitored sound way better than responsible for fulfilling and monitoring.You get the point, right?The right office clerk resume sample showcases quantifiable achievements.The wrong one? That reads like a re-written description of responsibilities listed in the job ad.The work experience section is the most important part of every office clerk resume. Want to make sure youll get it right? Heres the guide to answer all your questions: How to List Work Experience on Your ResumeIf you lack experience, check out: First Resume with No Work Experience Samples (A Step-by-Step Guide4Is Your Education Section Underselling You? It Might Be.More often than not, its easy to list your education on a resume.Heres what you have to include in this section:Degree type,Your major (and minors, if youve got them),Institution name,Graduation date.Pro Tip: If youve got more than 6 months of professional experience, dont include your GPA on your office clerk resume. Dont list it either if its lower than 3.5. It might hamper your chances.For most resumes, this will work just fine.ButIf youve got little or no professional experience to put on a resume, you should make up for it in your education section.In such case, add details like:Relevant courseworkFavorite fields of studyAcademic achievementsExtracurricular activitiesHeres an example of a great entry-level office clerk resume education section.Entry-Level Office Clerk Resume SampleEducation SectionBS, AccountingPenn State, 20152018Excelled in Applied Maths coursework.President of the Undergraduate Student Board 20172018.Editor-in-chief of the official department blog.Thats the way the cookie crumbles.This candidate doesnt have a lot of experience, but her academic achievements indicate that shes willing to self-improve an d that it wont take her much time to learn the tricks of the trade.If youre hungry for more tips about listing your education on a resume for office clerk positions, check out this handy guide: How to Put Education on a Resume [Tips Examples]5How to Put Clerical Skills on an Office Clerk Resume?Theres one word to keep in mind when creating your office clerk resume skills list:Relevance.Dont just randomly list skills you have. Show that youve got skills a particular employer wants.Remember when I mentioned tailoring your resume to each job opening? That strategy applies to your skills section too.Clerical and Office Skills for a ResumeHow to List ThemStart with a spreadsheet that lists all your professional skills.Pay close attention to the job ad. Look for skills-related keywords.Check how many of these are there in your spreadsheet. Quite a few? Great. Thats your skills list.Apart from listing your office skills in the skills section of your resume, mention them in your work exper ience description.Not sure what are the best office skills to list? In general, they fall into two categories: hard, technical skills, strictly connected to your everyday professional duties and soft skills a.k.a. social skills.Heres some inspiration for you:Clerical Skills for a ResumeHard SkillsSoft SkillsVOIP phone systemsMulti-taskingData entryTeamworkOffice administrationAdaptabilitySchedulingAttention to detailEvent planningTime managementTyping 90 WPMProblem-solvingQuickBooksWritten and verbal communicationCustomer serviceConflict resolutionCorporate accountingOrganizationPro Tip: The worst mistake you can make in your skills section is failing to include your soft skills. This Harvard study shows that modern economy will increasingly reward those candidates who combine technical with soft skillsthat means more job opportunities and higher pay.For more strategies to spice up that office clerk resume with the best skills, see this comprehensive guide: 30+ Best Examples of What Skills to Put on a Resume (Proven Tips)6How to Add Additional Sections to Make an Effective Office Clerk Resume?Included all the above resume sections? Great! Its a decent office clerk resume youve got there.ButYoure one step away from making it a killer one.That step is called an additional resume section.And why is it so important?Because thats the place where you can show off your unquestionable achievements that set you apart from other candidates.Such as?Have a look at some ideas for an additional section on a resume for office clerk positions.Additional Sections for an Office Clerk ResumeExamplesIndustry awardsCertificationsInfluencing on social mediaAdditional training and participation in conferencesCant showcase any of the above yet? Take it easy. An entry-level resume can still benefit from an extra section.Check out these ideas:Extra Sections for a Junior Office Clerk ResumeExamplesVolunteer experienceHobbies and interestsAcademic achievementsPersonal blogPro Tip: To boo st an otherwise flimsy office clerk resume, consider taking an online training class or two. You can finish most of these within a couple of hours and they can have great impact on your chances of landing that next dream job.Dont know what to include in the extra section of a professional office clerk resume and what to leave off? Read our guide: Resume Sections to Include on Your Resume: Guide (+20 Examples)7How About an Office Clerk Cover Letter?Sleep with the CEOs daughter, this way youre guaranteed to land a job at the company!Seem like the worst career advice one can get?Yeah. It probably is.But you know what?Companies don't read cover letters anymore, dont waste your time on writing one, comes in a close second.Almost half of the recruiters wont open your resume if theres no cover letter attached.An office clerk cover letter is often expected even if the job description doesnt explicitly ask for one. And it can be used to your massive advantage.Think about looking for an entry -level position. Daunting, right?A well-written cover letter for office clerk positions can get you there! It can prove to recruiters that youre motivated and driven.But its not only junior candidates who should write a cover letter. Including a cover letter in your application doubles your chances of getting hired. Cant argue with the stats, can you?Pro Tip: Make your office clerk cover letter personal. Use the job posters name. For bonus points, do some researchvisit the company website and mention their upcoming projects or challenges and say how your expertise could help.Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here.Here's what it may look like:See more cover letter templates and start writing.For the best advice on cover letter writing out there, read this guide: How to Write a Cover Letter in 8 Simple StepsKey TakeawayDemand for office clerks is projected to shrink in the upcoming years. This means the competition is fierce. A perfect clerical resume has never been as important.Luckily, you are going to have one. Just follow the key office clerk resume writing steps we covered:Personalize every resume you send. Address the company by name and make your resume match keywords from the job ad.At the top of your office clerk resume, just below contact information, put a resume summary or a resume objective.In the work experience section, use action words and emphasize quantifiable achievements.If youve got little professional experience, elaborate a bit more on your academic accomplishments and interests.Tailor your skills section to the job description.For the final wordkeep your phone at hand and wait for interview call-ins!Got any more questions? Need further help? Want to chat about writing your resume? Thats great cause I cant wait to hear your thoughts! Drop me a line in the comments, and Ill get back to you right away.