General office support workers

Overview

General office support workers prepare correspondence, reports, statements and other material, operate office equipment, answer telephones, verify, record and process forms and documents such as contracts and requisitions and perform general clerical duties according to established procedures. They are employed in offices throughout the public and private sectors.

This group performs some or all of the following duties:

  • General office support workers

  • Respond to telephone, in person or electronic enquiries or forward to appropriate person

  • Prepare correspondence, reports, statements, forms, presentations, applications and other documents

  • Process incoming and outgoing mail, manually or electronically

  • Photocopy and collate documents for distribution, mailing and filing

  • Send and receive messages and documents using fax machine or electronic mail

  • Maintain inventory of office supplies, order supplies as required and arrange for servicing of office equipment

  • Assist in preparing meeting agendas, attend meetings, and record minutes

  • Assist with administrative procedures such as budget submissions, contracts administration and work schedules

  • May sort, process and verify receipts, expenditures, forms and other documents

  • May organize the flow of work for other office support workers

  • May perform basic bookkeeping tasks such as preparing invoices and bank deposits.

  • File clerks

  • Scan, sort and file documents according to established guidelines

  • Locate, retrieve, or make copies of documents from files as requested and maintain records of filed and removed materials

  • Track documents removed from files to ensure that loan out documents are returned.

Job titles

  • address forms clerk
  • administrative clerk
  • administrative clerk - Canadian Armed Forces
  • aircraft records clerk
  • auction clerk
  • bill sorter

Employment prospects

Source: BC Labour Market Outlook 2024 edition

Annual salary

Low

$36,289

Median

$51,097

High

$68,554

Job openings

Use this interactive map to explore job openings in different regions across B.C.

British Columbia

6,429

expected job openings (5-year forecast)

Education and training

Employment requirements

  • Completion of secondary school is usually required.

  • Completion of secondary school or college business or commercial courses is usually required.

Additional information

  • Progression to supervisory or office management positions is possible with experience.

  • Progression to officer level positions is possible with additional training and experience.

Certification requirements

  • No certification requirements

Post-secondary programs in B.C.

No post-secondary education required

No post-secondary education required. You can work in this career without post-secondary education. Some on the job training may be provided. With additional training or experience, you may be able to progress into higher level, supervisory or management positions.

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